Jack Kerowax - Kerowax (2014)

”Kerowax” is the debut album by this pop-influenced Americana band fronted by singer-songwriter Johnny Beauford. The group is composed of musicians from several Dallas/Fort Worth bands. The 10-track album was recorded, mixed, and mastered solely on analog equipment at Ferralog Studios in Dallas, TX.

Jack Kerowax arose out of friendships, collaborations and rehearsals in northeastern Texas. Looking for sidemen to perform on what he intended to be a full-length solo album, Johnny Beauford began playing with local musicians Garrett Padgett (Deadmoon Choir & Bravo, Max!), Nathan Adamson (The Hazardous Dukes) and Chase McMillan (Goodnight Ned). A weekly residency at a Dallas-area cafe gave the guys time to develop out a warm, fuzzed-out blend of Americana arrangements and pop hooks.

“Dallas-Fort Worth bandleader Johnny Beauford wanted to make a solo album, so began casting the net for compadres who would fit. The newly-minted assemblage started playing a weekly gig in Dallas, and the next thing anyone realized was that the Jack Kerowax was a band. Thank goodness for that, too, because the fresh aggregation has an appealingly strange way of roping together influences ranging from Lou Reed to real country, without ever sounding as preposterous as it looks in print”