JM Kearns songs

You can listen to any song on the above juke
box without downloading: just click on a
song and wait a moment for it to buffer.
You can also download it by pressing the little down
arrow near the top.

Song notes:
"Beauty from Within", the first song on the juke box, is
sung by awesome music man Jim Counter, with whom
J.M. co-wrote it. The two have written lots of songs;
another is "Visit from the blues", sung by J.M. For more
on Jim, visit his MySpace page.

"Nothing left to learn" was recorded by the formidable
Abby Burke on her CD Finally, and Abby's incandescent
version is included on our juke box. For more on her
inspiring music, please visit
www.abbyandthemanlyband.com .

"Tomorrow is coming (later today)" is sung by Robin
English, one of JM's favorite vocalists ever, who has
her own Brass Ring Records.
Learn more at www.RobinEnglish.com .

Three of the songs on the juke box were recorded
pretty much live with JM's band the Lonely Mammals in
Nashville in 2007: these are "Death or Life", "I loved
you for a day", and "Lose my job". The Lonely
Mammals, seen below from left to right, are Mark
Robinson, Kenny Owens, and Kathy Burkly.

a songwriter's story

While a grad student in Toronto, J.M. Kearns was
bitten by the songwriting virus. "You start off
loving the songs of others, but eventually they
aren't saying what you need to hear, so you
begin to supply your own material," he says.

PhD in hand, Kearns left his native Canada and
headed for Los Angeles, a music mecca where
several of his heroes had done great work. Brian
Wilson, Jackson Browne. . . even Dylan was there.
At the start there were near-breakthroughs --
auditioning for a major record label, playing a
song for Warren Beatty -- but then life got real
and Kearns ended up being a bureaucrat,
exchanging molecules with huge office buildings.
All the while the songs kept coming, honest and
eloquent in the tradition of Dylan, Newman, and
Prine.

Then a move to Nashville, where Kearns found a
community of mad artists & songwriters of every
stripe. He produced CDs in his home studio for
noted indie artists like Gordon Vincent and
Davis Raines. With his band the Lonely
Mammals, he recorded the CD Death or Life the
old-fashioned way, live in one afternoon. Kearns
performed at many Music City venues such as the
Bluebird, the Sutler, the Radio Café, the Douglas
Corner, the Broken Spoke and not least, the
legendary Brown's Diner (see pic). In 2006 his
first book deal came and after that he was a
two-track man.

In late December 2009 JM made the move to
Cape May, pursued for two days' drive by the
first huge storm of that very snowy winter. In
this seaside town he continues to write songs
and prose and interacts with a new tribe of
creative souls. He has performed to rapt
audiences at the SS Cape May Songwriters
Festival in late March, and appears often at local
watering holes like the Mad Batter and the Pilot
House, where he can be seen every Tuesday and
Friday night. He is working on a new book now.

Quotes on J.M. Kearns

Elmore magazine says of the CD Death or Life:
"A bluesy flair, his voice perfect for the
lyric and sound…it's easy to hear the influence
of John Prine and Gram Parsons… Intelligence,
humor and musicianship."

M.Q. Murphy, host of "Six Degrees" on WCFA-FM
101.5 Cape May, NJ, says:
"Death or Life is a happy find - J.M. has a
great touch. From sweet ballads like 'And Then
Some' to wry rockers like 'Lose My Job' and
bittersweet school-of-life songs like
'Nashville Will Teach You' and 'A Little Rain',
J.M. and his backing band are masters of the
genre we've been calling Americana."

Nashville singer-songwriters weigh in

Some bright lights of Nashville's Americana
scene talk about JM Kearns:

Davis Raines (songs recorded by Pat Green and
Kenny Rogers) says:
"Then comes our Man for All Seasons, the
extraordinarily erudite King of the Mambo and
his Hot Little Combo: J.M. Kearns and the
Lonely Mammals... JM's a favorite, a gifted
writer and compelling performer whose songs
examine the whole magilla, from the ridiculous
to the sublime."

Teddy Larkin says:
"Kearns stole the show at my Stammer Jammer
festival and became my headline performer for
the next four concerts. 'Nashville will teach
you' is the best song I have ever heard about
the life of a songwriter trying to make it on
Music Row."

Rachel Owen says of Kearns' music:
"Scary intelligence, humor and heart tingling
with freshness…"