CLAJR and her band (which includes legendary bassist Fred Smith from Television) joined forces with producer James Mastro (Health & Happiness Show, Ian Hunter) at Hoboken’s Pigeon Club Studios to record
Know What I Mean?. "We used a lot of great vintage gear and various cool toys (including an early-model cordless phone) and pushed it into the 21st century." This approach was perfect for the panoramic emotional landscape of Courtney’s songs.
Listening to Know What I
Mean?. is like taking a walk through the Lower East Side of NY in which
CLAJR lives. “My block is a microcosm of the city. It’s got the soup kitchen, the hot spot, the taxi stand, the trash, the rats, the media whores."
The CD's songs reflect the intense variety of that experience with a
mysterious, cinematic quality.
From the burgeoning days of the East Village roots-rock scene, when Courtney & Western issued blue-vinyl singles for the Diesel Only label to the present, Courtney Lee Adams Jr. has always been regarded as a powerful songwriter and performer. "At this point, I've embraced all my influences. The country's still there, but a lot of new people moved in to the neighborhood, know what I mean?"
The
same stellar lineup from the CD plays live with CLAJR, including the
extraordinary guitarist Rich Feridun (also of Tammy Faye Starlite),
ace drummer Tom DeVito (Professor & Maryann) and
ubiquitous producer and sideman James Mastro.
Courtney formerly led an alternative-country
band called Courtney & Western, on the Brooklyn-based Diesel
Only label. Her songs from that group continue to receive
international airplay, and have been licensed for use in the
feature films Love & A .45 (and was happily sandwiched between
Roger Miller and Johnny Cash on the Sony-released soundtrack of
that film) and Cold Around The Heart.