Jeff Przech sits down for a One On One Session at City Winery New York on April 12th, 2018. For more info visit: https://www.jeffprzech.com/ Audio & Video by: Ehud Lazin
Setlist:
Second Favorite Memory
The Willows
Four Letter Words
Back Again
"Przech is as Americana as they come and it’s not a dirty word to throw the country moniker around when describing this album. If Przech’s influences were trees he’d have an entire orchard full of some of the greats of the traditional and alt-country movements, as well as varying forms of folk and Americana."
Jeff Przech likes to tell stories. Musical stories. "My favorite songwriters, the ones I always gravitate towards, are the ones who tell great stories in their songs." Influenced by contemporary artists like Isbell, Adams, and Simpson, along with classic artists like Kristofferson, Jennings, and Dylan, Przech's 2015 debut release, "Sounds Like Fresh," was carried by classic songwriting and led by Przech’s deep, soulful vocals and acoustic guitar work. Many of the arrangements are sparse, but never wanting for more. Przech’s vocals and guitar are more than enough to carry songs like “Back Again” and “Wasting Time.” On the other hand, Przech’s arrangements on songs like “Clinchfield Rail,” “Eden,” and “Make A Wrong Thing Right” feature dazzling lead work by Jon Graboff (pedal steel), Dennis Fancher (lead guitar), and Przech himself. It’s perfectly clear that Przech knew exactly what he was going for on his first record, a collection of songs that takes the listener on, as one reviewer called it, a “rewarding emotional journey.”
Przech spent the summer of 2015 bringing his music from Vermont to the Carolinas, and was a featured performer at the Podunk Bluegrass Festival, the New England Acoustic Music Fest as well as the Keene Music Fest in New Hampshire. Przech has also enjoyed successful shows at great venues like Infinity Hall in Norfolk, CT and The Bitter End in New York, with artists like Shawn Mullins & Pat McGee. As one venue owner put it, "Jeff Przech is one of those artists that you hear in a room and you have to stop what you are doing. You stand there with drink in hand...or set it down because you don't want to be disturbed and you just take it all in."
Now in 2017, Przech is recording new material with his band, The Outfit. "Not only are these guys excellent musicians, but they're also great friends, which makes things a lot easier. They know what I'm looking for and we're all on the same page musically. I think that's evident in the tracks we've been cutting." Recording with Tracy Walton at On Deck Sound Studios in Northeast Connecticut, Przech & The Outfit are taking the storytelling of the first record and adding a little twang and rootsy grit to the songs. The results can be heard in "Under Your Skin" and "Maribelle," the first two singles from this lineup. The band and the music straddle the line between Alt Country and good old-fashioned rock n' roll.
Still, the most important aspect of Przech's songwriting, and of Przech himself, is the authenticity. There is a distinct lack of pretense in everything he does and his intentions are as true as some of the stories he tells. Przech is humble and unassuming with a dry sense of humor, evidenced by the title of his first record - Przech actually does rhyme with 'fresh.' The songs have not gone unnoticed, receiving excellent reviews and airplay on WPLR and WAPJ in Connecticut as well as internet radio stations and podcasts throughout the country.
“In a world where so many artists are employing marketing gimmicks and studio tricks, vying for the next big spotlight in the music scene, Jeff Przech makes it abundantly clear that's he's here to do one thing, and that's make great music.”
Jeff Przech is many things. He is a songwriter, troubadour, a bit of a raconteur, and most importantly, a single father. "It all starts and ends there, man, with those two," says Przech, referring to his two young children, who both make cameos on his first record. He understands struggle and his life experiences shape his songwriting, which is always very true with its intentions. He wants to his songs to make people think and feel. Whether he is playing with The Outfit or just by himself with an acoustic guitar, Przech’s dusty, resonant baritone provides a weight to his songs and lyrics. While the songs may be ‘partly truth, partly fiction,’ Jeff Przech is not. There is an unquestioned sincerity to the man and his music. “There’s a line in one of my songs,” says Przech, “All I can do is all I can do. That’s pretty much the way I look at it. I put everything I have into what I write and record. If it doesn’t mean something to me, how can I expect it to mean something to anyone else?”
