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Middle Class Couple On Couch New Middle Class is Barbara & Mike Borok

"Expertly crafted pop"
- Rhythm & News Magazine

New Middle Class lives in a modest Cape Cod style house with fiberglass siding somewhere in suburbia. It drives two second-hand cars, but has a one-car garage. New Middle Class is saving up to remodel a small bathroom...

New Middle Class is Barbara Borok (lead vocal) and Mike Borok (guitar/vocal). Their many songwriter awards include Grand Prize in the 2003 MTL Songwriting Contest at the prestigious Kerrville Folk Festival in Texas. Intertwined musically and romantically for too many years, they sing about relationships and current events gone awry, sensible footwear, compulsive shopping, the origin of the universe, and desserts.

Their songs are adventurously original, and walk a razor-thin line between the funny and the serious. New Middle Class seduces you with catchy melodies, driving rhythms, distinctive vocals and harmonies, and delightfully unexpected twists and turns of the lyrics.

New News (updated August 2008)

We're in the studio, recording a new CD, to be released in 2009. We just recorded the drum tracks for five more songs, and are completing the recordings in our new state-of-the-art home studio. The good news is, now all of the songs for the new CD are in some state of completion, and moving forward at breakneck (for us!) speed. Stay tuned for updates. We're mixing at engineer Rob Morsberger's studio - he's also a really talented singer/songwriter in his own write - visit his web site robmorsberger.com.

Our friend Dean Friedman is guest-hosting a show on BBC Radio Scotland, and we're featured in an hour-long segment - click here to listen. It includes an interview, some of our recordings, and live-in-studio performances. Also, we joined Dean, along with Christine Lavin and Dan Pelletier, in a concert at The Turning Point in Piermont, NY on April 1st - click here to listen.

Check out our new songs at Broadjam.com. You can listen online and download from that site.

Come visit us on MySpace.com, where we can swap links and we have some free downloads, including a demo of "What's That Thing?".

We were finalists in the the 2006 South Florida Folk Festival Singer/Songwriter Competition. They picked our two newest songs, "What's That Thing?" and "The Truest Kind of Lie". Unfortunately the festival had to be cancelled this year because their site was wrecked by hurricanes. Now what are we going to do with those non-refundable airline tickets?

Last year we played in concerts to benefit hurricane and tsunami victims, helping to raise over $14,000.

We were finalists in the 2005 AvalonFest Rising Star competition in West Virginia. Yes, that's the "clothing-optional" festival...it was a really hot weekend in August, and it sure was nice in the pool. Sorry we can't post photos here - cameras (and firearms) were not allowed.

Mike performed in a special Music To Life finalists (see below) showcase at the 2004 Northeast Regional Folk Alliance conference. Also, this year's SongLand themed song circle: SongLand and the 18 Circles of Hell.

- "Cradle" was the Grand Prize winner ( !!! ) in the 2003 "Music To Life" Songwriting Contest and Concert, honoring songs of political and social significance. We performed "Cradle" twice at the prestigious Kerrville Folk Festival in Kerrville, Texas on May 31st (once at the finalists' concert and again on the main stage Saturday night); a CD of all the winning songs is available on the Music To Life web site above. This event, which benefits charities chosen by the three top winners, was organized by Noel Paul Stookey, of Peter, Paul and Mary. Finalists were selected from over 280 entries worldwide by a panel of judges including Len Chandler, Holly Near, Tom Chapin, Christine Lavin, Tom Paxton, Mary Travers, Judy Collins and Peter Yarrow. Since we won the Grand Prize, the Foundation donated $1000 to an organization of our choice: the Natural Resources Defense Council. Oh, yeah, and we also got a really nice glass trophy for our mantle - looks just like the ones on the big award shows on TV.

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Now, you too can write a song - even if you've never written a song in your life! It's easy, with the new Song-O-Matic, by New Middle Class.

No other songwriting tool is so fast, so satisfying, or so much fun! Song-O-Matic is pre-tested for your safety. In just minutes, you can create a lyrical masterpiece - limited only by your imagination and the laws of random chance!

Here's how it works:

The words of ALL the songs on the New Middle Class CD have been electronically stored in a powerful computer. When you start up the Song-O-Matic, it will randomly choose an opening line for you. You enter the next line, and continue taking turns with the computer, until the song is complete.

If at any time you are not satisfied with the line supplied by Song-O-Matic, you can exchange it for a new one, no questions asked. No surly sales clerks will insult you or question your musical judgement.

And, best of all - it's FREE!

Wrap it up and take it home...

When you're done, give your new song a title, and e-mail it to yourself. Song-O-Matic can also send a copy to New Middle Class and, with your permission, we will post the best song lyrics on this web site. (We will NOT sell your e-mail address, send you unsolicited e-mail, or do any of the bad things that those unscrupulous other guys do.)

Why you NEED Song-O-Matic!

Song-O-Matic is more effective than crystals, magnets or psychotherapy. Unleash the creative power inside you! It's guaranteed, and recommended by nine out of ten of our close friends.

So why wait? Just click to begin, and say "hello" to your muse!

Special Prosecutor's Warning:

All lyrics supplied by Song-O-Matic are copyright 1999 Mike Borok, all rights reserved. You retain all rights to all lyrics written by you; neither New Middle Class nor Mike Borok have any rights to your lyrics, and may not use them for any reason without your permission. No copyright is claimed by either party for the song as a whole. Song-O-Matic software is copyright 1999 New Middle Class and Jason Epstein.

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