Django Jones Announces New Family Folk Pop Album, D is for Django

Fans of the award-winning, folk-pop indie band Girlyman take heart! Last September brought the disbanding of Girlyman, but three of its members have reconstituted themselves as Django Jones, bringing Girlyman's sweet harmonies and irrepressible sense of fun to kids and families. Django Jones's debut family music album, D is for Django, will be released in April.

Girlyman traversed the U.S. and Europe for twelve years, wowing audiences with tight, three-part harmonies, heartfelt songwriting, freely improvised "tuning songs," and wildly unpredictable stage patter. Django Jones was inspired, in part, by the sheer number of underage Girlyman devotees. Parents would remark that their children were enchanted by the harmonies, the humor, and, most of all, the silliness of the made-up tuning songs.

When the time came to develop a family music repertoire, Doris Muramatsu, JJ Jones, and Nate Borofsky simply pretended they were kids again (it wasn't very difficult) and imagined what they would have liked to hear. The resulting album they cooked up, D is for Django, is replete with songs about germs, our 206 bones, and Bigfoot, seasoned with lullabies and served as musical nourishment for the "inner child" that is snuggled within all of us.

D is for Django is programmed so that energetic tunes comprise the first half of the album, with softer songs and lullabies making up the second half. The songs range from educational ("Bones" and "Counterpoint") to food-oriented ("Breakfast" and "Popcorn") to self-empowerment ("Smallest Breed" and "All That I See"), and the lulabies are capped by a stunning rendition of a traditional kundalini mantra ("Long Time Sun").

The album kicks off with "All That I See," a pop song about seeing people for the beautiful beings they are, which showcases Doris Muramatsu's glorious voice, backed up by gorgeous harmonies from her Django Jones colleagues layered over a mesmerizing, rhythmic ostinato. The musical motion is seconded with other highlights like "P-O-P," a fun, rockin' ode to the most popular "popped" movie treat, "Bigfoot," an unlikely romantic ballad that offers a tip of the musical hat to the Shangri-Las' teen melodrama from the '60s, "Leader of the Pack," and "Counterpoint," a brainy tune that demonstrates, in a most engaging fashion, just exactly what counterpoint in music is.

The D is for Django recording process was experimental and playful. Doris and Nate brought pans of Jiffy Pop to record the kernels popping on the stove for "P-O-P," and JJ danced around hitting practically every percussive instrument she has ever collected to produce the background "bones" for the Bones song. "It was such a relief to be silly again," says Doris, whose last few years have been shadowed by a leukemia diagnosis and eventual recovery, while she continued to tour with Girlyman. "I think Nate, JJ, and I didn't realize how much hardship we had gone through together while I was sick and touring, how much we needed to be playful and light. Making this record helped to heal us, and we rediscovered our joy through music."

D is for Django will be available at www.djangojonesband.com, CDbaby, iTunes, and other digital outlets. Pre-orders may be placed now at www.djangojonesband.com.

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