Folk-Rock singer John Gardner formed Common Jack during a two-year world tour with the actor-musician Broadway show, Once. Based on the indie film of the same name starring Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglová, Gardner played Once to sold-out houses across America, Canada, and Japan while gigging with his own music in his free time. He had always wanted to pursue music but the realities of life made the dream seem worlds away. But when he found himself in conversation with Glen Hansard in Los Angeles, his hang-ups began to dissolve. Responding to Gardner’s doubts, Hansard spoke with lilting wisdom, “It’s frightening to lift our voice, but it’s always worth the effort.” The words left their mark and Gardner soon left Once to begin recording.

2019 saw the independent release of Common Jack’s EP, Canyons in the Dark, which – led by the single Viñales - gained traction on Spotify with more than 1.5 million streams and earned Gardner a distribution deal with Black 17 Media, a joint venture between Sony Music and The Orchard. Now comes CJ’s new single, Still Awake, a meditative folk-pop track with a driving backbeat that weaves evocative storytelling with a lush, hook-laced arrangement.

“I was at a moment of huge change in my life and it felt like the ground was shifting beneath my feet,” Gardner says of the song’s origin. “What began as a collection of late-night thoughts documenting my trouble sleeping became a love letter to close relationships and how they can get us through moments of doubt and fear.”

Gardner says that he and co-producer Harper James (of EIGHTY NINETY) wanted the song to have a huge build. “We wanted a realistic, minimal soundscape, in the beginning, to slowly give way to a lush, surrealistic dream world. Almost like the narrator is willing himself to dream in real-time.”

Another of our round-ups of songs we should have posted from the end of 2017. Restless was a stomping single from Brooklyn-based folk rocker Common Jack. It’s anthemic take on Americana draws favourable comparisons to Lumineers, Neil Young and The Avett Brothers. [soundcloud url="https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/343421807"…

Artist: Common Jack

Song: Eli Fletcher

Region: New York – Europe

[su_note note_color=”#ffffff”]“Eli Fletcher” by Common Jack has done something few songs have truly 100% done, it brought chills down my spine and even the little hairs on my arms stood up as I listened to the story being told. As I heard every line, the chorus, each time the name of the protagonist was told I could not help it, I was transported into this world, into the song. I honestly felt a tear drop down from my right eye down my cheek into the ground as the story unfolded. I have been moved by the sincerity and the reality that is heard throughout “Eli Fletcher”

Made up of Broadway, TV, & film actors and lead by the talented voice of John Gardner, this talented folk-rock New York City based ensemble showcases a sensitivity and humanity in its songwriting and in the melody it uses to create the soundscapes of each track. I would honestly You use an afternoon and just browse and listen to each song of their latest album ‘Strange New State’ – you will feel as each second you use listening is so well spent for you will be transported to new countrysides, towns, and worlds. Enjoy and sit down and wait anxiously as they create their next album.[/su_note]

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