Mason Jennings couldn’t be happier delivering his package of songs to appreciative fans. The first tune off his recent release, Century Spring, sings of “now I’m living in the moment with the friends I love”. Many people might discover this type of line a bit too happy, optimistic and dapper, within a world full of pain and hopelessness for many folks. Jennings sees it the other way around by responding, “yeah, I’ve got problems, everybody’s got problems, that’s the nature of being alive when you have to suffer, but there’s so much beauty and so much good stuff out there that I think more people should say if they feel good.”
For any singer-songwriter, literary consciousness is a valued commodity, but it also doesn’t hurt to have a literary name like Mason Jennings, that just flows like Natalie Merchant’s voice. Within an artistic movement that provided names like Gordon Lightfoot and Cat Stevens valid commercial success, this isn’t such a bad calling. Jennings has gone out independently to spread and promote his music to interested ears, a sign of the honest to goodness marketability he offers. Century Spring, a thoughtful collection of ten illustrious songs, was released under his own Architect Records; a decision that he couldn’t be more comfortable with. The mention of fellow solo performer, David Gray, who had his breakthrough in 2000 with White Ladder, after being signed to Dave Matthew’s ATO records following years of being independent, is an achievement Jennings looks highly upon, while articulating just how powerful Gray’s new song, “The Other Side” presents itself. “David Gray is the perfect example of someone waiting in order to make things happen. The great thing about doing it yourself, is that you can take the time you need to develop as a person and artist, and to try new ideas as they occur naturally, rather than having to conform to someone else’s ideas or schedule.”
Century Spring deals mainly with the themes of love in all its complicated forms, but presents it in a refreshing non-sappy fashion that doesn’t make you feel weak, but instead strengthens your awareness. “Sorry Signs on Cash Machines” is quite possibly one of the most endearingly addictive love songs ever laid to tape, with inceptive lines like “oh, my heart is a thoroughbred, I can’t sleep in my bed” along with a haunting piano line and soulfully extended vocals that beg for attention. The edgy “New York City”, is built around an acoustic guitar riff that shakes, rattles and rolls, and is truly happening while validating the singer’s fondness for the Big Apple. “Killers Creek” swims with Ben Folds whimsicality, laid down around an orchestrated piano theme. Meanwhile the simple lullaby versed “Adrian” is about as sincere and melodic as you can possibly travel around an acoustic guitar passage.
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Jennings is very proud of his own breakthrough album as he adds, “I think Century Spring is different as an album from the last two records, in the fact that I think it’s more fully realized. I think we’ve had more experience in the studio. I feel like it’s taken me about six years to learn how to make a record. This really feels like a record to me. It’s got a lot of different elements, a lot of different instrumentation and I made it with people I trust and love, and I think you can hear that.”
Travelling the country and performing your personal poetry laid to music is not only ambitious, but it’s also spilling your guts every night on stage. Singing about personal subjects like love, conscience, and the human psyche are revealingly a sign of public therapy. However, the advent of singer-songwriters of recent years has opened up the genre to sound less “folkie” and more harmoniously challenged with back-up bands that provide a danceable groove now described as folk pop. On the west coast we have Jack Johnson with his surfer beach songs, mixed with a funky beat and charisma. In the east, John Mayer has hit the big time with modern rock textures stirred with introspective lyrics that have given male singers a brash of bull to complement their stripped down sensitive sides. Even Ben Harper with his band The Innocent Criminals is another admirable example of the singer-songwriter expanding beyond the stool and acoustic guitar to share their music with a more accessible audience. Not to mention, Ryan Adams whose raspy country tinged songs are pushing the boundaries of punk and modern rock not quite witnessed within the pop folk format since Jeff Buckley. Jennings might be the next in line to garner our attention, as he describes his next album. “I thinks it’s going to come out sounding a bit different…a lot like Hendrix actually.”
Jennings had the opportunity to tour with Johnson last year right about the time his simple, but spectacular “Brushfire Fairytales” was being discovered. “I couldn’t be happier for Jack’s success”, admits Jennings, referring to his friend’s recent mainstream notoriety. With names like Jason Mraz, Peter Yorn and Ben Kweller continuing to spark the male singer-songwriter movement, Mason Jennings is sure to join the ranks. Although it would be foolish not to admit he hasn’t already, with a recent tour headlining clubs across the country.
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Jennings currently hails from Minneapolis, MN; a progressive city that’s about as real as you can find. That’s also the word he uses to describe his biggest influence, Neil Young. Someone who primarily reflects the theme of his lyrical content of self-discovery, love and all the emotions that rattle deepest within the human spirit. “He’s just so real and genuine,” explains Jennings about Young. Quite possibly his other biggest influence is Lucinda Williams, who in the same spirit of Young along has taken country-backed harmonies and combining them with, spill your soul words. It’s no surprise that Williams and Young are touring amphitheaters this summer together. Although William’s recent 2001 album Essence came on the heels of a rather emotional break-up,Jennings said there doesn’t have to be particular sorrow, or joy, to get his songwriting battery charged.
Jennings also doesn’t take his role as a singer-songwriter excessively serious like many of today’s performers that harp upon politics and social issues. The rise of folk-based singers has historically become more prominent in time of crisis and need and war and strife. Jenning’s response as to why there might be more singer-songwriters in times of trouble is a blatant “I never really gave it much thought.”
Currently, Jennings is on a tour of the west coast, an area where a large fan base has developed, mainly due to his successful tour with Johnson. It’s during this part of the tour that he can revisit a new outlet – surfing, that has recently provided him a new source of inspiration revolving around the culture and laid back parameters the ocean sport conveys. On the stage, every performance is unique like a wave and a rotating setlist ensures spontaneity and “living in the moment.” It’s these road trips that help unleash, mind, body and spirit into producing the next cohesive album of poignant issues and thoughts. Mason Jenning’s creatively nurtured modern rock music on the other hand, is just icing on the cake.
