Mason Jennings (born 1975 in Honolulu, Hawaii) is a Minnesota-based pop-folk singer-songwriter. He is well known for his simple yet catchy melodies, intimate lyrics, literary and historical themes, and unique voice. His music has appeared in the surf film Shelter and he has toured extensively. Jennings is married to Amy Turany Jennings (who was a well known singer in the Minneapolis music scene and sang with various groups) and has 2 sons. Born in Hawaii, Jennings moved with his family to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, at an early age. [1] Jennings learned to play guitar at the age of 13, when he began writing songs. Jennings later dropped out of school and moved to Minneapolis to pursue his musical career. Jennings produced his self-titled debut album in 1997 on an analog four-track in the living room of a rented home, manning all instruments himself. In October 1998, after bringing drummer Chris Stock and bassist Robert Skoro on board, he began a weekly gig at Minneapolis' 400 Bar as the Mason Jennings Band. A little more than a week after The Mason Jennings Band was formed, it was asked to fill in for 2 weeks to fill in for the Jayhawks, who had a standing Thusday night gig but were moving on to record for Rick Rubin and American Records. The two week gig ended up being a four month gig. In April, 1999, six months after forming, The Mason Jennings Band and Mason were voted by the 1999 "Picked to Click Poll" conducted by Minneapolis music bible, City Pages. Garnering local praise and a wide fan base, Mason began touring nationally. During this time Mason began expanding the depth of his sound inviting saxophonist Chris Thompson to play with them occasionally and replacing Stock with Brazilian jazz drummer Edgar Olivera Birds Flying Away (2000) revealed Jennings' political activism and penchant for singing first-person narratives of imaginary rustic characters. Following the release of this album, Noah Levy, of the Honeydogs, took over drumming duties from Olivera. In 2002, Jennings released a studio album, Century Spring, and a "fans only" collection of acoustic rarities, Simple Life. An EP supporting Century Spring was also released, featuring the album's opening track, "Living In The Moment," two live tracks, and the previously-unreleased "Emperor Ashoka." Jennings released all three discs -- and re-released his earlier albums -- on his homebrew record label, Architect Records. In 2003, Skoro and Levy left the band (Skoro to pursue a solo career and Levy to play with Ben Folds), and were replaced by bassist Chris Morrissey (Bill Mike Band) and drummer Brian Mcleod. On February 10 2004, Jennings released Use Your Voice, which notably included the songs "Keepin' It Real," a foot-stomper ostensibly written at the request of Shrek 2 producers (but not used in the film, the producers' excuse was that it was "too sweet" and went with the more bankable Counting Crows' "Accidentally in Love"), and "The Ballad of Paul and Sheila," an acoustic dirge for late Minnesota senator Paul Wellstone. On September 30 of that year, the band released a DVD entitled Use Your Van, which chronicled the recording of Use Your Voice and part of the promotional tour. The DVD was filmed by Andy Grund. On June 17, 2005, news broke that Jennings had finally signed with a major label: Glacial Pace, a subsidiary of Sony's Epic Records headed by Modest Mouse frontman Isaac Brock. Minnesota's Star Tribune broke the story, and credited Brock with convincing Jennings to sign after the Mason Jennings Band had opened for several Modest Mouse shows in 2004. Jennings had long avoided the major labels, citing desires to maintain creative control and dodge big-label politics. Jennings recorded his sixth album, "Boneclouds," at Pachyderm Studio in Cannon Falls, MN with producer Noah Georgeson. Drummer Brian Mcleod willingly left the band to play drums for the Minneapolis based hip hop moguls Atmosphere, thus David King of The Bad Plus sat in for the recording. The album was released on May 16, 2006 by Glacial Pace. Soon thereafter, Chris Morrisey left the band to play bass with Mason and his good friend, Ben Kweller. Mason will be singing two Bob Dylan songs in the movie "I'm Not There", ( to be released in November, 2007 in the US) "Times They Are a-Changin'" and "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll". Mason Jennings will be opening for Guster during their Winter 2007 tour.
Discography
- Mason Jennings (1997)
- Birds Flying Away (2000)
- Living in the Moment EP (2002)
- Century Spring (2002)
- Simple Life (2002)
- Use Your Voice (2004)
- Use Your Van DVD (2004)
- Boneclouds (2006)
- If You Need a Reason EP (2006)
External links
- Official Website with news, tour dates, album lyrics, press information and a fan forum.
- Bird Wings Beat fan page with lyrics, tabs, live MP3s, a discography and a fan forum.
- Archive.org Free audio downloads of live shows (Lossless formats).
