jd meatyard
singer songwriter activist
'A Long and A Winding Road' new album release download/ CD at jdmeatyard1.bandcamp.com
May 24th
singer songwriter activist
'A Long and A Winding Road' new album release download/ CD at jdmeatyard1.bandcamp.com
May 24th
Glasgow born John Donaldson aka Jd Meatyard, a DNA line from Dungannon to Glasgow and on thru Darwen, Liverpool, Manchester and Rotterdam to Malaga. stories to tell! Starting with skiffle nights at home with ma n da, sisters and brother banging the songs out on busted guitars and my beats from a floor tom… joining the bands then was au na
Glasgow born John Donaldson aka Jd Meatyard, a DNA line from Dungannon to Glasgow and on thru Darwen, Liverpool, Manchester and Rotterdam to Malaga. stories to tell! Starting with skiffle nights at home with ma n da, sisters and brother banging the songs out on busted guitars and my beats from a floor tom… joining the bands then was au naturel! Side Effect, Levellers 5 then Calvin Party… and, now, many albums as Jd Meatyard.
Side Effect a band in the milltown with that mix of fave covers morphing into the writing of our own… a single of the week in MM, radio plays and gigs gathering some momentum… 7” single releases ‘Watch Me Dance’ and ‘Business is Business’. JD with Gordon Huxley, Terry Walsh, Ian Almond and Dave almond.
Then a shift on to Levellers 5 in the 90’s… an anarchic band of beats and sonics much beyond the mainstream, playing to packed shows and breaking the eardrums… as BBC radio John Peel stated - “ Levellers 5 ‘Springtime’ one of the best albums of the year”. Here began the BBC Peel sessions down at Maida Vale studios in London
Levellers 5 ran it’s course, Hamburg excesses and London head losses, we split and, for JD, came… Calvin Party.
1993 CP debut alum ‘Life and Other Sex Tragedies’ again on Probe Plus records. Backed again on BBC radio and many indie radio shows and BBC John Peel sessions “ Calvin Party songs as excellent as ever” and “one of the greatest
Levellers 5 ran it’s course, Hamburg excesses and London head losses, we split and, for JD, came… Calvin Party.
1993 CP debut alum ‘Life and Other Sex Tragedies’ again on Probe Plus records. Backed again on BBC radio and many indie radio shows and BBC John Peel sessions “ Calvin Party songs as excellent as ever” and “one of the greatest undiscoverd bands”. JD, Carole Fleck joined by Dave Thom, Cam Donaldson, Gav Whelan and Phil Hayes… band changes along the way, Cathy Brooks, Vinita Boyle, Dan Hadley et al contributing to well received albums ‘Lies Lies and Government’, ‘Never as Black’ and ‘Godard’s Girlfriend’
Using yet another narrative life change as a trigger, JD headed for a different musico angle, the closing of Calvin Party and the start of the ’solo singer songwriter’ mode… thus, Jd Meatyard is born! Thanks to foto artist Kenny Brown.
All releases from L5, Calvin Party and JD available here jdmeatyard1.bandcamp.com
'Live The Life' and all other albums available here jdmeatyard1.bandcamp.com
October 2022, 'Album Of The Month' is 'Live The Life' by JD Meatyard, and is chosen by the International Songwriters Association,
NEW ALBUM RELEASE & GIGS TO COINCIDE IN MARCH. EIRE GIGS
21 MARCH LIMERICK RECORD ROOM
22 MARCH CLONAKILTY DE BARRAS
23 MARCH KINSALE FIELDS BAR
24 MARCH WEXFORD CASEY'S
25 MARCH DUBLIN ANSEO BAR CAMDEN ST.
John Peel BBC Radio 1. “Springtime by Levellers 5, one of the best albums of the year". ...... “JD Meatyard offers proof that thrilling, visceral, directly political music is still available for those wishing to scratch beneath the surface" Andrew Neil, Louder Than War. ...... “You don't forget a JD Meatyard live performance and you certainly don't leave it with any uncertainties about where he stands”
Mark Whitby, Unwashed Territories........ “JD Meatyard is so much more than yet another singer songwriter...’Never Seen A Kid Born Bad’ hangs in your head all day, ’10 Miles Low’ rocks out and ‘Satisfied Heart’ is indescribably beautiful. ‘Taking The Asylum’ is a superb and superlative album” Nick Toczec, Rock n Reel... ... •“A great album, choc full of hits if we can get people to listen” BBC On The Wire