Doug Monks wrote his first song, titled Joanne, in 1985, on a bartered for Sears Vantage Les Paul copy.  Fast forward, and deep into a  20 year relationship with his Taylor, Doug and his guitar remain inseparable. Throughout that period, and except for a brief moment in time, Doug has kept his artistic efforts close to his heart and without promotion. As he states, “I have always considered my ability to create anything musically a gift from a much higher power and I have always been, sometimes unreasonably, protective of my relationship with that power. I have forever struggled with the concepts of ego, pretension and vanity.”
The first collection of Doug’s songs were copywritten as a book of poetry entitled Emily Says. For a brief 4 year span that book was performed by a group of the same name. Emily Says, formerly known as Jim Powers Inc., performed over 300 times up and down the eastern seaboard supporting their debut effort; Fall ’01, and developing a significant
following. Including musicians Bill Mutchler (drums), Mike Alicke (guitar) and Rob Kelly (bass), the band was in the early stages of their sophomore effort, Star King Grange, when things came to a sudden and unexpected halt. Aside from the release of the Conduit; a live recording of their final performance, Emily Says never performed together again.
After so many years of living life to its fullest, raising a family of four and a professional career, Doug never lost his passion for writing. In fact, he has become even more prolific and passionate about his craft as time has gone by, copywriting well over 100 + songs. In the recent years Doug’s family started pushing him to share his passion and make his art more visible to others. Not only did they push, but they got intimately involved with the process including song co-writing, videography, photography, website design and marketing. All while providing motivation and encouragement for Doug to continue creating music. The results of this supportive energy is two collections of material, My Brother’s Tribe and Couch Chronicles. A third, Fire, is currently in progress with an expected release by Winter 2021. Additionally, now operating under the moniker of My Bother’s Tribe, an official website was launched at the completion of Couch Chronicles; mybrotherstribe.com.
Doug Monks’ music has a unique, heartfelt, acoustic sound that contains a dance-able beat with contagious melodies. Well written lyrics that seem to be suitable to all perspectives, sung by his deep soulful voice allows the listener with an opportunity to self reflect on many common themes we all experience as we walk through this life of ours. As he states….”It all starts with a melody and the rhythm of the lyrics. That comes first. I can sing a song with no words for years until that moment the words are gifted to me.” He does not take credit for his writing, but feels the words are already written and he is just fortunate to channel them into his music. After 35 years of playing daily, he still considers his abilities a gift.