“Julie Jane” by Jackson Pines

Makin Waves song of the week is Jackson Pines’ cover of “Julie Jane” by Merce Ridgway Sr. from their upcoming album “Pine Barrens Volume Two.”

Makin Waves’ 2023 album of the year, Jackson Pines’ “Pine Barrens Volume One,” will be followed up with the eight-song “Volume Two” on July 13.

The LP’s first single, “Julie Jane,” is Makin Waves’ song of the week.

As Makin Waves Song of the Week, “Julie Jane” can also be heard on “Radio Jersey” on June 21st between 6 and 8 p.m. at ThePenguinRocks.comIf you miss it, you can always find it in the archive at The Penguin and Mixcloud.

“Our new single ‘Julie Jane’ is a reinterpretation and re-harmonization of an old murder ballad from the Pine Barrens from the 1930s,” said Joe Makoviecki, co-founder, singer-songwriter and guitarist of Jackson Pines. “Merce Ridgway Sr. wrote the song based on a story he heard as a boy in the 1910s. The Pine Hawkers played it in the ’30s and ’40s and his son Merce Jr.’s band played it in the ’80s and ’90s. Often when we re-record one of these nearly 100-year-old Jersey folk songs, we stay true to the chords, lyrics and melody, but in this case we rewrote the chords, rhythm and some lyrics to maximize the song’s impact today. So it’s in a different key to add to the impact of the voice, it’s faster and in 4/4 time, not a waltz, to really get the story going. And we’ve added and dropped a line or two here and there, as is the folk tradition. The nice thing is that we don’t have to reproduce the Pine Hawkers’ version from the ’80s exactly, because it’s still there on the Angus Gillespie tape.

“What we have now is not a modernization, because we have not brought the story into the 21st century, but a sonic refresh that we hope will make the story and the song as impactful today as it was over 90 years ago when it was first played,” Joe continued. “The moral: talk about replacing your wife and see what happens.”

A free concert on June 22 at Ghost Hawk Brewing Co. in Clifton will be the single release party. The show is in collaboration with comedian Chris Gethard’s “New Jersey Is the World Podcast” and will be a concert/listener meet-up.

On the same day as the April earthquake, Jackson Pines – also co-founder (bassist James Black), drummer and mandolinist Cranston Dean, banjoist, flutist and mandolinist Max Carmichael and violinist James Herdman – gathered at James’ Boghouse studio in Jackson.

“The energy was high and over the next two days we played the entire album live,” said Joe. “James and I are super proud of the band and how they learned this material faster than Volume One, had less time to rehearse and, in my opinion, delivered an even better performance than the first volume. Not many musicians are interested in this music. We’re glad we found a group of Jersey folk musicians who not only appreciate the music for what it is, but believe in it and play it with heart and integrity, like James and I do.”

“Pine Barrens Volume Two” also includes musical treasures from Pinelands such as “Boghouse, 1936”, “Ocean County Blues”, “Ong’s Hat”, “Clam Digger’s Blues”, “Red Cedar”, “Dover Bog”, and “The Pine Barrens Song.”

On July 20, Jackson Pines’ “PBV2” will play live for the first time at Albert Music Hall, the folk and country venue Merce Ridgway Jr. founded and helped build in the Waretown section of Ocean Township. Both the band and the venue are the subject of a recent PBS documentary.

“We can’t think of a better place to premiere the record,” said Joe.

The official date for the release concert of “PBV2” will be announced this summer.

In the fall, the band will release an album with their own songs called “Wheel.” The first three singles “Wheel,” “Hammer,” and “Control Burn” have already been released.

In the meantime, Jackson Pines will also play at John & Peter’s, New Hope on August 4, at the Philadelphia Folk Festival in Schwenksville, Pennsylvania from August 16-18, and with Hunter Root at Wonder Bar, Asbury Park on August 29.

For more information, see www.jacksonpines.com.