Folk Edwardsville style: JR or Alyss and the Twin Chairs
Editor | Jan 18, 2010 | Comments 0
by Jessie Gernigin
I’ve seen the man behind the folk solo project Alyss and the Twin Chairs before. Marvin Hogan, who is known to most as JR, is hard to miss in Edwardsville. He stands at about five six, has a pompadour’s haircut, wild black boots and a crazy but well chosen array of fashions.
Alyss and the Twin Chairs (story continues below video)
To see JR is to see a manifestation of everything you think of when you hear indie and folk music, but JR doesn’t like to be thought of in genres or styles.
“I’ve just decided I refuse to assign a specific “kind” or “type” of music when it comes to my songs,” he says.
JR also makes it clear that being a solo artist is something he loves.
“With the whole single act I get to do a lot of things I wouldn’t be able to do with a permanent band. I get to write what I want when I want at my leisure,” he explains.
But that isn’t to say that JR doesn’t play with a full band, he does on occasion.
It’s just, he says, that “At times it feels less personal and crowded.”
JR has also found some success with his solo act in St. Louis, stating, “A lot of venues have been very responsive in many ways… most have been quite helpful.”
JR wasn’t always a performer. In fact when he first got into music in grade school he says he was obsessed with vocals, “Singing was mind blowing to me.”
And singing was something he wanted to identify with because of the courage it took to get up there and play. During his high school years JR managed to pick up a guitar, get over his fear of singing, and start his journey to where he is today.
And where is he today? Right now he is working in Edwardsville and playing gigs at night.
So, what do you say about a guy in a band playing by himself in a style he can’t rightly explain to diverse and not always polite crowds? I’ll say this, he has a sound that is stripped of production’s histrionics and a curt politeness of sound only a humble man performing music he wrote for the love of it can have If you get a chance swing over to his MySpace and catch up on his tour dates.
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