Maybe Baby band and wild phlox
Friday, July 26, 2002
it has certainly been a long time. I have chosen not to even look in my "Jenn list" email box to see when exactly I last sent a message. So many things have happened, in the world and to me personally. My life is richer and poorer, both. Blooming crazy like wild phlox even as a big tree has been felled. Definitely more challenging. And probably the songs coming out now may seem stranger, but simpler. As always, they are full of contradictions. For this I have partly to thank Matt Glaser - and the influence of Wayfaring Strangers with its furious pace of swirling changes - chords, styles, singers, rhythms, influences. And while I'm thanking, thanks would go to Ry Cavanaugh and some other wonderful songwriters around here in Somerville, whose writing has had an enormous effect on me.
I find myself strangely moved by simpler chord progressions and melodies which fit both gently and dissonantly on top of them. So. The way these songs have been manifesting themselves is in this new band I have with Ry called Maybe Baby. We have, in fact, just finished our first record. It's recorded, mixed - almost sequenced and soon to be mastered. From there, art, production, duplication, distribution. For the time being, we are doing it ourselves. There may be some distribution deals along the way, or a licensing deal with a small label. But for now, as soon as it's available, you can get it through my website and the MBaby site.
The world of part-time landscape gardening has been keeping me busy this summer. Last summer, too. Planting, pruning, weeding. Lots of time in hedges and trees on ladders and in perennial beds on knees. There is something extraordinarily satisfying about digging in the dirt, and climbing high to prune. It sure is an honest days' work; the bathwater so dirty, my head so clear. All that time to think, or not think. To let melodies, lyrics, tone poems run free of analytical constraints.
I hope the summer has had moments like these for all of you - indeed the past year. Thank you for being on this list. Thank you for your patience while I reform myself musically. It's good to be emerging -- different butterfly this time. I'm really enjoying rocking out a little more with Maybe Baby. I love being in a singing duo again - but especially I love the fact that in this band it's truly a shared partnership. The new record is made up of original songs, half mine, half Ry's. I can't wait to be able to offer it for sale on our websites. Later in the Fall...
I am working slowly on another record of Jenn songs. Duke Levine and I are working in his basement studio - it's been a really enjoyable experiment. As has the making of the Maybe Baby record. So stay tuned for news of the solo record, too. In the meantime I am touring with Ry. Come out and see us play if you haven't already. There are some dates here in Boston, NY, Newport and more to come in the Fall.
May the nutella find its way into all of your cupboards,
Jennifer
...and the swiss chards, arugulas and basils of summer.
I find myself strangely moved by simpler chord progressions and melodies which fit both gently and dissonantly on top of them. So. The way these songs have been manifesting themselves is in this new band I have with Ry called Maybe Baby. We have, in fact, just finished our first record. It's recorded, mixed - almost sequenced and soon to be mastered. From there, art, production, duplication, distribution. For the time being, we are doing it ourselves. There may be some distribution deals along the way, or a licensing deal with a small label. But for now, as soon as it's available, you can get it through my website and the MBaby site.
The world of part-time landscape gardening has been keeping me busy this summer. Last summer, too. Planting, pruning, weeding. Lots of time in hedges and trees on ladders and in perennial beds on knees. There is something extraordinarily satisfying about digging in the dirt, and climbing high to prune. It sure is an honest days' work; the bathwater so dirty, my head so clear. All that time to think, or not think. To let melodies, lyrics, tone poems run free of analytical constraints.
I hope the summer has had moments like these for all of you - indeed the past year. Thank you for being on this list. Thank you for your patience while I reform myself musically. It's good to be emerging -- different butterfly this time. I'm really enjoying rocking out a little more with Maybe Baby. I love being in a singing duo again - but especially I love the fact that in this band it's truly a shared partnership. The new record is made up of original songs, half mine, half Ry's. I can't wait to be able to offer it for sale on our websites. Later in the Fall...
I am working slowly on another record of Jenn songs. Duke Levine and I are working in his basement studio - it's been a really enjoyable experiment. As has the making of the Maybe Baby record. So stay tuned for news of the solo record, too. In the meantime I am touring with Ry. Come out and see us play if you haven't already. There are some dates here in Boston, NY, Newport and more to come in the Fall.
May the nutella find its way into all of your cupboards,
Jennifer
...and the swiss chards, arugulas and basils of summer.