Don't Pick a Fight with the Pope

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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J C Clements Releases Don't Pick a Fight with the Pope, Co-Written with Folk and Labor Legend Si Kahn and folk guitarist Jason Blankenship

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Radio release July 28, 2026 | Available on all streaming platforms July 31, 2026

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INDIANA — Folk songwriter J C Clements will release her new single Don't Pick a Fight with the Pope to radio on July 28, 2026, with a full digital release across all streaming platforms on July 31. The lyrics of the song were written by Si Kahn, one of the defining voices of American folk and labor music for more than five decades, whose songs have been recorded by Pete Seeger, Dolly Parton, and Hazel and Alice. JC and her husband Jason Blankenship wrote and recorded the music. 

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Writing explicitly in the lineage of Hazel Dickens, Clements makes songs with teeth, accountability, and the dignity of people whose lives are real. Don't Pick a Fight with the Pope sits squarely in the tradition both she and Kahn share: folk music as social commentary, songs that name what powerful people would prefer remained unnamed, delivered with enough wit that the truth lands before the listener sees it coming.

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Clements came to folk music through an uncommon path. In her early twenties she worked as a regular monthly opener at Buddy Guy's Legends in Chicago and was mentored by the legendary Lonnie Mack. The blues taught her what a song can carry. The Appalachian music she grew up hearing in her mother's home of Hazard, Kentucky, where music was testimony rather than entertainment, taught her what a song can say.

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"This song is what happens when you stop being afraid of the people who count on your silence," said Clements. "Si and I wrote it for anyone who has ever been told to sit down and behave. It is meant to make you laugh and then make you think about why you were laughing."

The single marks the beginning of an extended collaboration. Clements, Blankenship, Kahn, and Chris Dollar of the Henhouse Prowlers are recording a full album together, slated for release in January 2027.

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Radio promotion for Don't Pick a Fight with the Pope is being handled by Art Menius. The single will be available on all major streaming platforms, including Spotify and Apple Music, on July 31, 2026.

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Press inquiries: jc@jcclementsband.com

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