Megan Jean and Byrne Klay, the founding members of Megan Jean and The KFB, are no strangers to hard work. The two began collaborating on a body of work they've dubbed avant-garde americana in Brooklyn, NY shortly after meeting in 2004. After several fruitless and soul sucking years playing music in NY, the two decided it was time to roll the dice, quit their jobs, and hit the road full time despite the fact they had never played outside NY. The move proved to be the best thing they had ever done.
"...tightly focused in a darkly sentimental, country-blues direction...Jean is one of those old-soul singers, like Margo Timmins or Gillian Welch, and she breathes life into the stories she sings"(Columbia Free Times Review). Megan Jean's powerful vocals combined with Klay's inventive upright bass technique and their energetic live show showcase the true appeal of this band: their songs.
Touring regularly from Maine to Florida, Megan Jean and The KFB have logged 50,000 miles in the past year, all the while discovering exactly what the DIY music scene in America, in particular the Southeast, has to offer. Working with a grassroots network of musicians, venues, promoters, Jean and Klay have helped dozens of bands to get on the road, in hopes of further fostering a musical community that extends far beyond the stranglehold of Major Label influence.
Their well-recieved debut EP "Autumn" (2007) will be followed by their first full-length effort "Welcome To the Big Top," which is set to be self-released on their own fledgling label "Guts And Know How Records" in early 2010. Recorded at Gage Hall at the Universalist Unitarian Church (Rumored home to the ghost of Poe's Annabel Lee...) in downtown Charleston, "Big Top" will feature 12 new songs that shift from gypsy waltzes, to pitch black americana, to political rockabilly, to booze-soaked country, and back to salt-of-the-earth folk music.
For tour dates, downloads, press information, and booking, please visit www.meganjean.net, or www.myspace.com/meganjeanband
"There’s a touch of old, weird America in all of us, I think, and Megan Jean’s voice betrays a marked familiarity with the odd side of life in these United States. Like The Handsome Family, Jean and the Klay Family Band can get down to some serious, rootsy Americana sounds while still channeling a little of the off-the-midway, creepy sideshow mentality on songs such as “Big Bad Wolf.†Jean’s great big, sultry voice is the star of the show, with a smoky, burnt timbre befitting a much more well-traveled soul than she." -K. Oliver, Columbia Free Times
"...well worth 3-4 listens to become converted by the superb songs and intimate sound, best heard on ‘This Ain’t Anger’ and ‘The End of September,’ one of the best anti war songs of the last few years."
With the new season upon us, the Family’s Autumn should be with us all year." -Andy Riggs, Americana UK
"...terrific pipes...if you’re a big fan of vocalists, Megan Jean deserves your attention." -IntelligentPOP.com
"...[Megan Jean's] vocals, reminiscent of Allison Kraus or Judy Collins, are strong and soulful, and the duet is tight." -Warren Johnston, Valley News, White River Jct. VT
View Megan Jean and the Klay Family Band's EPK