Born in New Jersey, raised in Upstate NY ( REAL upstate, not 30-minutes-outside-of-NYC-upstate ) and set adrift for a few years building up boxes of 4-track tape and noisey demos recorded on cheap computers, Newspaper Joe (birth name Mike Clark) is currently a NJ-based artist who performs often in NYC. His "story" plays out better in his songs than it does as a stretched out narrative. Its culmlative years of living and breathing things like uncertainty, curiosity, romanticism, political idealism and even, at times, wreckless self-abandon. The lyrics could often embody any person who's on the hunt for that next catharsis that is either going to leave them catatonic, or sparked with the notion that it's time to get the fuck out of Dodge.For all booking inquires, please email "[email protected]". Thanks!Note: Myspace is a fairly lousy website, owned by fairly shady people. If you are interested in keeping up with Newspaper Joe shows, recordings and other goings on, feel free to visit newspaperjoe.com anytime.Press reviews/testimonials on Newspaper Joe:
From JezebelMusic.com:
"His gritty approach to singing and guitar playing recalls the working class realism of old Walker Evans photographs."From TimeOut NY:
"Sounds like a dash of Johnny Cash...mixed in with a little Bob Dylan."
--Roxana MarroquinFrom the Schenectady Daily Gazette:
"His sound is what all great folk/alt-country should be: earthy, pastoral, catchy, bittersweet and understated."
--Philip SchwartzFrom the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle:
"Newspaper Joe doesn't just perform - he shakes the house and brings it down. It's impossible to stand there and idly watch his live show. Take a look
around the room, and it's a pretty sure bet you'll see people singing along,
clapping their hands, stomping their feet, or even jumping on stage to grab
an instrument and join the irresistable rhythm."
--Pete Borrelli"I've heard of how some actors and artists
method act' in order to bring their roles to life.
And this research is vital in order to create the illusion
believable for the audience. I dub Mike's efforts as 'method-living'. "
--Bryon Parker: Western Tape, Raleigh and Lava Remnants band member-performer.From the HTG Monthly review:
"The songs are tales from life's conflicted side-- Party girls who say Hail-Mary's every morning compensating for bad behavoir the night before, Drifters who make friends with angels of death, Odes to friends lost in the rift of time, and even raucous bar-worthy sing-alongs that smilingly tell the listener to enjoy life, friends and the little time we have on this overcrowded island."
--Ulysses C. Albertson"Channeling ghosts, demons, saints and sinners, Newspaper Joe has wrought 10 new songs from the hills, prairies, graveyards and juke-joints of American music. "Lazarus, Gin, Mercy and Sin" is the new LP from Chenango/Otsego Counties' own hardcore troubadour, and expands on the country-folk, blue-collar rock-and-roll from previous recordings into new air that you feel has been inhaled by people you know: Springsteen, Cash, Zevon, Hank, you sometimes think. Then you think the sound is all his own. Give it a spin, and it'll stick with you at night, on the sidewalks, out on the road, and some places you ain't been yet."
--Eric Coan, Freelance writer
