The music industry seems to be banking heavily on over the
top personalities and it’s leaving an aging music blogger like myself wondering
where the truth in music went. If you
talk to any honest music publicist today, they will confirm the idea that the
story behind the band/artist is just as important, maybe more, than the music
itself. I’ve always balked at covering a
band because the frame work was written for me.
My concern is and always will be talent, connection, emotion, and the
document itself without bloated outside context. I beg to a next to nothing readership, let’s
get back on track and start finding the story within the music rather than
discovering music because of the story.
Cassandra Jenkins spent most of 2010 as a struggling folk
singer in New York City's Greenwich Village. Her musical partner, Mike Timlin,
died by suicide and her independently released solo album Inside Cassandra
Jenkins was not selling; she had no money and was sleeping on the couches of
friends and acquaintances.
Sorry, that’s the first line in the plot summary on
Wikipedia for the film Inside Llewyn Davis with Jenkins name substituted here
and there. I really don’t know anything
about Jenkins, but I can say her newest release Play Till You Win is one of my
favorite albums of 2017. Melodically
it’s a gentle and confident album of beautiful music framed by Jenkins’ talent
for the investigation of life presented as universal storytelling. Jenkins’
track “Tennessee Waltz” is a simple, yet heartbreaking short story through song
addressing the moment you understand that individual love must be given away to
allow for true love. This is a sacrifice
many of us know and using it as the spine for a song allows for the music to
elevate an already considered human struggle.
Jenkins’ adds to the exploration of this theme and within it the listener can find perspective, character, and the connection we all
want with our musicians/bands.
“TENNESSEE WALTZ”
I remember the night and the Tennessee waltz
I must have heard it a thousand times
and it wasn’t till now that I’ve come to see
the view from behind those lines
We were singing along to an old familiar song
when she came waltzing through the door
with her head held high and a look in her eyes
I could see that it was her you adore.
I remember the night and the Tennessee Waltz
Now I know just how much I have lost
I used to think that I knew the words
until they hit me all at once
I can’t say it’s wrong, but I know it’s true
It’s with her that your heart belongs
ever since I introduced her to you
We were singing along to an old familiar song
when she came waltzing through the door
with her head held high and a look in her eyes
Now I don’t see you anymore
I remember the night and the Tennessee Waltz
It’s always a blessing and a bit of a curse when your
favorite track on an album is the opener.
“Candy Crane” is a song that explores perspective and what we as humans
waste our time and concern with. This is
all investigated through a story of a person playing a crane machine game, a
frustrating device most of us can relate to with a simple reward. Although the crane
game prize is rarely obtained, when achieved all it adds up to a piece of
plastic or doll…a momentary and nearly pointless satisfaction. Play Till You Win explores the theme that
humans are blinded by the end result and not the moments that make up the
journey. Jenkins seems fascinated by
time and the confusing wonderment of how present day and memory can work together
in the building blocks of who we are as people.
The exploration of time appears again on “Some Time”. The song works in many ways, but I like to
imagine it as a poem written by Jenkins to Jenkins. It perfectly captures self-motivation and
that relatable moment where our minds connect with individual want.
“SOME TIME”
Give yourself a few years
Give yourself some time
None of them are like you dear
Give yourself some time
Everyone is in it
Give yourself some time
No way to get around it
Give yourself some time
For all the place you have yet to be
and the faces yet to see
Come spring they’ll all be here
and they’ll be back
with the same songs every year
None of them are like you
So give yourself a few years
Give yourself some time
None of them are like you dear
Give yourself some time
The album Play Till You Win accomplishes everything I want
from an album, specifically a connection to the creator that grows and matures
track to track. Just as I consider the writers of my favorite novels familiar
friends who can comfort through their brilliance, new artists and bands need to
be given the opportunity to introduce themselves through their talent,
perspective, and personality. We are constantly told how to feel about a band,
how to contextualize their music, and how important it is before listening
to a single note. The stories attached
to bands are strategic attempts to attract a specific audience. We should be aware of this trap and only
trust the music itself and the importance we place on it as the ultimate truth
of its quality.
We’re coming up on the tenth birthday of We Listen For You
and we’ve always operated under the idea that the music we write about is the
music we love. You shouldn’t always love
what we love. Taste and personal connection within art is a universe…a huge
space where it’s impossible for complete agreement of what is best and what is
worst. What is worthy. What is cool.
All that comes from you and you alone.
Where we can all improve and challenge ourselves is how we discover what
we will eventually love or hate. Don’t trust
the story...trust your friends, outlets that are sincere in their
recommendations, and always trust yourself.
Your taste is your identity.
Finding a short cut when building you through art is as fruitless and empty as that claw machine.
I’m fully aware how preachy this writing has been and I want
it noted that I needed to say these things not just to you but to myself as
well. The number of times I’ve clicked
on a sensational headline or investigated a band because they are the “it” thing
of the moment is endless. I want to be a
better listener and explorer of new sounds.
I want all of us to be better. If
we question why we arrived at the moment of clicking play on a new album then
everything competes on the same level and we’re back to letting music work on
its own. Only then can the magic of
sound enter of lives, wrap itself around formed memories, dictate character, influence
dreams, and smash against everything that was known to form a new self.
---
Starting with this piece, essays or reviews on WLFY will
occasionally challenge the original intention of this website: to help
independent artists. Each piece that
features an album that we highly recommend will come with a challenge to sell a
certain amount of copies. We’ll always
kick off the challenge with a purchase of our own.
Cassandra Jenkins - Play Till You Win (Album Challenge)
GOAL: Sell FIVE vinyl copies
Current count:
4/5 vinyl sold
1. WLFY
2. PETE BROWN
3.) ROB PEONI
4.) BRETT McGRATH
1. WLFY
2. PETE BROWN
3.) ROB PEONI
4.) BRETT McGRATH
Send @welistenforyou a picture or screen cap on Twitter of
your purchase and we’ll list you as a supporter. A small amount of purchases like five won’t
change the world, but if we start working as a group to support independent
artists, it certainly can’t hurt.
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