+ Dave Bielanko
Jesse Malin has been making music since he was 12. After fronting hardcore punk band Heart Attack in the 80s, he spent eight years as the face of glam punks D Generation. D Generation released three albums before disbanding in 1999, which saw something of a departure musically for Malin.

Having always been a punk with a big heart, his love of great songwriters such as Tom Waits, Neil Young & Steve Earl began to influence his work much more & he spent the next two years developing a fresh, countrified sound.

Ex-Whiskytown front man Ryan Adams was impressed with Malin’s new work & jumped at the chance to produce Malin’s debut solo album, even though he had never produced an album before. ‘The Fine Art of Self Destruction’ was recorded in just six days & was released in the UK in October 2002. The first single ‘Queen of the Underworld’ gained him immediate attention, with the British music press hailing his debut as one of the year’s best albums.

He has since collaborated with Ryan Adams to form the band The Finger, who released two EP’s which were later combined into the album ‘We Are Fuck You’.

He then contributed a version of ‘Hungry Heart’ to the benefit album ‘Light of Day: A Tribute to Bruce Springsteen’, an artist he is often compared to. He was also nominated for the Shortlist Music Prize. ‘Heat’, the follow up to his debut, appeared in June 2004, again accompanied by a string of live dates both here & in the states.

He recorded ‘Glitter in the Gutter’, his third album, which was released on March 20th 2007 and features guest spots from Bruce Springsteen & Jakob Dylan.

Malin’s latest release is a covers album titled ‘On Your Sleeve’, released on April 7th this year, containing covers of songs by artists such as Neil Young, Sam Cooke, The Hold Steady, The Ramones and Fred Neil.

Jesse Malin will be performing live at Manchester Academy 3 on Wednesday 14th May.