Johnny Society is an American rock band from New York City.

Biography

Johnny Society was formed in 1996 by multi-instrumentalist Kenny Siegal and Brian Geltner. They released a self-titled album as Hunk on Geffen in 1996, but disbanded less than a year after their album came out, only for Siegal and Geltner to reunite shortly thereafter under their new identity. Meanwhile, they had already begun experimenting and writing songs on the side with Indian-trained musician

Chris Rael Chris Rael is an eclectic American musician, singer, composer, and songwriter. He is the founder and leader of Indo-pop band Church of Betty, based in New York City. He has composed, recorded, and produced more than 25 CDs, collaborating with ar ...

in a project they called The Hand, which released an album (''Mule Me'') before re-forming Johnny Society. Their debut album, ''It Don't Matter'', was recorded and released in 1997, after which Rael left the band to give his full-time to the reconvened Church of Betty. Wood arrived the following year with additional contributions from Rael, The Hand live keyboardist Jan Kotik,

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, and labelmate

Chris Whitley Christopher Becker Whitley (August 31, 1960 – November 20, 2005) was an American blues/rock singer-songwriter and guitarist. Whitley's sound was drawn from the traditions of blues, jazz and rock and he recorded songs by artists from many g ...

. The album was named to the "Top Ten List of Independent Records of 1998" by The

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

at year's end. Johnny Society became a trio in 1999 when Gwen Snyder (who also records under the moniker Blueberry) joined in time to record the band's third album, ''Clairvoyance'', released at the beginning of 2000. ''Clairvoyance'' was named "Album of the Year" at the 2002 Independent Music Awards by a panel of judges that included

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Me'Shell NdegéOcello Meshell Ndegeocello ( ; born Michelle Lynn Johnson on August 29, 1968) is an American singer-songwriter, poet, and bassist. She has gone by the name Meshell Suhaila Bashir-Shakur which is used as a writing credit on some of her mid-career work. ...

Mitchell Froom Mitchell Froom (born June 29, 1953) is an American musician and record producer. He was a member of the bands Gamma and Latin Playboys, and is the keyboardist for Crowded House. He has produced albums for several artists, including David LaFl ...

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Wilson Pickett Wilson Pickett (March 18, 1941 – January 19, 2006) was an American singer and songwriter. A major figure in the development of soul music, Pickett recorded more than 50 songs that made the US R&B charts, many of which crossed over to the '' ...

Victoria Williams Victoria Williams (born December 23, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter and musician, originally from Shreveport, Louisiana, United States, although she has resided in Southern California throughout her musical career. Diagnosed with multi ...

, and

George Duke George Martin Duke (January 12, 1946 – August 5, 2013) was an American keyboardist, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer. He worked with numerous artists as arranger, music director, writer and co-writer, record producer and as ...

. ''Life Behind the 21st Century Wall'' (2003) and ''Coming to Get You'' (2005) followed.

Discography

*''Hunk'' (1996, Geffen) *''It Don't Matter'' (1997, Messenger) *''Wood'' (1998, Messenger) *''Clairvoyance'' (2000, Messenger) *''Life Behind the 21st Century Wall'' (2003, Messenger) *''Coming to Get You'' (2005, Messenger)

References

External links

MySpace Myspace (formerly stylized as MySpace, currently myspace; and sometimes my␣, with an elongated Whitespace character#Substitute images, open box symbol) is a social networking service based in the United States. Launched on August 1, 2003, it w ...

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Messenger Records Messenger Records is an independent record label. Based out of New York City, USA, the label was started by Brandon Kessler during his time in college in 1996. The label has released albums by Chris Whitley (in 1998 Dirt Floor), Dan Bern (in 20 ...

Johnny Society Johnny Society is an American rock band from New York City. Biography Johnny Society was formed in 1996 by multi-instrumentalist Kenny Siegal and Brian Geltner. They released a self-titled album as Hunk on Geffen in 1996, but disbanded less th ...

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

Johnny Society
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Brightcove Brightcove, Inc. is an American software company based in Boston, Massachusetts, that produces an online video platform. Founded in 2004 by Jeremy Allaire and Bob Mason, the company went public in 2012, and in 2025 was acquired by Bending Spoons. ...

* {{Authority control Alternative rock groups from New York (state) Indie rock musical groups from New York (state) Independent Music Awards winners