Jack Chernos has written
songs of historical significance, including: •
"Sold Down the River," the song played
in continuous-loop from the Steelworkers' billboard
truck on the tear gas-hazed streets of Seattle
during the WTO protests; • "The Union
Grand," theme song of the Million Worker March
on Washington,
DC; • “Walk out of Jerusalem,”
theme song for the 5 Million Peace March on Jerusalem
in 2007; and
• "The Silence of Good People,"
which has been inducted into the National Civil
Rights Museum.
Jack Chernos has busked or gigged in almost every
type of venue: picket lines, police barricades,
music festivals, rock clubs, churches, subways,
community centers, auditoriums, trade union meetings,
government buildings, from flatbed trucks, and in
corporate and pirate radio stations. From San Francisco’s
Paradise Lounge to Manhattan’s Arlenes Grocery
to the University of Nuremberg, Jack has been there
with his small amp and large songs. He's been booed
off a stage in Nashville, been arrested at machine
gun-point for attempting to perform for a particularly
unreceptive audience, and played for crowds of tens
of thousands.
Jack plays keyboards, guitar, lap steel, bass,
trumpet, saxophone, and harmonica. But three years
ago he picked up a banjo and realized banjo is the
instrument he was born to play. Within six weeks
he was gigging on banjo, and eight months later
he received an endorsement deal from Deering Banjo
Co. This singularly American instrument has been
instrumental in the development of his unique style
of music: punk/folk banjo.
|