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Mason Jennings | |
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| Background information | |
| Born | Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S. |
| Origin | Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. |
| Genres | Indie folk, [1] folk-rock |
| Occupation | Singer-songwriter |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals, guitar, harmonica, piano, drums, bass |
| Years active | 1997–present |
| Labels | |
| Website | |
Mason Jennings is an American folk-pop singer-songwriter.
Born in Hawaii, Jennings moved with his family to Pittsburgh at an early age. [2] [3] 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 [3] to pursue his musical career. [4]
Jennings produced his self-titled debut album in 1997 on an analog four-track in the living room of a rented home, playing all instruments himself. [5] In October 1998, joined by drummer Chris Stock and bassist Robert Skoro, he began a weekly gig at the 400 Bar as the Mason Jennings Band. The two-week gig ended up lasting four months. In April 1999, six months after forming, The Mason Jennings Band was voted by the 1999 "Picked to Click Poll" conducted by the Minneapolis-St. Paul newspaper, City Pages. Mason began touring nationally and expanded the depth of his sound by inviting saxophonist Chris Thomson to play with them occasionally and replacing Stock with Brazilian jazz drummer Edgar Olivera.
Birds Flying Away (2000) revealed his penchant for singing first-person narratives of imaginary rustic characters. Following the release of this album, Noah Levy took over drumming duties from Olivera. In 2002, Jennings released a studio album, Century Spring, and a "fans only" collection of acoustic songs, Simple Life. 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 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," ostensibly written at the request of Shrek 2 producers (but not used in the film), 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, Jennings signed with Glacial Pace, a subsidiary of Sony's Epic Records headed by Modest Mouse frontman Isaac Brock. Minnesota's Star Tribune credited Brock with convincing Jennings to sign after Mason Jennings 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. [6] Glacial Pace is now an independent label.
Jennings recorded his sixth album, Boneclouds, at Pachyderm Studio in Cannon Falls, Minnesota, with producer Noah Georgeson. The album was released on May 16, 2006, by Glacial Pace. Soon thereafter, bassist Chris Morrisey left the band. Accompanying Jennings was new bassist Arabella Kauffmann and Brian McLeod on drums. Jennings sang two Bob Dylan songs which Christian Bale lip-synched in the movie "I'm Not There" (released in November 2007 in the U.S.): "The Times They Are a-Changin'" and "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll."
In early 2008 Jennings signed with Jack Johnson's record label, Brushfire Records. Jennings released In the Ever in May 2008. The title was inspired by his son referring to where he was before he was born as, "In the ever". Jennings and Johnson met at Gustavus Adolphus College's Earth Jam in 2001 when Jennings was scheduled as Johnson's opening act. Jennings announced at the Elemental Experience Music & Arts Festival in San Diego, California on May 2, 2009, that he would be releasing a new album (later entitled Blood of Man) in summer 2009. He also mentioned that he would have music on the soundtrack for the documentary 180° South. The documentary was released in March 2010.
On September 15, 2009, Blood of Man was released on CD and vinyl format. A free bonus EP titled Independent (containing the tracks "Mark My Heart With Ashes" and "Wide Open Country") was distributed with the album at independent record stores. A week before the official CD release, a version of the album containing the exclusive track "Waves" was made available exclusively on iTunes. The album received a 4 star review in Rolling Stone.
In late 2010, Live at First Ave., his first live album ever, was released. In 2010, Jennings released The Flood. This album was made up of songs he had recorded in the 1990s on a cassette tape. Jennings rediscovered these songs and re-recorded them in a stripped down fashion to stay true to their intent. In 2011, he released Minnesota, his first new album of original songs since 2009's Blood of Man. On November 12, 2013, he released Always Been. The first single from the album was "Lonely Street", followed by "Wilderness". He released Wild Dark Metal in 2016. He got divorced from Amy Turany. After taking some time off to focus on painting and recovering from depression and agoraphobia he began touring again. He married Josie Jennings in 2018 and released an album of love songs inspired by their relationship on May 11, 2018, called Songs From When We Met.
Jennings started a new project called Painted Shield with Pearl Jam guitarist Stone Gossard in 2014. Their long-awaited album was released November 27, 2020. [7] [8]
Jennings has been honored with a star on the outside mural of the Minneapolis nightclub First Avenue, [9] recognizing performers that have played sold-out shows or have otherwise demonstrated a major contribution to the culture at the iconic venue. [10] Receiving a star "might be the most prestigious public honor an artist can receive in Minneapolis," according to journalist Steve Marsh. [11]
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