Category: Simon Joyner

Simon Joyner, who recently turned fifty, has been quietly making records for a small cult of dedicated fans since 1990. Hovering above the intersection of chaos and beauty, the Omaha-based songwriter’s vivid and imagery-rich songs occasionally recall Leonard Cohen at his most personal and apocalyptic, while always revealing Joyner’s affinity for the fearless, unpredictable sounds of the noise and experimental scene on which he cut his teeth.

Working in tandem with producer/guitarist Michael Krassner, Pocket Moon features ace contributions from drummer Ryan Jewell, multi-instrumentalist Joshua Hill and guitarist Max Knouse, among others. Together, the ensemble creates an easygoing but rich tapestry, subtly and sensitively boosting the roughhewn melodies and ruminations. The overall result is one 2019’s best LPs – and a career highlight for Joyner.

Fans perusing Simon Joyner’s merch table on his recent U.S. tour could pick up a new collection of demos, covers and collaborations from the severely underrated Omaha, NE singer-songwriter. Luckily for the rest of us, Simon has now made it available via his Bandcamp page — and even better, all digital proceeds are going towards “abortion access organizations in states that recently passed laws attempting to outlaw or severely restrict abortion access.”

There is something squarely stubborn about releasing a vinyl-only double record in 2012. In an industry currently dominated by mixtapes and playlists, modern music consumers increasingly lack the attention span […]