XVIII: CTCF SESSIONS

[all photos by Fury Young unless otherwise noted.]

As of April 16, 2018, Die Jim Crow officially became the first studio album to ever be recorded in multiple U.S. prisons. On this warm and windy Monday morning, dr. Israel and I arrived at Colorado Territorial Correctional Facility, the state’s oldest prison. Built in 1871, CTCF gets its name from Colorado being a territory at the time, five years prior to statehood. Surrounded by the buff-tone mountains of Cañon City, Territorial is about as pleasant looking as a prison can get.

Outside the walls of Territorial

The entry grounds

After checking our plethora of recording gear through security, Doc and I were escorted through the visiting room, past the entry grounds, and to the recreation center, where we would be recording for the next four days. The rec center is basically a large gym, but off to the side there is a small yet well-equipped music room full of instruments: several acoustic guitars, electric and bass guitars, keys, amps, and a drum kit. There to greet us and already warming up was Michael Tenneson, who had been my musical liaison over the past ten months leading up to these sessions. While Doc began setting up, I grabbed a quick interview with Michael:

Michael is not the typical Die Jim Crow collaborator. First of all, he’s white. While the lead vocalists and lyricists on the Die Jim Crow LP will be mainly all black, the project has taken an organic approach in featuring prisoners of other backgrounds as instrumentalists and composers. Originally this was not the concept I had in mind going into the project years ago — I wanted everyone featured to be black-identifying — but now, having visited ten prisons nationwide and worked with so many impacted by the system, I think that would have been a mistake. A few days after returning home from the trip, I got a snail mail from Michael which included a copy of a letter to Mark Fairbairn, the Public Information Officer of Colorado Dept. of Corrections (CDOC) thanking him for approving the project. This excerpt speaks powerfully:

Aside from Michael’s hue, he stands out for another bold reason: there is absolutely nothing redeeming about Michael’s crime. It was not self-defense or a crime of desperation. Michael murdered five people. This is not to say that this project features only morally astute offenders or wrongfully convicted prisoners, but we have yet to work with someone whose crime is of such a severe nature. This is not by choice, but how the cookie crumbled. So Michael presented a perturbing and complex scenario.

I was referred to Tenneson by a colleague named Claudia Whitman, a Colorado-based investigator who works on innocence cases. In the mid-90s, Claudia, who collected prison art at the time, began corresponding with Michael, who is also a painter. Whitman stayed in touch with him throughout the years, and saw Tenneson grow from a damaged soul to a mature adult. It would take years to come to terms with his crime and the traumas of an abusive childhood, but Michael changed. Three decades later, he is not the same person that he was in 1987.

Michael in 2010 with his painting “Girl With Horses.” Photographer unknown.

I met Claudia Whitman at the International Prisoner’s Family Conference last May, where I presented to the audience track two off the Die Jim Crow EP; Anthony McKinney’s “Tired & Weary.” After hearing the song, Claudia approached me: “Hey, I know a guy in Colorado who’s a serious guitar player. He’s a white guy, but you might want to work with him.”

Claudia Whitman at Int’l Prisoner’s Family Conference, May 2017

Claudia bought a copy of the Die Jim Crow EP Book, sent it to Michael, and we’ve been in touch ever since. I told Michael I would do my best to gain access to CDOC, and on December 12 2017, to my complete surprise, I received an email from Mark Fairbairn informing me the project had been approved. Starting then, Tenneson and I would speak on the phone weekly and I would get the rundown on how the music was shaping up. The one guy he kept going back to was “this Woodley cat, I’m telling you — he’s your star.”

Kevin Woodley in the booth

Indeed, Kevin Woodley is a remarkable talent. Originally from Chicago, Woodley has a jazz/blues/funk set of lungs and a spirit to match. Though he is wheelchair-bound and frequently needs oxygen from a tank, Woodley sang his heart out on every take. A flipside to Tenneson’s story, Woodley is in for a crime he says he did not commit (I do not know the details). The two men worked on several songs together, including “SHU,” a song about solitary confinement. Both had spent a year or more in segregated housing units, and the song has a chilling feel that could only be captured through that first hand experience. Here is a sneak peek:

Like Kevin Woodley and Michael Tenneson, the rest of the crew was motley; a mixed bag who under different circumstances might never have crossed paths.

The musicians Tenneson speaks of are Dane Newton, Frankie Domenico, Jose “Bizz” Talamantes, Phil “Archie” Archuleta, and Gilbert “Lefty” Pacheco. Archi and Lefty, both Indigenous, shared with us traditional Nahuatl chants — an entirely new sound for the project. Frankie Domenico, the first openly gay male-identifying collaborator we have worked with, added a unique sound on his violin. Bizz, who hadn’t rapped since coming to prison but had done shows with the likes of Bone Thugs N Harmony while on the streets, laid down a fire verse with a Scarface vibe on Woodley/Tenneson’s “Mama’s Cryin.” And last but far from least, Dane Newton surprised everyone with a beautiful and haunting song that felt like a natural fit for the LP: “America the merciful / will forgive my sins again…”

Dane Newton

Michael in the booth laying guitar track with (l-r) Kevin and Frankie listening back while Bizz tweaks a verse.

Dane Newton and Kevin Woodley

Woodley in between vocal takes as (l-r) Archie, Lefty, and Tenneson listen back.

Frankie Domenico

On the final day of recording, we got all the guys together for an outro and got to share our experiences of the past four days:

Many thanks to these musicians, who shared their soul, culture, and talents for the world to hear. Thank you to the staff at CTCF and CDOC for allowing this to happen and run so smoothly: Lt. Repar, Capt. Selvage, Major Wilson, Warden Romero, PIO Mark Fairbairn, and Executive Director Raemisch.

We look forward to returning to CTCF. Please support Die Jim Crow today with a tax-deductible donation so this work can continue to happen. We are a grassroots organization that relies heavily on private donors to keep us going.

Thank you for your support!
Fury Young