Artwork by Tony Wedick

The Project

In 2018 and 2019, Joe Jencks wrote a slew of what Tom Paxton refers to as “short shelf-life songs.” Sadly, some of those songs remain inconceivably germane to the current Zeitgeist.

Jencks recorded but never released either of these two songs. Hoping their relevance was short-lived, he reserved them for the concert stage. But the times call for every prophetic voice to come forward and speak truth in a time of lies and insanity. Music is an integral part of how “We the people…” respond to the advance of unconscionable agendas and behavior. With this double “single” release of It’s Not For Sale and I Lie, Jencks is letting these two horses out of the barn, and reminding listeners that we should not bite down on the bit that a rampant propaganda machine is trying to shove in our mouths.

Woody Guthrie once said that he wrote songs “to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.” May we all follow his lead in whatever discipline is our path. May we comfort those in need and overtly challenge those who wield power for their own aggrandizement, at the expense of the very foundations of Liberty.

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It’s Not For Sale ~ Copyright 2019, Joe Jencks / Turtle Bear Music / ASCAP

An upbeat, defiant, and yet humorous song written by Joe Jencks about the fact that Greenland is… Not For Sale! Penned in August of 2019 after a U.S. attempt to purchase Greenland and the dismissal of that notion by the Danish Prime Minister, this song remains tragically relevant. Jencks recorded the song but never released it, hoping this was all such an absurd blip in time that the song would be irrelevant before it could reach radio. The refusal of the Danish Prime Minister to capitulate to the toxic intersection of greed and authoritarianism got her tagged as a “Nasty Woman.”

I Lie ~ Copyright 2018, Joe Jencks / Turtle Bear Music / ASCAP

An earnest song written in 2018 by Joe Jencks about the lack of truth in the advancing madness. This song is more relevant now than when it was written. Joe performed this song live on many occasions but never released it in recorded form. However, the time for all truth-tellers to stand up and bear witness is NOW. "I Lie" is a song written in a voice so prophetic that its veracity, sadly, becomes more salient with every passing day.

Recorded, Mixed, and Mastered at Tonal Park Studios in Takoma Park, MD ~ by Charlie Pilzer.

Produced by Joe Jencks

Voice & Guitar: Joe Jencks

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