Doug Jerebine

101 Distribution/Drag City

In 2009 Doug Jerebine returned to the guitar. He had turned his back on the instrument – and his music career – in the 1970s, following the Hare Krishna faith.

Prior to that he had been one of the most promising Kiwi guitarists of the late 1960s, under the stage-name Jesse Harper; he had worked with long-running psychedelic rock band The Human Instinct.

His solo debut was recorded and never released. So what we have here – finally – is that solo album, now 43 years old.

The spirit of 1969 is obvious – but there’s a remarkable freshness. Jerebine’s ideas not only show Jimi Hendrix as an influence they point to where Hendrix might have gone. And for all the retro-rock and blues-referencing garage bands of today nothing quite sounds like the real thing. Fortunately this is very much the real thing – and we’re lucky to have it 40 years on.