Groovin' on Mason Jennings...

About a year ago, my wife started talking about a singer/song writer she had come to like: Mason Jennings. And as is often the case, I was curious but too busy with something else to get into his groove. So, like as is also often the case, she kept liking him and ignored my preoccupations until I caught up to her insights. I have - and we're going to see Jennings this Sunday night in Troy, New York at the Revolution Hall. (www.revolutionhall.com)

Rolling Stone and others have been calling him the "best new artist you've never heard of..." so we're going to check out his live show. One review by Mark Kemp puts it like this:

What makes Mason Jennings one of the best acoustic-based singer-songwriters you’ve never heard of is his ragged, intimate voice and simple ruminations on God, war, hope and gratitude. On his best album yet, Jennings goes much darker, with chilling tales of addiction, madness and loss, all wrapped up in fuzzy electric guitars, feedback and raw, distorted vocals. “Pittsburgh” is a straightforward, Lou Reed-ish story-song about a teenage breakdown, and “The Field”, with its primal scream on the line “I don’t want no victory, I just want you back,” may be the most moving anti-war song ever written from a parent’s perspective.

I am particularly knocked out by his "Some Say I'm Not" from the Boneclouds CD (check it out here: http://www.masonjennings.com/music) We had a GREAT band practice last night - working on tunes by Mindy Smith, Wailin' Jennys and Mary Chapin Carpenter - it is going to be a GREAT fall in the north land of Massachusetts.