Pittsfield High School English Teacher Releases New Album
Jim Reynolds performing in Harvest & Rust, a Neil Young tribute band. The English teacher says music is more than a hobby for him.
The name of his latest album, "Nothing Left to Borrow," captures his collaboration with local musicians, inspiration from popular artists and musical styles and his own experiences.
Reynolds has been an English teacher at Pittsfield High School for nearly 20 years and his students have also influenced some of his music through their writing and conversations with him.
"The songs in this album actually are inspired by various people. Some of them former students," he said.
"Ghost of a Broken Heart" was inspired by a former student who told Reynolds that she was struggling to handle relationships, jumping from one to another.
"You can't have a relationship if you have a ghost of a broken heart, something haunting you from the past. You've got to have a solid foundation before you can have a good, healthy relationship," he said he told her.
"So, that's when the germ of that got in my head, and then I started writing the lyrics to it. [With the] idea of the ghost of a broken heart, I had to tell that story, a little bit of her experiences and a little bit of my own to create the song."
His songs explore themes of loss, sadness, consequences, and self-reflection in his latest album, yet, with the exception of "Bad Liquor Blues," he intentionally shows that there is always hope.
Even if the subject matter is darker or more tragic, Reynolds said, quoting Martin Luther King Jr., "darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that."
This concept is established right from the beginning, with the opening song "You Gotta Rise," that Reyonds said, "is sort of the hit of the album."
The song kicks off with the lyrics "When I was a boy, I was filled with rage. Followed me 'round till I came of age. Felt it rise. Felt it rise. Then I became a man; I learned to let things slide because carrying anger only eats ya up inside. I had to rise, had to rise. I had to rise above the darkness to the light."
The motif of having to rise above is emphasized through the chorus, "You gotta rise. Still, you rise. You gotta rise above the darkness to the light."
Reynolds also pointed out that, in the end, it doesn't just say "you" or "I" have to rise; it changes to "we" have to rise above the darkness because, as a society, there is a lot of darkness we have to rise above.
Although he had an idea of what he wanted his songs to be in his head, the self-taught artist didn't know how to produce it.
The album, which was recorded at Frank Kennedy's home studio in Hancock, included contributions from artists Dave Lincoln, John Kiernan, Seth Fleischmann, Steve Ide, Jason Webster, Tor Krautter, Andy Gordon, Dave Vittone, Joe Roseand, and Jessy Greene.
"I borrowed little pieces of all the bands I've loved and things from people that I've learned. ['Nothing Left to Borrow' is] also the title of a Jayhawks song, and they're one of my favorite bands, so it's like an ode to one of my favorite bands," Reynolds said.
"And I borrowed so much from everybody's talent. All these Berkshire artists, I borrowed all their talent. There are little hints of lines from songs that have meant something to me over the years."
He hopes his music in a way pays it forward to help others the way listening to influential artists like Johnny Cash, The Beatles, the Jayhawks and Paul McCartney helped him during his formative years.
In fact, Reynolds' album cover is based on Paul McCartney's for "Band on the Run."
From a very young age, music has been a pillar in his life. Their songs helped him through a number of traumatic experiences, such as his father abandoning his family when he was 10, the death of a couple of friends, and the death of John Lennon in 1980.
He found comfort in listening to The Beatles and Cash during difficult times in his life. He remembers the day music changed him forever.
He was sitting in the kitchen coloring in his Captain America coloring book when the Beatles' "Let It Be" came on the radio. He stopped and listened to it intently. The music entangled his heart from that moment, and he became a "different person," he said.
In 1985, Reynolds got his first shot at making music. He remembers watching the band Double Take jam in the backroom of his high school and desperately wanted to join.
Noticing they didn't have a bass player, he went to a tag sale, bought a red 1960s Hagstrom, and learned how to play with the band members' help.
He performed with them for the first time on Nov. 17, 1985, for the Mount Everett Regional School talent show during his senior year and has been making music ever since.
In 1987, he co-founded the local band Wishful Thinking, which disbanded in August 2001 and has played or worked with a number of musicians on side projects and played on various local albums by artists including Todd Mack and Tom Ingersoll.
The album is available on all streaming services, including Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes, and more. More information here.
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