Garland Jeffreys

He's been called an edgy urban poet, the sound of New York, a confessional singer-songwriter, and an explorer of the links between rock, race and rebellion whose work should be taught in schools. More than a dozen years had passed without an American album from Jeffreys when he came roaring back into the spotlight with 2011's The King of In Between. Hailed by NPR as "as good a classic roots rock record as you're going to hear from anybody," the record earned raves from The New Yorker to USA Today and fueled a creative revitalization for the homegrown rocker, whose ebullient, late-stage creative energy colors every note of his next records, Truth Serum (2013) and 14 Steps to Harlem (2017). With songs covered by artists as diverse as punk pioneers The Circle Jerks ("Wild in the Streets") the neo-folk band Vetiver ("Lon Chaney") and jazz great Randy Brecker ("Ghost Writer") Garland Jeffreys is truly unclassifiable. Long known for his amazing roster of supporting musicians, with names such as Dr. John, Sonny Rollins, James Taylor, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Larry Campbell, Duncan Sheik, Phoebe Snow, Sly and Robbie and The Rumour, and more than fifty years into his storied career, Jeffreys has no intention of slowing down. A feature-length documentary is in the works sourcing decades of interviews, from 70's New York radio to the Yale University Oral Music Archives, offering an intimate portrayal of this deeply personal and autobiographical writer. With access to rare photos, performance footage, candid scenes at home, and interviews with peers such as Graham Parker and Vernon Reid and admirers like Harvey Keitel, Paul Auster and Laurie Anderson, this film introduces this influential and iconoclastic artist to the wider audience he deserves.