Jamie Marx is putting out a Jewish hard rock album titled In Pursuit this fall. In the lead-up to the release, the Pennsylvania-based cantor has a Jewish Voices on Rock series on his website. The blog posts are by Marx as well as other contributors, including yours truly. Jewish Voices on Rock featured my guest post yesterday, “What Goes into a Punk Rock Cover of the Shema?” I discussed the careful considerations Moshiach Oi! had for their rendition of “Shema Yisroel.” Singer Yishai Romanoff avoids…
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Michael Croland
Golem at My Wedding!
Posted on July 23, 2017I’ve been asking Golem to play my wedding for the past decade, since long before I met my wife, Tamara. I’d seen them at least 21 times previously, including one fake wedding and one real wedding. Last month, my dream came true: Golem played our wedding! In Chapter 4 of Oy Oy Oy Gevalt! Jews and Punk, I discussed how Golem is a klezmer-rock band with a punk edge. But at the end of the day, they’re not a punk rock band.…
Presentation at My Childhood Synagogue
Posted on May 21, 2017On Wednesday, I gave a presentation about Oy Oy Oy Gevalt! Jews and Punk at South Huntington Jewish Center (SHJC) in Melville, New York. That’s where I attended Hebrew school and had my bar mitzvah, and my mom is still a member. It was an honor to be introduced by Rabbi Ian Jacknis, who was the rabbi at my bar mitzvah over 20 years ago. It was fitting to present a book that touched on so many facets of my Jewish identity (and…
One Year Since the Book Was Published
Posted on April 30, 2017Today marks one year since Oy Oy Oy Gevalt! Jews and Punk was published. It’s been a fun ride spreading Jewish punk cheer, with articles about the book, guest posts on other blogs, and great events! Oy Oy Oy Gevalt! Jews and Punk was reviewed or featured in Jewniverse, New Voices, Algemeiner, Rabbi Patrick Podcast, and Reviews by Amos Lassen. Abroad, it was reviewed or featured in the Jewish Telegraph (England), the European Institute of Jewish Music (France), and Hayom (Switzerland).…
Every Time I’ve Seen Daniel Kahn Live
Posted on April 18, 2017Check out my blog posts recapping all the times I’ve seen Golem, Moshiach Oi!, and the Shondes. Last night, I saw Daniel Kahn & The Painted Bird, which calls its music “Radical Yiddish Punkfolk Cabaret,” at Joe’s Pub in Manhattan. It was my eighth time seeing Berlin-based Kahn perform, including with Daniel Kahn & The Painted Bird, with other musical outlets, and as an actor. Below is a recap of all eight shows. (Update: The tally is now eleven!) While some Daniel Kahn…
Klunk: Klezmer-Punk from Paris
Posted on April 12, 2017I was happy to hear from Jean-Gabriel Davis a few months ago. Davis is the lead singer and pianist of a band called Klunk (short for “klezmer-punk”) in Paris. He also works at the European Institute of Jewish Music, and I was grateful for his nice review of Oy Oy Oy Gevalt! Jews and Punk. Klunk released their debut EP on March 23. Klunk takes Old World, klezmer songs in Yiddish and mixes them with punk rock and metal. It’s fusion…
Golem’s Fake Wedding
Posted on April 2, 2017On March 23, Golem, a klezmer-rock band with a punk edge, staged a fake wedding. It was an opportunity for Golem to perform a wide variety of songs and styles that they play at weddings but not their concerts. Golem also adapted a Jewish tradition of fake weddings from the Catskills. Singer/accordionist Annette Ezekiel Kogan told Hollywood Soapbox: I was actually reading a book about the Jewish hotels in the Catskill Mountains that were flourishing the ’50s and ’60s. So…
Punk Rock and the Book of Job at Artists’ Beit Midrash
Posted on March 19, 2017There’s an artists’ beit midrash (study hall) about the Book of Job at Town & Village Synagogue in Manhattan, led by rabbinic intern Bronwen Mullin. Students study Job, discuss art based on Job, and then create their own Job-related art. I was a guest lecturer for several sessions this month, focusing on punk rock songs about Job by two artists featured in Oy Oy Oy Gevalt! Jews and Punk: Steve “Gangsta Rabbi” Lieberman and Bad Religion. Gangsta Rabbi On March 1, the…
The Klezmatics: Apikorsim (Heretics)
Posted on March 11, 2017Three decades into their career, the Klezmatics released the album Apikorsim (Heretics) in November. In Oy Oy Oy Gevalt! Jews and Punk, I noted: The Klezmatics was also the first klezmer band to explicitly incorporate punk sensibilities into some of its music, albeit not as a defining quality that applied to all songs and not as a punk rock band. From the get-go, the Klezmatics looked to create “a new klezmer with a punk attitude,” as one album’s liner notes put…
Sam Miller of Yidwise and Jewish Music Underground
Posted on February 25, 2017In the Introduction of Oy Oy Oy Gevalt! Jews and Punk, I talked about how Jewish punk fit into a larger context of overtly Jewish music in the 21st century. Over the last decade and a half, the way that people have viewed the context of Jewish music across genres has evolved. I was intrigued this past August when Sam Miller, a college student in LA, launched a blog called Yidwise. He wrote on the site, “Yidwise looks at ALL Jewish…