Jeff Klemm Unveils 10th Anniversary Deluxe Reissue of "A Fool's Delight" with four unreleased bonus tracks.
The whole project has been completely remixed and remastered. "A Fool's Delight (Deluxe Reissue)" will be available privately to all who preordered and will be available on all streaming platforms on January 23rd. Preorder the digital or physical copy of the album TODAY with special bundles at http://JeffKlemm.Bandcamp.com and receive an instand download of the album! Klemm will play the record in its entirety and other original favorites on January 16th with a LiveStream from Jilly’s Music Room. The concert can be viewed on Jilly’s Music Room / Jeff’s Facebook Page: http://facebook.com/jeffklemmmusic
Artist Statement:
In 2008 - 2010 my band and I wrote and recorded around 30 songs. My grand idea was to put them out as a series of three EPs or “sketches" of the full length album. The full length would compile and press the four best songs from each of the three EPs creating a cohesive “portrait.” We released the first sketch entitled “A Fool’s Delight” on December 4th 2010 with a sold out release show at Musica in Akron, OH.
Unfortunately due to inner turmoil, people pursuing other projects, and a death in my close family, the entire project was abandoned a few weeks after the release of the first EP. I entered a terrible phase of extreme anxiety, self doubt, writer’s block, substance abuse, self isolation and (gulp) stage fright? The EP as a sketch was asked by default to stand on its own legs which was never the intention. There’s nothing worse than rushing to meet a deadline, doing your best with what you have available and “finishing” a work of art only for the end result to be sub par in your eyes. Hence after about a year or two, the album was erased from existence. I scrubbed it. I felt completely defeated and wanted to forget it (and I did.) For ten years I’ve carried around the weight of this “lost album” and these songs that I once felt so passionate about, forgotten in the ether.
After much self deliberation and a fresh perspective, I’m proud to present the A Fool’s Delight Deluxe Reissue in a favorable light and in a way that I believe stands firmly upon its own 2 legs. All of the original songs have been meticulously remixed and remastered. The reissue also sees the release of four additional previously unreleased songs from that very creative time a decade ago.
A Fool’s Delight Deluxe Reissue is available as a T-Shirt and CD Bundle for $20 whilst the Digital Download or CD is available for $10. A For $30, you get the T-Shirt, and THREE of my album releases. I’m also offering a private concert bundle too. For anyone who preorders, the album will be available on January 15th at jeffklemm.bandcamp.com . For everyone else, the album will be released on all digital platforms January 22nd. Presave it on Spotify HERE
In most cases, the songs are left in their original form with myself, Kevin Klemm, Gavin Cushman III and Alex Popovici (the 08-11 version of Maid Myriad) performing their parts, respectively.
On the six original EP songs, a few simple overdubs were added and a few things that drove me nuts were subtracted. One of the most captivating parts of my new work on this record was hearing the poem section of “A Boy And His Dream” recited by my youngest brother Drew Louis. At the time of the recording, he was only nine years old. Now Drew is 19, and pursuing his own career in music. As a father of a four year old, this song, especially the poem section entitled “A Storm Of Azure and Marigold" takes on a whole new meaning and feels just as relevant to me as a 33 year old as it did to the 23 year old who wrote it.
The four previously unreleased songs needed a bit more work to cross the finish line. I’d say those four recordings were over 75% completed and I had to add the other 25% or so this year. The live take of “Glimpse Of Bliss” that originally appeared on the 2010 release was scrapped. It was replaced with a new version written for an album of my songs featuring string arrangements, slated to see the light of day in 2021. The “Hour Train” string arrangement also comes from that passion project. "Midsummer’s Night (I’m In A Dream)” is a song inspired by my performance as “Puck” senior year of high school in a production of Shakespeare’s famous play. The album’s title “A Fool’s Delight” comes from a line in this song and I always thought it was silly the song with the album title never made the cut. The song was a live show crowd pleaser back in the day (I still get requests to play this song even though it was never released,) and really think my 2020 voice lends itself to the music better than my 2010 voice. At the end of “Oh Lovely” you can hear a bite of the original live recording featuring all four of the band's voices singing around one microphone paying homage to the original harmonies and voices.
Many of the other 30 songs written during this time in my life were totally scrapped. However, a few songs survived and moved on to other album releases of mine like “With Haste On Its Breath,” and “Twilight Hindsight.”
I truly felt like I was riding along in the Delorean while working inside these original song sessions from a decade ago.
Many many many thanks to Mixing/Mastering engineer Nathan Doutt for breathing new life into this EP. Taking on this project was a big undertaking and it absolutely could not have been done without Nathan's willingness to open his ears to my decade old recording sessions and bring them into the 2020s. I also appreciate him yelling at me saying he should’ve originally mixed it a decade ago.
Extra special thanks to my musical and real life brother Kevin Klemm. When consulting with Kevin about the reissue, he pushed for the album to come out under my own name since the version of Maid Myriad now isn’t the version of the band then. Special thanks to Gavin Cushman III and Alex Popovici for their creative contributions to this record. In many cases, we molded my songs together. I will always cherish the time we spent creating music and memories together during those creative and carefree years. Thanks goes to Rob Parr for recording tracks three and five. Thanks certainly goes to Benjamin Rexroad for managing the band during this time and inspiring us always.
This collection of songs was recorded in various places over a period of years, mainly Central 8 Studios, Rob Parr’s house and one of the many home studios I’ve built over the years.
Please enjoy A Fool’s Delight (Deluxe Reissue) and consider supporting an independent artist’s work. There are lots more projects I have in the pipeline for 2021 and I’m more excited to create music than I’ve ever been.
Thank you for supporting me and my music in whatever form / incarnation you’ve come to know me. I have immense gratitude, love and appreciate all of you.
- Jeffrey C Klemm
Grab a bundle today!
To commemorate this event, I am offering these bundles on my Bandcamp Page: