ABOUT I WISH MY NAME WERE JACK

Performing Songwriter

Andy Mullen sports the rich baritone of Crash Test Dummies' Brad Roberts and a sense of humor somewhere between Bob Newhart and a classic cast of Saturday Night Live. On his latest release I Wish My Name Were Jack, Mullen will keep your foot tapping even as his lyrics bring a smile to your face.

"I think I'll be a writer, the author on your shelf/then maybe I'll start drinking, compromise my health," Mullen muses in "Salt Water Jam." Banjo, acoustic guitar and mandolin swing happily along. In "I'm Sorry Jeannie," Mullen issues a multitude of apologies in a sweeping, drunken slur. "I'm really sorry...how I described your breasts, and well you know the rest/I hope you still enjoyed the party, has anyone seen Artie? I think I threw up in his shoe..."

If we had the space we'd print more lyrics for you to enjoy, but instead we'll entice you with titles like "Vincent Van Gogh's Bad Ear" and "Footsteps On The Ceiling," and encourage you to listen for yourself.


***
CD Review.com

Give a listen to the cynical and laid back pop tunes of the “liquor-flavored tales of mental hangover, personal anguish and lighthearted folly.” Andy Mullen knows a good lick when he hears it, and in between hangovers has seemed to catalogue and album full of ‘em. -Jack Nuckolls


***
Hybrid Magazine

Andy Mullen's official website labels him "folk music's newest smart ass," but the title doesn't capture the breadth of his talent. As advertised, Mullen is a shameless class clown, but he is also a perceptive storyteller, an impeccable musician, and a versatile songwriter. His second album, I Wish My Name Were Jack, ultimately relies more on humanity than humor. It is as organic and genuine as the musical traditions from which it is drawn.

Mullen skillfully skirts the line between comedy and poetry and, outside of the occasional forced joke, he rarely misses a step. The opening track, "Salt Water Jam" is simple and stunning acoustic folk. The song also previews many of the album's recurring themes: travel, love, and a preoccupation with alcohol. The following track, "I'm Sorry Jeannie," is a not-so-subtle introduction to the exaggerated social misfits that appear frequently in Mullen's music. The song's narrator gives a lengthy, unconvincing apology for his drunken exploits at a party. Still, at its most solemn, I Wish My Name Were Jack is heartbreaking. "Brooklyn Rain," which sketches a conversation between a world-weary father and his son, brings the album to a reflective close. Whether he does it with a joke or the subtlety of a poet, all of Mullen's songs manage to create hope from sorrow.

I Wish My Name Were Jack plays like a portrait of a complex, skilled songwriter with a commitment to his craft. Mullen produced the album and played a staggering array of instruments, including guitar, piano, accordion, and mandolin. And, for an album with such drastic shifts in mood, nothing feels forced. Even when he pushes his joke-a-minute persona too far - "The Doghouse" is the most trying example - Mullen writes and performs with such sincerity that those moments are easy to overlook.

Mullen's eclectic talents as both a songwriter and a performer suggest that I Wish My Name Were Jack may just be the beginning. After all, Mullen recently left his job as a middle school English teacher to dedicate himself to his music. His idiosyncratic songs may never make him a household name, but he should have no trouble living comfortably on the fringes of music stardom for decades to come. In a world where albums like this are increasingly scarce, that's something to celebrate. -Dan Warren