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Friday, May 09, 2008
Musician Feels at Home With Smaller Record Label
By Ron Gonzales
For the Journal
If, after listening to Mason Jennings' new album, “Into the Ever,” you feel as if you all of a sudden have had an in-depth look into his personal life, then the Minneapolis singer will have achieved what he set out to do.
Jennings chose to record “Into the Ever,” his sixth release, in a semi-rustic cabin 30 minutes from Minneapolis. He did so partly because the setting offered him the solitude he craved but also because it allowed him to focus on writing songs about topics he is passionate about — peace, hope and love.
“It offered me a place I could go and record music without having anyone hear it right away,” Jennings said in a Journal interview. “That was a huge thing for this record because I really wanted to be totally spontaneous and write stuff that felt good to me, and hear it and judge it before releasing it to the public.”
The location also yielded a couple of surprises, aside from the musical windfalls that Jennings had in recording all the instruments himself.
“I have birds chirping and rain and some other stuff on some of the songs,” Jennings said. “So I feel like this album is an acceptable representation of me, and that's a good feeling to record something you feel such a part of.”
“Into the Ever” is Jennings' first release on Brushfire Records, the label best known for its creator, Jack Johnson, the surf/folk songwriter who had been after Jennings for some time. Jennings actually left a major label to release “Into the Ever” and said it was a necessary move.
“The label (Epic) just felt so big to me,” he said. “It was more about Shakira and Modest Mouse, and some of the bigger artists. I thought, ‘I want to be with a label that's more like a small family' and I thought it would be a good time to affiliate myself with (the Brushfire) guys.”
Already, the move is paying off. Jennings has become immediately more visible, snaring spots at Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza this summer. And where recently Jennings had worried just a bit about playing in front of 12,000 people in Tokyo with nothing but his acoustic guitar, Johnson helped ease his pain a bit.
“He had me come up during his set and we'd sing (the ‘Into the Ever' song) ‘I Love You and Buddha, Too' together, and that was really fun,” Jennings said. “That's the key, keeping it simple but unique. That's what people like Jack and Johnny Cash are very good at doing.”
WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 10
WHERE: Santa Fe Brewing Company, 35 Fire Place, Santa Fe
HOW MUCH: Advance tickets are $18 and are available at the Lensic box office, (505) 988-1234, online at www.ticketssantafe.org or at the door. Tickets are $20 at the door.
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