Jake Kohn is young but the singer-songwriter from Virginia is a rising star with a voice for the ages.
Jake Kohn is just starting another year of high school, but his voice has been travelling far beyond Stephen City, Virginia. This summer, Kohn has been singing live at venues in states such as Tennessee, the Carolinas, Kentucky, and Ohio. And he has also make an impression on YouTube. Many are astounded by the soulful voice they hear coming out of someone who is only sixteen. But Kohn also writes beautiful songs, illustrating that he is likely someone we will be hearing a lot of in the future.
Kohn got his start when his great-grandmother gave him a guitar she had used as a kid. Not only did Kohn take to the instrument, but his voice has a touch of Joe Cocker that sounds much older than the young man from where it originates.
Kohn started out writing stories, and that evolved into writing songs. He finds inspiration in many great country songwriters, but his greatest influence is Justin Townes Earle. Kohn explains, “He’s my favorite songwriter and about the best guitar stylist I’ve ever heard.”
While a record label has yet to sign Kohn, I expect we have not heard the last of his amazing voice. His original song “Frostbite,”which was posted in March 2023, has more than 700,000 views on YouTube. This week, Kohn posted a new song. Check out Jake Kohn singing his latest, “Dreams.”
For every musician who hits it big, there are many more who release an album or two and disappear for various reasons. We have written about some of those artists who have created some great music and then disappeared from center stage, such as Sinéad Lohan (leaving us for a quieter life) and Teddy Morgan (leaving us for Kevin Costner). Another one of these missing artists who we love and miss is Mike Ireland & Holler, who released two excellent alt-country albums around the turn of the century that were born out of Ireland’s personal turmoil. And then, Ireland disappeared.
Learning How to Live
Ireland, a tall bald man with long sideburns who grew up in Kansas City, did not look like the typical country musician. But the albums he created with his band Holler — Learning How to Live (1998) and Try Again (2002) — are built around a beautiful aching tenor twang that also led to appearances on the Grand Ole Opry as well as opening for Buck Owens.
Below, Ireland performs the title track from Learning How to Live on Signal to Noise. He is accompanied by the members of his band Holler — Mike Lemon, Paul Lemon, and Dan Mesh. Check it out.
Critics loved the album. In describing this 1998 album, Allmusic noted that “few artists cut as deeply with raw, honest desperation,” calling Learning to Live “one of the finest (and certainly most underappreciated) country albums of the decade.” A September 1998 Los Angeles Times review of a live show before “barely a dozen customers” compared him to Gram Parsons.
Unfortunately, though, Learning to Live did not sell well for the Sub Pop label. It sold only around 2,500 copies in the first four years, while Ireland played shows to small audiences (even though he also got to play the Grand Ole Opry). But it was an unfair result for an album wherein the singer-songwriter poured so much of his soul. To understand how Learning How to Live came about, one must go back several years.
Holler’s Beginnings and Mike Ireland’s Heartbreak
Long before Mike Ireland put together his band Holler, he played music while in college in Columbia, Missouri. There, he teamed up with singer-songwriter Rich Smith and formed a band called And How.
Several years later, the two reunited to form a band called The Starkweathers. In the early 1990s, The Starkweathers were starting to garner some success with a 1994 EP release. The group’s country-punk sound featured Ireland’s harmonies with lead singer Smith. Below is the band’s song, “Burn the Flag.”
The Starkweathers had formed out of an impromptu performance of friends at Ireland’s wedding. But his relationship with his wife would ultimately lead to the destruction of the band too.
Just as the band members were starting to put more time into their music and after Ireland quit his day job teaching English composition, in October 1995 Ireland found out that his wife was having an affair with his band partner Smith.
After the discover of the affair, the band broke up. Rich Smith left the music business for awhile, working in a music store, before he would later try to start a new band, The Broadsides. Smith continues to make music and was listed as a local performing artist in Missouri as recently as 2013.
So, Ireland not only lost his wife, he lost his band and his friend. As Ireland later explained, “So suddenly I was without a wife or a house or a band or a job or a best friend. And it was pretty devastating.”
Creating Music Out of Pain
He thought his life in music was ending. But Ireland poured the pain of his personal life into writing new songs. His life, which now sounded like an old country song, led him to find a connection to a more traditional country sound, incorporating honky-tonk and Billy Sherrill-like countrypolitan styles. The result was his 1998 debut album with new band Holler, Learning to Live. The album featured ten original compositions and two covers.
The album leads off with a song, “House of Secrets,” a song about a man burning down a house holding his wife and her lover. It is an angry song that only could have been written by a man who genuinely felt betrayed.
Other highlights on the album included a cover of the murder ballad “Banks of the Ohio.” Ireland also recorded a song Chimesfreedom ranked among the most depressing Christmas songs ever, “Christmas Past.”
Try Again
As noted above, Learning to Live did not sell well despite some glowing reviews, including this recollection from Hillbilly at Harvard about a 1999 performance. Then, in 2002, Ireland released a second album with Holler, Try Again. The album features some bigger arrangements on songs like the honky-tonk title track, “Try Again.”
Ireland’s sophomore album continues using themes still tempered with reality. One of the highlights is Ireland’s excellent cover of Charlie Rich’s “Life Has Its Little Ups and Downs,” which was written by Rich’s wife Margaret Ann Rich.
But Ireland was much happier around the time of this album. So, many of the songs show some rays of hope. “I’d Like To” is one of the songs on the album also featured in a bonus disk version.
Disappearance From the Music Industry
As of today, that seems to be it for music from Mike Ireland & Holler. Many who have heard Ireland’s music find a deep connection to it, as do I. At least one writer has called Ireland’s second album a “masterpiece,” while another called his first album “timeless.” But unfortunately, not enough people have heard his wonderful music.
One may wonder what Mike Ireland has been doing since his last album came out in 2002. A more recent mention of him mentions a December 2005 Mike Ireland and Holler show at Mike’s Tavern in Ireland’s hometown Kansas City. A video posted in 2011 shows an older Holler in fine voice performing “Learning to Live Again” as part of “the reclamation project concert.” It may be from 2011, but the date of the performance is unclear. At the same concert, Ireland also performed “Happy Today” with Kansas City band Howard Iceberg & the Titanics backing him up.
One clue to Ireland’s whereabouts come from a comment on a YoutTube video, claiming that Ireland is semi-retired. But it is unclear how that person got the information.
Some of the musicians who played with Ireland continued to make music. Another musician who played drums with Holler, Matt Brahl, went on to play with a number of bands, including The Hardship Letters, Potter’s Field, The Naughty Pines, and The Liz Finity Affair. Other band members included Michael Lemon, Paul Lemon, and Dan Mesh. And Mesh went on to play with Howard Iceberg and the Titanics (meaning that it could be Mesh in the blue shirt backing Holler on guitar in the more recent video of “Happy Today” posted above, although I cannot find a picture of Mesh to confirm).
One may wonder if Mike Ireland’s exit from the music industry might partly be related how his music career connected directly to a sad time in his life. Playing his songs of heartbreak must bring back painful memories. Additionally, every interviewer always brought up the breakup of his marriage.
Perhaps Ireland no longer wanted to bear that wound so publicly. Other artists have created great works resulting from pain. But, for example, when Frank Sinatra documented his relationship with Ava Gardner in In the Wee Small Hours, that album became just one part of a vast catalog. For Ireland, both of his albums remain connected to his heartbreak and his recovery.
Hopefully, Ireland is somewhere still singing and writing songs. And I hope that more people eventually discover his beautiful music. But I also hope he is happy.
{Update} In 2018, Cousin Banjo on Twitter pointed me to Ireland’s current career, writing movie reviews for KC Active, an online newspaper devoted to news and entertainment information for the Kansas City metro area. He is a member of the Kansas City Film Critics Circle. Ireland also has a website of movie reviews, The Rest Is Advertising, with his wife, Beck Ireland. The link features a photo of the couple, showing Mike still has his signature sideburns. They provide a great resource about film, so check out their reviews.
It’s great that Ireland continues to use his wonderful writing skills. Yet, even if the two albums are all the music we will ever hear from Mike Ireland & Holler, I’ll continue to cherish those albums. Maybe his disappearance from the stage is him just teaching us again that “Some Things You Lose.” Ah, but sometimes the journey is worth the pain of our losses (and sometimes you have to lose something to gain something else).
Anytime you have a bad day, put on this excellent song by Paul Thorn, “I Have a Good Day (Every Now and Then).” It is one of those songs that by the time it breaks into the chorus, you think you have heard the song all your life. I could listen to this song all day.
Before starting a music career, the Wisconsin-born Thorn was briefly a professional boxer and fought Roberto Durán. So he knows what it is like to take a punch and get back up again. He also knows how to sing a great song. “I Have a Good Day” appears on Thorn’s CD, So Far So Good LIVE (2006). You can check out some of the mp3s from the album, including “I Have a Good Day” on Thorn’s website here.
Check out the latest video by the Paul Thorn Band of “What the Hell is Goin’ On?” — a song written by Elvin Bisop from Thorn’s new album of the same name here. You may get a free download of the song through Thorn’s website or through the link below. For a review of the new CD, check out this article from No Depression. Thanks to Majel for introducing me to Thorn’s music.
What is your favorite Paul Thorn song? Leave your two cents in the comments.
Several years ago, I saw a performer named Teddy Morgan perform to a small bar crowd in Manhattan. Having already discovered Morgan’s music through two friends, I was disappointed there was not a larger crowd for someone who made such great music.
But it is a tough business. The ups and downs of the music world eventually probably led Morgan to shift his focus from his talented work as the front-man of a band to being a backing performer for actor-singer Kevin Costner in his band Kevin Costner & Modern West.
You have to do what you have to do to survive. And the change allowed Morgan to make a living and play before much larger crowds than he was seeing out on his own. But I miss the music he might have made if he had continued on his prior path.
Teddy Morgan’s Early Career
Morgan grew up as a talented guitarist in Minneapolis recording his first album, Ridin’ in Style (1994), with a focus on blues. Allmusic lists an album from 1995 called Teddy Morgan & the Sevilles, but I have not been able to find it.
Although Morgan’s albums featured his singing, on other projects he often loaned his guitar skills to make other singers look good too. For example, he played guitar in a performance from 1994 backing up singer Candye Kane on the blues.
Below is another early Morgan performance where Morgan sings lead on a song when he was still focused on the blues. Here, he performs “Dear Ted Letter” with the Sevilles (Eric Mathew (bass), Esten Cooke (drums)) in July 1994 at the 19th Anniversary of Antone’s in Austin, Texas. July 12, 1994.
For me, though, Morgan’s best work so far came in his next four albums. Although the blues continued to color his work, these next albums blended his blues influences into albums that tended more toward roots-rock. Bob Dylan influenced Morgan’s music too, as Morgan occasionally covered some Dylan songs.
Louisiana Rain & Lost Love & Highways
His style shift reflected a geographic move after Kim Wilson of The Fabulous Thunderbirds heard the young Morgan in a bar and convinced him to move to Austin. Morgan’s next albums — Louisiana Rain (1996) and Lost Love & Highways (1999) — showed the influences of rock and roll as well as country music on his blues style.
Below is “Baby Don’t Leave Me” from Louisiana Rain (a song that at least one band, The Jelly Blues, has covered).
Lost Love & Highways included a sharp band called the Pistolas. NPR and Entertainment Weekly’s Ken Tucker selected Lost Love & Highways as one of the best albums of the year. But apparently the sales were not there.
Below is the title song from Lost Love & Highways, showing the country influence:
In 2000, Morgan made another geographic shift, moving to Arizona. Morgan then released two more albums on small or independent labels: Crashing Down (2003) and Freight(2003).
I saw Morgan perform live soon after the release of Freight, which may be his best album. But by that time, he was reduced to trying to sell the CD out of a cardboard box on breaks during his performances. I bought two copies from him.
One of my favorite Morgan originals is the song, “Along the Way,” which is a great combination of blues and rock with a little twang.
Yet, it was clear that after four albums, Morgan was far from being supported by a big label.
Move to Nashville & Joining Kevin Costner
It appears with a relatively disappointing solo career, Morgan used his talents in other ways. He moved to Nashville, and he played on CDs for other performers. He also worked as a producer and used his other vast talents to stay in the music business.
And at some point, because of Morgan’s talents and based upon the recommendation of John Coinman, Kevin Costner asked Morgan to join his band Modern West.
Teddy Morgan still maintained his own website for awhile after joining Modern West. But it is focused on promoting his work with other artists like Alternate Routes and Tim Warren as opposed to promoting his own solo music. Morgan also has performed with The Alternate Routes in addition to his gigs with Modern West. By 2017, Morgan abandoned his own website for a period. In 2021, we learned through him that he has a new website about his songwriting and work producing other artists.
More recently, Morgan played guitar on and produced “Love Shine” for Kevin Costner and Modern West. The band released the video in June 2017.
I understand that, like all of us, Morgan has to make a living. Unlike many others, he is fortunate to be using his talents in something he loves. And I am thankful for the music Teddy Morgan has made. I am a fan of Kevin Costner’s movies and do not begrudge him pursuing other artistic endeavors either. Modern West consists of talented musicians.
But I still wish Costner would occasionally let Morgan play “Along the Way” on stage. And I wish Morgan were making more music on his own.
By himself, though, Morgan probably never had a crowd anywhere near as big as this one with Kevin Costner singing Bob Dylan’s “Mr Tambourine Man.” When you watch the video, Morgan is on the far right side of the screen.
Who is your favorite side-person in a famous band? Leave your two cents in the comments. November 2016 Update: Apparently, Teddy Morgan no longer maintains a website for his own music.
If you like banjo and some nice harmonies, you should check out The Vespers if you have not done so already. The Nashville Americana/folk quartet is made up of sisters Callie Cryar and Phoebe Cryar and brothers Bruno Jones and Taylor Jones. Below is their video for the song “Lawdy.”
The song appears on the band’s second album, The Fourth Wall, which was released in 2012. The Vespers formed in 2009 and have attracted some attention with their two albums, both of which were released independently. If you would like more of a sample from the Cryar sisters and the Jones brothers, you may hear the entire album of The Fourth Wall below by pressing the play button. [2015 Update: The option to play the whole album is no longer available.]
The Vespers are giving away a free download of a track off the album using the “Free Download” button. Or you can go to their Noisetrade website to get a download of the album for whatever donation you want to give to help support their music. For more information about the band, check out the bios of the members and an article in the Huffington Post.
What is your favorite track on “The Fourth Wall”? Leave your two cents in the comments.
For every musician who hits it big, there are many more who release an album or two and disappear for various reasons. We have written about some of those artists who have created some great music and then disappeared from center stage, such as 
on Signal to Noise. He is accompanied by the members of his band Holler — Mike Lemon, Paul Lemon, and Dan Mesh. Check it out.
. The album features some bigger arrangements on songs like the honky-tonk title track, “Try Again.”
Several years ago, I saw a performer named Teddy Morgan perform to a small bar crowd in Manhattan. Having already discovered Morgan’s music through two friends, I was disappointed there was not a larger crowd for someone who made such great music.
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