"Joel Gion sets controls for the heart of the sun for a desert-fried space rock adventure" - Clash Music

"Drenched in psychedelic powers that simmer to allow Joel’s voice to beautifully grace us... fuses The Brian Jonestown Massacre years into his own work" - Gigslutz

"When the melodies are this heavenly, just let yourself drift blissfully away with them" - The Skinny

"Firmly in the BJM’s psychedelic ’60s wheelhouse, but this is pretty together stuff and Gion has more up his sleeve than a tambourine" - BrooklynVega

"A ride through in search of unknown pleasures while gleaning glimpses of future-past" - Santa Barbara Independent

 

Joel Gion is releasing his new single 'Tomorrow' and it is the psych rock tune we all need to welcome 2017.  Perhaps best known for his long and strange career as the legendary 'Tambourine Man' with The Brian Jonestown Massacre, in recent years, this percussionist has also emerged as a singer-songwriter in his own right. He has released various singles, as well as the well-received full length album 'Apple Bonkers'.

 

 

'Tomorrow' is being released ahead of Gion's forthcoming sophomore album, which should be released in early spring 2017. A reflection on the much maligned year that was 2016. 

 

"I wrote and recorded it earlier this year while the Democratic party campaigns were the big topic... So the tune does some BS-calling out of the rising classism in the USA and at the same time sending a message out to not let things get you down too hard – but then nobody in the free-thinking world have ever dreamed things would wind up going this far south in the end," says Joel Gion. "Still, having said that, this is the only life you have, so you have to enjoy it no matter how stupid things get, ‘cause we always have each other and you always have yourself."

 

The upcoming album was recorded in separate phases between legs of the 2016 Brian Jonestown Massacre world tour. The sessions involved fellow BJM members Collin Hegna, Dan Allaire, Ryan Van Kriedt, and Robert Campanella, as well as other various friends from around the modern psych and indie scene.

 

Joel Gion explains: "I’m just about done with a new record, so that’s next; also working on a book, and there is always Brian Jonestown Massacre tours, which are so much fun these days. We have such a blast out there and the people coming to the shows are just so cool on the whole. I’ve got most of the BJM boys on my record as well, along with some other groovy friends from the music scene."

 

This time around, Gion has added in soul jazz, tropicalia, and Italio soundtrack sonics to the album’s mix, making for a deeper dive into a world that sounds all his own. Until then, we have 'Tomorrow', tipping us off that it’s time to pull ourselves up by our boot straps in a world that seems to be going mad before our very eyes.

 

'Tomorrow' is available via Gion's as a digital single on iTunes and various streaming platforms.

 

CREDITS

Joel Gion: vocal, rhythm guitars, maracas, tambourine

Collin Hegna: bass, guitar, bPaul Dillon: guitars

Brian Gardner: drums

Written by Joel Gion. Produced and mixed by Collin Hegna at Revolver Studios. Photo by Alex Hurst.

 

LYRICS

Don't need a high place in a lowdown world

I'll keep moving on

Where I can be myself and here's something else

I'm doing nothing wrong

Seems everything is brought to extremes 

Just to keep people runnin around

 

Nothing is here to stay

So I'm gonna get down every single day 

Pick up what I'm putting down

 

Don't want an "in" where anybody's left out

What is that all about?

No prospect babies and swindled old ladies 

Tomorrow's full of doubt 

The harder the grind, the brighter we shine

So go ahead and bring it on

 

Nothing is here to stay

So I'm gonna get down every single day 

Pick up what I'm putting down

 

Don't need to tell me nothing's for free

What you want ain't what I want

Changes to come and when they are done

These patterns won't be playing on

 

Nothing is here to stay

So I'm gonna get down every single day 

Pick up what I'm putting down

 

APPEARANCES

January 23 (at 7pm) - 'DIG!' Film Screening, Interview and Audience Q&A  - Big Roxie, San Francisco

 

with The Brian Jonestown Massacre

March 4 - Los Angeles, The Fonda Theatre

March 7 - Houston, White Oak Music Hall Downstairs

March 8 - Austin, The Mohawk

March 9 - Dallas, Trees

 

Keep up with Joel Gion

Website | Facebook | Bandcamp | YouTube | BJM Tour Dates | iTunes