Dean Johanesen - Cautionary Tales (2023)

With a sonic palette that dips into speakeasy-era Americana, and swingin' Hot Club jazz doused in circus tent hues, New York-native Dean Johanesen has made his home in many parts of the United States.

Johanesen's mother delivered motor homes when he was young and the family traveled around listening to a wide range of artists. Hearing everything from Led Zeppelin to Simon and Garfunkel, classic country to Broadway Musicals. This eclectic collection provided a soundtrack to Johanesen's youth and has had an effect on Dean's interests musically.

In 2013, Johanesen released his first solo record focused on the storyteller songwriting format. Meanwhile, a recent passion for Hot Club jazz music in the vein of Django Reinhardt put Johanesen on a musical path of telling new stories of old times. Non-fictional characters from the '20s and '30s – circus performers, the sideshow, prohibition, the war of currents (Tesla vs. Edison) all inform Johanesen's writing.

These stories are projected against a backdrop of uptempo jazz in a style Dean has coined "Circus Swing."