Garland Jeffreys

Thanks to Debra Rothenberg for this great photo.

By Etan Rosenbloom, Associate Director & Deputy Editor, Communications & Media

The Sundance ASCAP Music Café always showcases a treasure trove of ASCAP songwriting talent, and our 2012 crop of performers is no different. To help whet your appetite for our eight-days of programming (or to make you jealous if you're not going to Sundance this year), here's a brand new video from Garland Jeffreys, who's one of the oldest hands at the songwriting game we're featuring this year and still kicks butt live.

Jeffreys is a rock 'n' roll veteran. His 70's single "Wild in the Streets" became something of an anthem for skatepunks worldwide, but he's diverse a songwriter as they come. His work encompasses reggae grooves and deep soul, acoustic Americana and electrified rock; his 1992 album Don't Call Me Buckwheat established him as one of the keenest documenters of the complexities of race in America that we've got. The above song "Love Is Not a Cliche," taken from his first domestically-released album in a loooong time, The King of In Between, has a southwestern blues feel and Jeffreys' typically non-cliché (ahem) insights.

Garland Jeffreys plays afternoon sets at the Sundance ASCAP Music Café on Sunday, 1/22 and Monday, 1/23. Stop on by to check him out.