XXIV: 2018 // A YEAR IN REVIEW
Above: L-R Michael Tenneson, Kevin Woodley, Frankie Domenico & Jose Talamantes - Colorado Territorial Correctional Facility. April 2018. All photos by FY unless otherwise noted
Over the past five plus years, Die Jim Crow has slowly grown, each year taking major steps forward. Personally speaking, as the producer of the project, 2018 may have been the most significant year for me: this August marked my transition from having a full time job as a carpenter at Brooklyn fabrication shop Sets & Effects to working on Die Jim Crow (now Die Jim Crow Inc., a non-profit) full time. This has been a challenging shift but the progress undeniable.
When I left Sets & Effects, quite amicably after seven years on and off (there were gaps when working on the EP and other long trips), I was somewhat worried that I wouldn’t be able to fill my days with tasks for Die Jim Crow. I would quickly find out the contrary. Not only are my days full but it seems there is not enough time; this is my gig now.
And I’ve been gearing up for what’s to come. Doc and I will be recording at five prisons this year — so far — with likely a few more to be approved. 2019 will be the year of field recordings, traveling to prisons nationwide and recording with formerly incarcerated artists for the Die Jim Crow LP. 2020 will be about producing all these tracks — of which we will have dozens to sift through — and putting together a work of art record. It’s going to be an intense couple years…. shoot, it’s been an intense near six thus far. February 2019 will mark six years running.
One of the major struggles making the transition to full time producer has been funding. Our newly formed Board of Directors has been helping with fundraising — grant applying, donor outreach — but we really could use your support as well. Please make an end of the year tax-deductible donation to Die Jim Crow — simply put: this is what is keeping us running. Any late holiday gifts you need? Consider buying our gorgeous new edition to the Die Jim Crow EP Book — or funk it up with a limited edition Tie-Dye T-shirt. Either way you do it — your support is so much appreciated.
Here are the highlights of 2018:
January:
I gain access to record at two prisons in South Carolina, including the first women’s facility for Die Jim Crow: a maximum security unit in the state capitol of Columbia; Camille Griffin Graham Correctional Institution. The men’s facility is located in rural Fairfax, a medium security called Allendale Correctional Institution.
January 22:
Dr. Israel and I record with Johnnie Lindsey in Dallas. Lindsey served 26 years in the Texas prison system for a crime he did not commit was later exonerated after DNA evidence proved his innocence. I had met Johnnie Lindsey in April 2017 at the Tribeca Film Festival premiere for a film about his work helping free other innocent Texans, Jamie Meltzer’s documentary True Conviction; a film I cannot recommend highly enough. As luck/fate would have it I would be in Dallas the following week. That May, I had the honor of meeting Johnnie at his home in Dallas and we began recording an instrumental of his called “Sentences.”
Johnnie and I would talk every few months after that, and when I called him in January he delivered some horrible news: he was battling terminal kidney cancer. The following week Doc and I got on a plane to Dallas to spend a couple hours with Johnnie, where we finished recording his song “Sentences.” A sobering session, it was clear Johnnie wouldn’t be with us much longer. He died two weeks later in the company of his loving family.
Johnnie Lindsey’s memory will forever be with us — and it is an honor to have a song of his for the forthcoming Die Jim Crow LP. Though I only knew him briefly, I will always remember the grace and integrity that shined off Johnnie’s soul. I think many people who met him would say the same.
In Loving Memory of Johnnie Lindsey
1953 – 2018
February 14:
The third and final installment to The Maxwell Melvins Interview series, “Part 3: Producing Lifers Group,” is released. This finale video looks in-depth at the production process of Lifers Group’s self titled EP and full length “Living Proof” album. Melvins, the founding member of the group, sheds light on many aspects of the project; from the harsh lyrical content to the more inspiring political writing, the role he played in keeping the project in focus, and the project’s sudden ending.
April 16-19:
Dr. Israel and I spend four days recording at Colorado Territorial Correctional Facility, making Die Jim Crow the first studio album to ever be recorded in multiple U.S. prisons. Check out Blog XVIII: CTCF Sessions and watch the outro/slideshow video:
Dane Newton, Kevin Woodley
Kevin Woodley
Michael Tenneson
June 19:
The “Headed to the Streets” music video premieres on RollingStone.com with an exposé on the project by Elias Leight. In conjunction, a single is released featuring remixes from legendary bassist/producer Bill Laswell and DJC Co-Producer/Engineer dr. Israel.
B.L Shirelle and Original (of Lifers Group) at “Headed to the Streets” Premiere. Photo: Britni West
August 11 & 12:
We shoot the music video for “First Impressions,” the second single off the Die Jim Crow EP. We are aiming for a first quarter 2019 release. Check out our behind the scenes Blog XX for a sneak preview.
Photo: Steven Turco
Don’t worry folks, it’s makeup. Photo: Lorena Liñero
October 11:
Die Jim Crow Inc. becomes incorporated as a non-profit in New York state.
October 16:
At an in-person/in-prison meeting with Warden Leander Parker, I gain access to record at Central Mississippi Correctional Facility Youthful Offender Unit (CMCF Y.O.U.), a juvenile facility in Pearl, MS. Recordings will begin March 20, 2019. The following month I would return to the prison and meet the participants.
Faces blurred and identities anonymous as per Mississippi DOC regulation.
October 18 & 19:
I meet the participants at the two South Carolina prisons and conduct demo recordings at both facilities. Look out for samples of these recordings to be released in Blog XXV: Southern Trip 2018 – Part 3. Let’s just say there is a lot of talent at both prisons.
The ladies of Camille Griffin Graham CI. Faces blurred and identities anonymous as per South Carolina DOC regulation.
The Musical Director at Allendale CI.
October 21:
I return from the DJC Southern Trip 2018, successfully crowdfunded by 43 backers via gofundme. In the following weeks I release Blogs XXII and XXIII, chronicling the trip. Blog XXV will be the third and final installment and will come out in the next few weeks.
December 22:
Die Jim Crow EP Book is re-issued as a new edition, featured in articles in Ms. Magazine and BKReader, and launched at Topo’s Bookstore in Ridgewood, Queens. To close things out, here’s a video of highlights from the launch!:
Happy New Year everyone. So much more on the way.
Fury
