Jerry Bernhardt

🎶 @courtneymarieandrews shared “Cons And Clowns” and two more songs from her new album ‘Valentine,’ joined by album co-producer and guitarist Jerry Bernhardt at her No Depression Session at @chelseastudiosnyc (🔗in bio for full session)

Oh! Hi, the new @courtneymarieandrews record that I produced with Courtney, called VALENTINE, is available today. I’m forever grateful to CMA for trusting me with these songs. I have long been in awe of her writing, and I think this is her most focused, direct and bold collection to date. From my perspective, the goal was to build worlds deserving of each song, and paint a widescreen, comprehensive canvas of those collective worlds of song. Always searching to find the right colors and textures to illuminate the depth and nuance of the emotions central to the songs. Patience, intention, truth. Listening! And of course, never playing in the way of the song. I hope the result is music that is felt as much as it is heard. Uh oh, I’m rambling again! We recorded at @valentine_recording_studios in Los Angeles, with Michael Harris ( @higherprotocol ) engineering. His commitment to go deep and experiment with us had a major impact on the sound of this record. We took varispeed techniques to the limits of sanity, and always searched for the heart of the sounds, and had fun. Michael is a special force. Courtney and I provided all of the instrumentation and voices, with the exception of Chris Bear ( @crbear ) who played the drums/percussion throughout the record. Chris is such a profoundly deep musical thinker, an expressive player and a lot of fun to laugh with. He brought so much inventiveness and magic. We brought the record to @flyingcloudrecordings in West Shokan, NY for Sam Owens ( @sam.evian ) to mix. Sam speaks the language, and I have infinite trust in his ears and his intuitions. It is my recurring experience that collaborating with Sam in any capacity enhances whatever the thing is. Lastly, Josh Bonati ( @joshbonati ) mastered Sam’s mix at his studio in Brooklyn, NY. Josh took such care in his work and brought an entire new dimension to the record. Again, Josh just speaks the language. All of this to say, I do find it insane how deeply talented, loving and true to their work all of these people are. I am so proud of this work and of CMA and am humbled to be a part of it all. Please do enjoy and be kind to each other! Ok bye bye!

Oh gosh! LLJ is back by moderate demand and laying down the ol’ sweet head which is religious psycho-babble for “haunted doo wop music.” Link to the Bandcamp is in me bio! 🎄🕊️🎄 If you partake, I do hope you enjoy! One day Tootsie & the Macclesfields will be a real band I think? Idk it seems like a fun idea to me, just gotta find the right group of people who think big boiz in backwards Kangol hats and like XXL bowling shirts singing close harmony are pretty cool guys. Honestly, hit me up if that sounds interesting or if you run that type of crew! Yikes I am so off topic, sorry y’all trying to keep it merry & bright here. Love and peace to all of you, please be kind and patient to each other, and have as many happy holidays of your choosing as you see fit. And of course, bye bye! 🕊️

Hi! Hope I didn’t spook ya, cause today, “Friday the 17th” brings the release of a nü @rongallo LP called “checkmate” that I had the pleasure of producing with him. Around this time last year, we built a little studio upstairs at his house, and together over a few sporadic weeks of sessions, Ron, his partner Chiara and myself chipped away at this album. We favored intuition and excitement over preciousness and attachment, holding and harnessing directness and intensity, rather than obscuring it with goofball bullshit. I’m quite proud of RG on this one. His work always begins with a definitive and central thread, and he embarks knowing what it is that he wants to say. Our process lies in experimenting to discover the best way to say it. Sometimes it’s a breeze, sometimes it’s a slog. Sometimes it’s brutal synth bass, sometimes it’s delicate waves of cascading guitars. Like I said, intuition is the heartbeat here! And these intuitive decisions are always in service of that central thread; nurturing it, developing it and tying it thru each piece of the larger body of work, holding the whole thing together. Or like whatever, ya know?? I think the result is his most unrelentingly focused, unabashedly sincere, and dare I say finest work yet. I just love the guy, and I’m proud to have had the opportunity to dive deep with him. Swipe for lightly esoteric track by track credits! And Mela! And the moodiest one of the three entire photos I captured during the sessions. Recorded by me. Mix by Joshua St Moblo. Master by Telegraph Mastering. I do hope you give it a listen and maybe enjoy. It’s available in all the imaginable places and for sale thru Ron or @killrockstarsofficial Oh, and we talked about the band LEN a lot while making this. I hope that translates! Love to all, don’t get too spooked out there, and as always, do be kind, patient and forgiving with one another, please! 💀🎃💀 Okay, bye bye!

Today my dear friend @mereki releases the single “Hollywood Sign” from a forthcoming LP that I produced with her. ✨✨✨ Working with Mereki is a joy. Always so much freedom, no pretense and always room to experiment and flip things around just to see them more clearly…all within the increasingly vague confines of a “pop” song. I’ve learned so much from collaborating with her over the years, and I treasure the love and spirit that she puts into the work, always. And we also laugh a lot! Can’t forget to live, laugh and also love, after all, my good people! @mereki : lead & background voice @dhaniharrison : high-string acoustic guitars @jerry___hello : acoustic guitars, synths, percussion @daviderossimusic : strings @freytp : bass @joebourdier : drums Recorded by @lukeoldfieldmusic at Friar Park Studios and myself at my home studio. Mix & Master by @paulhicksmusic Available to stream NOW in whichever corner of the digital abyss you prefer! Thank you as always for reading this far and maybe even listening. NICE ONE Okay, I am so sorry for all the commotion! Please take care everybody and yes please continue to continue choosing love over fear and hate! 🪷💟🪷 Okay, bye bye!

As the days dwindle down to those precious few, here's one from the archives, taken from Tootsie & The Macclesfields' failed attempt at a haunted doo wop album of my favorite standards. Offered here, out of context, to accompany that bittersweet feeling, as the calendar turns to September and autumn starts closing in (if you're still "workin and practicin" you're out of time, pal). Sorry for the long intro! If I we're to be honest with you, I would tell you that I had planned to insert the seldom-used narration bit in there, but ya know, I just found my voice unbearable, so, I nixed it. Oh well, a bit of piano, it could be worse! While we're apologizing, sorry to anyone who didn't get that double Bob Seger reference above. Anyways, here's one of the great songs, done in a questionable style. It's free on Bandcamp, and I'll research where they put links nowadays before I hit "Share" and will follow the norms of our current times on that front. Presumably the bio? Likely also in a story? It's been a minute. Okay, please be kind to each other everybody and take care. Sorry I fell off on the playlist thing, I'm gonna pick it back up soon, I think, I hope. Oh! And lots of "real music" that I'm super excited about is also coming soon 🦚🍃🦚 Whoops! Almost forgot to mention, Go Phils! Okay, thank you to those who listen, and as always, "cheers to the farmers." Okay bye, bye! 🌹

Resolution Revolutions! A brand new year, a brand new you? Probably not, but hey, it’s a journey! Maybe there was no need for a brand new you, after all….who’s to say? Anyways, better late than never, but here’s the January (is this “Jan/Feb?” I’m not so sure yet…) jammer, from my giant stack of plastic 12” circles to your digital location. Everything herein kinda sounds like ice to me, if that makes sense. Sometimes in a cold and sad way, sometimes in a sunny day sort of way, sometimes in a “hey, look i didn’t realize the snow is falling outside, that is so peaceful!” sort of way. We like to have fun, don’t we? Hope it’s a warm n cozy companion to those who listen…you can find the link to stream/download in the ol’ bio/story situation. Okay then, bye bye!

JINGLE JANGLE! It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Five hours of saddd songs hidden in plain sight by rampant consumerism and a WILD story about a 2000 year old birthday boi. It does get fawnnnky at times too! I promise! After all, we like to have fun… Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays and Yadda Yadda Yadda to all. May faithful friends who are dear to ya gather near to ya once more. Link in bio, okay bye bye 🎄❤️🎄

Away in a manger, yadda yadda yadda, LIL LORD J IS BACK BABY. Sentimentally, of course. No Reverb! dbx OFF!! WOW!!! Link to listen in bio, okay, bye bye!🎄🎄

Gobble Gobble. I decided to exercise a handful of the things wrong with me, and did a 4.5 hour vinyl DJ set to celebrate the mood of this time of year. November is a funny one…it begins with death, ends with life, for me at least. I love the absurdity of that. Anyways, it was fun and it was rewarding, and I recorded it to share with anyone looking to cozy up. It’s a journey. From a brisk, leaf-scrawnchin’ morning walk through to the warm glow of a fireside night cap. Enough to melt even my icy northeastern heart. Link to stream it in me bio, or just drop me a line and I can send you a big ol’ .wav file! Oh, and of course, I’m available for all your birthday parties and bar/bat mitzvahs; I may alienate your guests but I will NEVER disappoint! Okay, lots of love to all. bye bye now!

For the Saddies and the Baddies, here’s a one-night-only release, in honor of tonight’s full and super BLUE MOON. One of the Crown Jewels of the Rodgers & Hart songbook, sung in dreamy and distorted five part harmony by Tootsie & the Macclesfields. Bandcamp link in bio, hope you enjoy. Okay, bye bye!

Wild to realize that this record (Erin Rae, “Putting On Airs”) is 5 years old today. Wowee/Yikes! One of me first productions! I’m still a big fan of finding the right peaceful space to work and really cohabitating with the music. Also still and probably forever a big fan of DI guitars. (I remember not getting together a meaningful acknowledgement on release day, so here we are…jerneyburninheartz wasn’t the well-oiled big-music-biz machine that Jerry___Hello has become, okay? Still not sure of the meaning of most of that kinda stuff but it’s okay, I suppose it’s nice to do? Idk) Anyways, big love to @erinraemusic @dombillett @danknobler and of course to Mills Fleet Farm and Snaps Wraps of Appleton, WI. Lots of preshy mems from those days. Give it a listen if you’re in a sentimental mood. Or don’t, that’s cool too, I mean there is sooo much great music out there! Okay, well, bye bye!