After undergoing many musical shapes and forms over the decades, West Tennessee multi-instrumentalist John Christie started making solo material in 2019. These songs caught the ear of other better known artists, one of whom urged him to come up with a new name for his project. Christie chose CATHOLIC SCHOOL as a new moniker and took to the studio in 2020, reaching deep into his past as a recovering drug addict.
Today, we’re giving you his newest single called “So Alone,” a b-side from “Needle In The Storm” digital 7″, released in cooperation with Maudlin Jerk label.
John constructed a debut, self-titled EP built on the memory of lost loved ones, incarceration and undying friendship. With the help of local Memphis artist Ben Ricketts the album was completed over a year later and was released on Cercle Social Records as a cassette and digitally by Christie’s Maudlin Jerk.
Comments John Christie: “The reason I went with the Thunders cover, aside from him being a necessary cog in the history of what we do is, is that I feel like it was rare, even then (even rarer now), to find someone who actually lived what they were singing about. He walked the walk, much to his detriment. And I’ve always gotten the sense that he meant every word he was singing in that song. He seemed so all alone, even surrounded by people all of the time as he was.”
The “Needle in the Storm” 7″ follows scores of local shows and is the first release since Catholic School‘s debut.
