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There is something retro, though absolutely sincere, about Tenlons Fort. The project of Jack Gibson with various help from a number of talented folks, Tenlons Fort's songs recall seventies piano pop at it's best. The Golden Handshake, released last year, bounces with a brilliant melodic simplicity while Gibson's sometimes flair for high pitching vocals quivers with emotion. The sophomore album, Followed By Bad Luck will come out this summer and Gibson has shared two tracks from it below. Tenlons Fort opens the big premier party for the film These Days at Beerland on Saturday March 10, which will also feature performances by The Black and Brothers and Sisters this Friday at Beerland.


Profile: Tenlons Fort
singer songwriter/band leader Jack Gibson

Year Formed:
Tenlons Fort started as a noise letter to my friend Joseph Cordi in 1995. We were born on the same day and have always had a musical connection. I had bought a four track in Portland, Oregon and started recording. There was one copy of that tape and i mailed it to him. I really didn't have any songs so I would just make textures and sounds. Kind of like sonic youth's "diamond sea" but without the verse and chorus at the beginning. In Los Angeles during 1997 the first real batch of songs settled in i began playing solo shows and they slowly got better until around 2003. Most all of those songs are forgotten for the most part and the physical recordings not in my collection. In 2004 i was living in a warehouse with my dog. It was a workspace with maybe 40 studios in it, a few of us were there throughout the night. A piano that was collecting dust down one of the hallways was loaned to me and i started writing the songs for The Golden Handshake which to me is considered the first real Tenlons Fort album and the beginning of it being something real. I came back to Austin in July 2005 and recorded the album in Liberty Hill, Texas with my friends Joseph Cordi, Paul Schlichting, and John Thomomasson and then started playing the first shows with that line up soon after.

Members/Instruments played:
all these people have played in Tenlons Fort at some point in time.

Jack Gibson - songwriter, guitar, keyboards, bass, and producer
Joseph Cordi - piano
John Thomasson - bass/engineer
Paul Schlichting - Drums
Lauryn Turbo Gould - Flute
Fred Gibson - Guitar
Sam Gibson - Drums
Travis Bonnet - Drums
Mathew Hakala - Guitar
Derrek McCurdy - Bass
Brian Baker - Guitar
Kenny Grossman - Drums
Andrew Eatman - Bass
Chris Robinson - Drums
Paul Brainard - Steel Slide Guitar
Henna Chou - Cello

Albums Released:

"Believe" single released on LAST DAYS SOUNDTRACK 2005 MK2 records, film directed by Gus Van Sant
The Golden Handshake (2006 Haunted Maggot Records)
Followed By Bad Luck (Summer 2007 Haunted Maggot Records/TBD Major)

Influences:
Certain legendary musicians such as The Wilson Brothers, Jandek, and Elliott Smith have had a major influence on me believing in a life enriched by making music. Mostly my influences are things that are under the pop culture radar. Like climbing the Glastonbury Tor, or swimming in a lake with my dog, those things make me want to write. I'm also lucky to have friends who are making such incredible music with so much dedication and the desire to share it with other people. It really hit me last year in Austin. There are so many great and exciting bands here that all simultaneously have fun, stay inspired, and take the art and business really seriously. The goal is just to surround yourself with people that nurture creativity and completion, and stay away from the idea of trying to tear things apart all the time. My dad is the first person who i knew that wrote a song and that is a big influence that will always remain.

Strangest comment or comparison ever made about your music:
The strangest comment that I ever got from a performance or recording is during 2004, i recorded a song with Joseph Cordi for an internet Elliott Smith Tribute record. We were covering "True Love" a really rare track from the "Basement on a Hill" era. To me it's his best song that he ever wrote. It was a great experience. Someone on the message board said they liked it but "the singer sounded like a constipated alcoholic." I was drinking Tecate at the time, so they were probably right on.

Favorite Local Bands:
Austin is filled with history and depth when it comes to local bands. Growing up here in the 90's i got to see Agony Column, Twang Twang, and Coffee Seargents all bands that are basically unknown to today's scene. People like Griff at Cactus Cafe who has booked songwriters for over 25 years in austin could be considered one of my favorite local bands. but over the last two years Brothers and Sisters, David Israel, Karrie Hopper, Real Live Tigers, The Black, Trail, Ian Moore, the Places and Ethan Azarian have all blown my mind on a constant basis.

Favorite Local Venue:
Cactus Cafe, Beerland, Hole in the Wall

Upcoming Shows:
March 10th - Beerland Show- after the premiere of "These Days" a film shot in Los Angeles featuring an austin-filled soundtrack, including Brothers and Sisters, The Black, and Tenlons Fort.

March 21st - Hole in the Wall 9pm

Upcoming shows you're excited to see:
The madness is about to begin. SXSW and its offshoot underground day shows make Austin the craziest most wonderful place around.

Favorite Albums of the Past Year:
The Game - Doctor's Advocate
Brothers and Sisters – Self-titled
Sigor Rous - Takk
David Israel - These are the clothes we will wear when we are old
Karrie Hopper - an unusual move
Laz D - The Man Himself
Tenlons Fort - The Golden Handshake

Ideal band (past or present) to open for on a national tour:
Brian Wilson

Austin Sound Questions:
What/where exactly is tenlons fort and what are you guarding against?

WHAT -
I didn't know what the name meant for the first 8 years or so. But now Tenlons Fort describes the state you are in when you are comforted by the energy that surrounds you while you are doing something that you absolutely love. I am there when i play music, swim, make films, laugh with friends, experience love. Another meaning i discovered through the subject matter or feelings from some of the songs, Tenlons Fort could be the space or the box that you put all your emotions that are wrapped in fear, sadness, loneliness, confusion, uncertainty and self destruction inside. A friend said to me the other day. "Damn, i listened to your new album and i was kinda worried about you" I laughed and said "are you kidding i couldn't be further away from those emotions when playing these songs" He said "oh, it's like the blues?" and i said "Yes, exactly like the blues".

WHERE is it?
Right in front of you.

"The Golden Handshake" sounds a bit dirty, but then maybe that's just us. Care to elaborate on what the Golden Handshake is?

"The Golden Handshake" is a music industry term. Sometimes after working and then leaving a corporate entity, your former employer will offer you the "the golden handshake". basically its a payment and a promise that you will never divulge any company secrets during your retirement and remainder of days alive. My friend told me a story of someone in this position. I started thinking about it in musical terms, artists terms. What if a record company gave you a chance to be a musician and to release albums, but you knew that they would take it away at some point and you would half to disappear and never be able to play music again. I thought about all the musicians i have loved that have died and i just embellished their tales a bit. Thinking that there might be a be a collection of songs written by musicians who had signed "The Golden Handshake" somewhere on a island. I wrote certain songs from that perspective. Sang about Mr. Charlie and how he had escaped the record companies' clutches with a box full of master tapes. I just pretended to talk to him and he showed me some of the songs.