A second tribute album to the songs of the great Jesse Malin.
There can’t be many Americana music fans who weren’t deeply moved by the incredibly sad news back in 2023 that Jesse Malin, one of the most consistently strong American singer-songwriters of recent years, had suffered a rare spinal stroke. It’s left him paralysed from the waist down. He suffered this whilst in a restaurant, where he collapsed to the floor, and he’s been unable to walk since. The most upsetting aspect of this is that doctors who’ve treated him do not understand his condition and are not sure of his chances of walking again.
However, this year there has been a glimpse of hope; after two years he still has no feeling in his legs and undergoes regular physical therapy, but he says, “There are some things I see progress in. I made it a goal to want to be able to find a way to stand up, even if it was just for a song. To find a way to get my body up onto that mic stand to sing. And we worked at that for six months.”
In 2024, a sterling group of musicians got together to perform a stirring and magnificent tribute album, Silver Patron Saints: The Songs of Jesse Malin. Such is the respect that the music industry holds for Malin, and a second tribute album has now been recorded, arranged by his label, Wicked Cool Records. This is the first volume of a planned two-volume set and includes a vast collection of his friends and colleagues, all of whom have put their own individual take on some of Malin’s best songs.
Inevitably, this set features many artists who may be new to readers of this site, but it’s a magnificent collection spanning many genres, including Americana, punk, indie, world music and rock. The next volume is likely to feature a new set of friends and fans, including Willie Nile and Thurston Moore.
The album kicks off with Amanda Cross performing Shining Down, from 2019’s Sunset Kids, and she keeps the guitars jugging, but gives it a Tom Petty feel, and it works brilliantly. Trapper Schoepp gives Almost Grown, from The Fine Art Of Self Destruction, a new take and replaces guitar with mandolin, and again it really works.
Power poppers Valley Lodge cover D Generation’s Too Loose and give it a lovely, edgy, guitar-drenched feel, and it is perfect. Malin must be so proud. James Maddock on Bar Life replaces the original’s atmospheric piano with acoustic guitar and organ, but adds so much more with Maddock’s fantastic fag drenched croaky vocals. It’s a cracker and one of the album’s highlights.
The band Ursa Minor cover the 2022 single Keep On Burning and singer Michelle Casillas brings a new energy to the song, slowing it down slightly but giving it a new, fascinating lease of life. Rene and Grace Mata take on the mighty 2007 single Broken Radio, which Malin sang with Bruce Springsteen, and the duo really do the song justice with a slightly more mellow take, but it’s just as uplifting and moving. Cat Popper and Sasha Dobson cover Brooklyn from The Fine Art Of Self Destruction and replace the piano with just a guitar and their beautiful voices, and it’s glorious.
Jill Fiore tackles Since You’re In Love from 2004’s The Heat and keeps the chugging guitars, but gives it a new sheen that’s respectful and wonderful. Burning The Bowery from 2010’s Love It To Life has been covered by Randy Schrager, and he transforms the guitar rocker into a laid-back, shimmering haze of a song, and it works wonders.
So over the twenty-six songs covered here, many of the artists will be new to our readers, but all of the artists reinterpret these magnificent songs in a wonderfully respectful way and remind us just what a powerhouse songwriter Malin is. These are simply superb songs, and it’s a real treat to renew our appreciation of them through this tribute, and it’s obvious Malin will be both touched and appreciative that these artists have gone to the trouble they have.
It’s been compiled by Lyle Hansen, who’s done a masterful job here, and it will be available digitally, on vinyl with 12 tracks, as a download for the complete 26-song collection and on CD across two discs with all songs included. We’re all praying that Malin can make a good recovery, and in the meantime, this is a fantastic collection well worth your attention, especially as it’s intended to support Malin’s healthcare, as he continues to recover from his illness.
