Jessie Kilguss releases her sixth album ‘They Have A Howard Johnson’s There’, a powerful collection steeped in sweet nostalgia, divine inspiration and sophistication. The songstress drives her classic vintage automobile straight into the heart of American mythology with European art house sensibility. Charlie Nieland, who has worked with Debbie Harry, Rufus Wainwright, Blondie and Scissor Sisters, engineered, produced, mixed and mastered the album at Saturation Point Studios in Brooklyn. The album involves heavy hitters like Kirk Schoenherr, John Kengla, Andrea Longato, Rob Heath, Dave Derby and Rembert Block.
The near title track “Howard Johnson’s” is a beautiful, melancholic tribute to her late father Howard, name checked in a surreal line by Al Pacino in the movie ‘Dog Day Afternoon’. “This is a collection of songs I’ve written over the past few years, most being inspired, at least in part, by a book (Elena Ferrante’s ‘The Lost Daughter & Neapolitan Quartet’), a movie (‘Dog Day Afternoon’) or a work of art (‘The Ecstasy of St Teresa’),” Kilguss says. “The title comes from a line in the song ‘Howard Johnson’s’, which is a roundabout tribute to my father Howard, who passed away in 2023.” The whole project is defined by a clever, layered nostalgia, as reflected in the era inspired video by Deborah Magocsi.
“I’ve been working on this album for the past year with producer Charlie Nieland, with whom I have been collaborating since 2007,” Kilguss says. “We started every track with just voice and guitar and built them out from there. Previously, I’ve always gone into the studio with my band to record. This was an interesting way to work as we deconstructed each song and then put them back together.” The former actress cut her teeth working with Daniel Day Lewis and Winona Ryder on ‘The Crucible’, as well as Marianne Faithfull and Mary Margaret O’Hara in the Tom Waits and William Burroughs musical ‘The Black Rider’. Kilguss also sings with Gramercy Arms, the Loser’s Lounge, Jim Andralis and the Syntonics and Benjamin Cartel.