Written By Barbara Gettes / Photos by Lisa Schaffer

One of my favorite things is finding an artist who does not scream to get your attention. If you are familiar with Philadelphia native Hezekiah Jones, you also know the power of a whisper. With a long-awaited release of some new music in the after-time post-pandemic present apocalypse;  I am positive that I am not the only one breathing a sigh of relief to get some new songs from Hezekiah Jones.  The low-fi approach to his recording has become seminal in understanding their signature sound. If you close your eyes you can imagine sitting around a bonfire with friends, or in the intimacy of a living room where everyone is also singing along in the sweetest of harmonies.  Hezekiah Jones seems to encapsulate this feeling.  Of togetherness. 

Word has caught on about the Jones family and fans now will pack a venue to experience Hezekiah Jones live. An experience to seek as you can still see, hear, and meet the bonfire friends dancing their asses off or whispering the harmonies that run nearly two decades deep.  Alas.  This is not about the Hezekiah Jones live show experience.  It is about the new release.  The new EP boasts two new songs for the devoted lovers of Hezekiah Jones.  One song titled “Having a Time Machine Isn’t a Good Enough Reason to Time Travel”. The other song is titled “Like a Rock in a Tub”.   Though it sounds like there are subtle whispers of so many voices,  I am suspicious that on “Having a Time Machine Isn’t a Good Enough Reason to Travel” the vocals are comprised of Kiley Ryan and Raphael Curtrufello.   The voices we hear could exist in our heads just as much as on the floor in a living room concert.

Next song up is called “Like a Rock in a Tub” and it boasts another signature vibe of Sir Raphael Curtrufello, AKA Hezekiah Jones. A creepy waltz.  The last I heard a new creepy waltz from Hezekiah Jones was pre-Wednesday times and so Wednesday Adams if you are listening, I strongly encourage you to find your way to the recordings of Hezekiah Jones.  Find your way to one of his live shows and I reckon Hezekiah Jones would be thrilled to have you and your cello as the newest Jones member. I’ll call it now; Wednesday Jones. You won’t regret it. Season 2 is in the works.  Let’s help the music supervisor on Wednesday see this, okay?

Seriously… listening to this music is a breath of fresh new air mixed with the comfort of your very favorite old blanket. One last bit to be noted about Hezekiah Jones is that the impact he has had on countless people with almost a rabbinical character is tremendous. A silent, non-judgmental, mainstay on the Philadelphia music scene for two decades.  I am confident your ears will devour the new Hezekiah Jones songs that were released today. Gratitude to Hezekiah Jones and family for releasing new songs, this week of November 6, 2023, and brightening our souls on these dark days.  We look forward to future releases, as always. 

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Dude keeps busy.

“I’d totally forgotten that was coming out today,” Bellenoit says.

He is speaking on June 5th, the day of the digital release of Home Songs, Vol. 2, the second EP in a planned three-part series (Vol. 1 came out in January). Stuck all day in the studio, he’d let the occasion slip his mind.

After years of playing on other people’s records, Bellenoit began recording his own material in 2009 – the year, as he explains, that he “actually got a computer.” With help from a successful Kickstarter campaign, he and his band released a full-length album, Eight Track Mind, in December of 2010. This year’s Home Songs series, as the name suggests, is the accumulated result of three years worth of homemade recordings. With one or two exceptions, Bellenoit is playing every instrument on every song.

Originally moving to Philadelphia for school (he graduated from the U of Arts in ’08), Bellenoit soon found his talents in high demand within the city’s fertile singer-songwriter community. In time, his skill on a six-string would take on almost mythical status. Bellenoit hasn’t received an enormous amount of print coverage in his career, but in every press clipping that does exist a sentence or two is devoted to salivating over his guitar work. Even legendary session man Chuck Treece felt moved to pay his respects, memorably describing him in Philadelphia Weekly as “a motherfucker on guitar.”

Despite this reputation, Bellenoit describes the new EP as “fairly mellow.”

“This EP has the least amount of electric guitar showcasing I’ve put on a record so far. The previous records all had moments of pretty psychedelic guitar work. This one is much more subtle.”

Indeed, you’d never guess Home Songs was the creation of a guitar god. Bellenoit says he was influenced in part by Damien Jurado’s Maraqopa, which makes sense – the EP is dreamy and plaintive in much the same way as that album (though here those qualities are mingled with enough pop sensibility to lower the vulnerability quotient a bit).

Ideally, Bellenoit says, the live show will retain the poignancy of these songs while still making room for the energy and spontaneity he values in his live performances.

“I want to shred a little bit,” he assures. To that end, the setlists will feature selections from all over his catalog, including tracks written for the as-yet-unrecorded follow-up to Eight Track Mind.

Bellenoit and his band (the Goods) will be making appearances around the tri-state area throughout the summer; a short tour of Massachusetts is tentatively planned as well. Home Songs, Vol. 3 is due out in the fall, by which point he hopes to be back in the studio. Bellenoit continues to lend his talents to other songwriters, and in recent years has also been working as a producer out of Turtle Studios in South Philly. “My whole life is pretty much music,” he says.

And Philadelphia is all the richer for it.

//www.rossbellenoit.com/

by Tadhg Ferry
Photos by: Lisa Schaffer