Jordan Klepper, Langhorne Slim

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courtesy Ames/Hashagen Entertainment

A close-up of Jordan Klepper.

Jordan Klepper

Many have offered opinions about the MAGA movement in the last decade, but fewer commentators have tried to engage with the movement’s supporters. One who has made the attempt is Jordan Klepper in his “Fingers the Pulse” segments on The Daily Show. Yes, some fun is poked as MAGAheads unwittingly conflict themselves, but there’s also a strong undercurrent of Klepper honestly trying to break through the cage of disinformation fostered by right-wing media. Klepper will share tales from the road on his current tour, which also features opening sets by singer-songwriter Langhorne Slim. 

media release: Jordan Klepper has been doing comedy for the better part of the last two decades. He is an Emmy winning co-host of The Daily Show on Comedy Central where he pulls double duty behind the chair and in the field. He’s a two time Emmy nominee for the specials “Jordan Klepper Fingers the Pulse: Into The MagaVerse” and “Jordan Klepper Fingers the Pulse: Hungary for Democracy,” both of which he wrote, starred in and executive produced. In addition, he was awarded a Walter Cronkite Award for excellence in television journalism. Part of his time he spends traveling the globe for The Daily Show with with his “Fingers The Pulse” segments which have garnered over a hundred million views, won him a Webby, sent him to the Emmy’s and the frontlines of the downfall of American Democracy on January 6th.

Beyond the Daily Show, Jordan has chronicled his experiences in the world of politics from essays on CBS Morning to Op-Ed’s for the Boston Globe.

He is the creator and star of the Comedy Central docu-series, KLEPPER. The show has been called “a fresh, powerful interpretation of news” (Detroit Free Press) that brings Klepper to “new comedic heights” (Vanity Fair). He was formerly host and executive producer of the weeknight Comedy Central talk show, THE OPPOSITION WITH JORDAN KLEPPER. 

Jordan joined The Daily Show in 2014 under Jon Stewart and continued after Trevor Noah took over as host in 2015 all the way until now where he pulls double duty behind the desk and in the field. During his time at The Daily Show, the show picked up an Emmy and Peabody award, and Klepper defined himself with both his studio work and segments in the field, ranging from his multi-part series exploring the reality of being a “Good Guy with a Gun“ to his field pieces at Trump rallies which have garnered millions of views. 

In June of 2017, his one-hour special JORDAN KLEPPER SOLVES GUNS premiered on Comedy Central and focused on the alarming legal obstacles and enlightening personal testimony surrounding the issue of gun violence in America. 

Klepper has also been seen on CNN, MSNBC, guest hosting Showtime’s “The Circus,” HBO's "NIGHT OF TOO MANY STARS," "The Who Was Show" on Netflix, BUNK on IFC, “Would I Lie To You” on the CW, FRIDAY NIGHT TAILGATE on the Big Ten Network, and @MIDNIGHT on Comedy Central as well as writing on multiple projects from MTV2's CHARLAMAGNE & FRIENDS to HBO's FERRELL TAKES THE FIELD. He was the voice of Pete on “The Ghost and Molly McGee” on the Disney Channel.

He’s toured the country with his stand-up/storytelling/power point stage show Suffering Fools. His Ted Talk on how to save democracy and lose at conversations has been seen by millions. 

On the podcast front he co-hosted “Kasich and Klepper” with former governor John Kasich as well as the “Fingers The Conspiracy” podcast with The Daily Show which he won a Webby for. He has also co-hosted “STAR TALK LIVE” with Neil deGrasse Tyson. His independent films, PEEPERS and TMI, have played at the Tribeca Film Festival and Slamdance. He spent nearly a decade in Chicago performing with THE SECOND CITY as well as I.O. In New York he was a regular at the UPRIGHT CITIZENS BRIGADE.

He was gifted the key to the city of Kalamazoo, Michigan which is frickin awesome for a kid from Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Trailblazing singer/songwriter Langhorne Slim has announced his new album The Dreamin’ Kind will release on January 16th through Dualtone Records. Produced by Greta Van Fleet’s Sam F. Kiszka, the 12-song collection finds the Nashville-based artist strapping on an electric guitar and embracing his longtime love of larger-than-life rock & roll. Slim also unveiled a pair of new songs from the album: “Haunted Man,” a hard-rocking juggernaut with a dreamy, harmony-drenched B section, and “Rock N Roll,” a propulsive, electrifying track accompanied by a jovial official video.

A pioneer of raw, rule-breaking Americana for more than two decades, Langhorne Slim embarks on a new sonic chapter with his ninth studio album and reaches far beyond the genre he helped inspire. With its chugging power chords, 1970s-sized riffs, and richly layered arrangements, The Dreamin' Kind is fueled not only by sheer amplification, but by the soul-baring songwriting that has become Slim's calling card. Tucked between those anthems are acoustic-driven songs that skirt the outer orbits of folk music, building a bridge between his past and present. The result is the most explorative and expansive album of his career: a record made for rock clubs, campfires, and garages alike, anchored by a lifelong desire to break down new walls.

"It felt like I was blowing some old shit up so I could plant some new flowers," said Slim. "I love acoustic music. I love folk music. But those aren't my only loves. Rock & roll has always tickled the same place in my soul as great singer-songwriter music, and I wanted to explore those influences. Raw songs that make you feel something: that's the stuff I'm after."

Following the release of his 2021 critically-acclaimed Strawberry Mansion - his debut on the Billboard 200 chart, stacked with songs inspired by his life-changing decision to get sober from prescription pills, earning praise from Rolling Stone, The Wall Street Journal, and NPR’s All Things Considered — Slim found himself opening for Greta Van Fleet in Connecticut. The Grammy-winning rockers were fans of Slim's music long before he hit the stage as their opening act. "I remember hearing Lost at Last, Volume 1 for the first time, and it absolutely resonated with me," says Kiszka. "He has the conviction of 100 singers. He puts his entire body and soul into it. Rock & roll isn't a sound, necessarily. It's an energy, and he's got it."

Back in Nashville, Slim began visiting Kiszka's house for a series of loose songwriting sessions. Greta Van Fleet's drummer, Daniel Wagner, joined them, adding swagger and stomp to the guitar riffs that Slim brought to the table. From the very first note, things felt different. "When I'm at home, I'm usually playing acoustic guitar on the couch, and I don't have much opportunity to plug in and rock out," Slim explains. "Working with Sam and Danny gave me a chance to get loud." Songs began to take shape. This was new territory for Slim. For years, he'd been the ringleader of his own roots-music circus. Now, he was a collaborator, making a louder sound with different partners.

The Dreamin' Kind was recorded over the course of a year. Langhorne took his time, scheduling the tracking sessions between his commitments as a touring musician, a family man, and an advocate in his recovery community. He also embraced the overdubbing process, working with Kiszka to create towering, thickly-stacked rock & roll epics full of vintage keyboards, harmonies, grooves, and full-throttle guitar fretwork. "For a long time, I thought that production always meant over-production, and too much production was always a bad thing. There's an art to production that I've never truly danced with, though, and we did much more of that with this record. Normally, I’d book a studio for ten days and we’d try to knock out an entire album during that time, working as quickly as possible. This wasn’t like that. We didn’t have time constraints. We didn’t give ourselves any constraints, and I love the results.”