New Multitudes – Original Music Set To The Lyrics of Woody Guthrie
Jay Farrar, Will Johnson, Anders Parker & Yim Yames
Featuring members of Son Volt, Centro-Matic, Varnaline and My Morning Jacket
Sarah Jaffe
- Crystal Hotel & Ballroom - Crystal Ballroom |
- Friday, March 9
- 7 p.m. doors, 8 p.m. show |
- $20 advance, $20 day of show |
- All ages welcome
Tickets on sale now!
About Jay Farrar, Will Johnson, Anders Parker & Yim Yames
Will Johnson (Centro-matic, South San Gabriel), Jay Farrar (Son Volt, Gob Iron, Uncle Tupelo), Yim Yames (My Morning Jacket, Monsters of Folk), and Anders Parker (Varnaline, Gob Iron) bring their collaborative Woody Guthrie tribute to the Crystal Ballroom in support of their new album, New Multitudes.
An intimate interpretation of American icon and musical legend Woody Guthrie's previously unrecorded lyrics, New Multitudes will be released on February 28 on Rounder Records and is set to coincide with the centennial celebration of Woody Guthrie's birth year. The album will see a 12 track release as well as a 23 track deluxe, limited edition. The limited edition features original Guthrie lyric sheets, the 12 track release, and 11 additional compositions recorded by Farrar and Parker. The album will also be available on vinyl.
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Under the invitation of Nora Guthrie, Woody's daughter, to tour the Guthrie archives, each of the four songwriters were offered the chance to plumb and mine the plethora of notebooks, scratch pads, napkins, etc. for anything that might inspire them to lend their voices and give the words new life.
"These guys worked on an amazing group of lyrics", says Nora. "Much of it culled from Woody's times in LA. Lyric wise, it's a part of the story that is still mostly unknown. From Woody's experiences on LA's skid row to his later years in Topanga Canyon, they are uniquely intimate, and relate two distinctly emotional periods in his life."
About Sarah Jaffe
If there is one thing that Sarah Jaffe will never have to contend with it is the idea that she is a female singer for females. There was once a time that being a female singer meant you would undoubtedly be put into an all too snug box. Is she an angry singer? An activist singer? A singer for the victims or the singer your mom bonds with you over? To be honest, when Sarah's new CD Suburban Nature was released on May 18th she inserted herself into and destroyed all those boxes simultaneously, because Sarah is a truth singer ...and no matter who or what we are, we all need, and want, our singers to be truth singers. Jaffe's words and voice seam like they are speaking to you, only to you, yet they contain a universal appeal evidenced by the fact that she's recently toured with Midlake and Norah Jones. Two completely different audiences whom Jaffe, equally endearing and confident, easily won over.
Growing up in Red Oak, Texas might not be ideal circumstances for breeding the kind of talent that is encompassed in Sarah's songs, but it does beg the question of nature verses nurture. What we have in us before we are even us, and what we interpret because of life circumstances. Writing since her early teens, many of the songs featured on Suburban Nature were written long before she could even enter the clubs were they are now performed.
Interestingly enough the first single "Vulnerable," was written when Sarah was only 17, long before even the material on her first EP, the acclaimed Even Born Again, was produced. Even so, it comprises everything that matters about her voice. If there is one thread that flows through all of Sarah's work, it is grappling with the self-serving cycles that are in all of us, and the aftermath that those needs deal out. "I'm a fan of life's wicked ironies. These things that reveal the truth from an aerial view nowhere near your perspective of the situation, and through these realizations you find redemption." And so it is with Suburban Nature.
From opening track "Before You Go," everything sounds as wide and deep as the Grand Canyon, the sonic spread covering every degree of the mix. It's thick enough to feel when you breathe, but spatial enough to allow for the one thing that truly matters with singer/songwriters: their voice. When talking to the albums producer and engineer John Congleton (St Vincent, Polyphonic Spree, Explosions in the Sky, Clinic) about the spacious feel of the album, he had this to say on the matter: "I think it was intentional. Both Sarah's and my feelings on this was that the vocal should be the focal point have as much space as possible, while the music provided an emotional backdrop."
Skilled players such as Kris Youmans - cello (Bill Callahan, The Paper Chase, Micah P Hinson) Becki Howard - violin (The Crash That Took Me) Jeff Ryan - percussion (The Baptist Generals, St Vincent, Pleasant Grove) and Robert Gomez - guitar (as himself) provide this essential emotional backdrop. Just take a listen to "Pretender" for an example of the power and talent contained in this group of players. Layers of moveable music float in, out, under and over lines such as "So here we stand, like flowers in the cold, wilt and wither/Here's your chance/Tell me what you want/I'm a forgiver." In other situations the group provide the perfect backbeat so Sarah is free to spin yarn that might not always be fact, but like we said, is certainly truth.
On "Clementine," she sings, "We were young, we were young, we were young, we didn't care." Although only 24 you actually believe her. You believe her because you believe that no matter what her actual age, she lived through the war of a relationship or fifty that aged her to her core, and now her soul speaks to yours in the places where you have aged, and set down roots that flow as grid in a suburb becoming part of your nature. This is why we need singers like Sarah Jaffe and albums like Suburban Nature: We need a truth singer to be a soothsayer, and help heal us in the broken places of our time.
Since the release of Suburban Nature, Sarah has toured constantly, hitting both Europe and the US with Midlake, as well as supporting such varied artists as Norah Jones, Lou Barlow, Centro-matic and Old 97s. "Clementine" Sarah's debut single reached the #1 spot at various radio stations including Austin's influential KGSR and Sirus' Spectrum. Sarah and Suburban Nature landed in many 2010 "Best of Lists" including: Paste Magazine's 10 Best New Solo Artists, 50 Best Albums, and 50 Best Songs; Amazon.com's Best Albums and Song's; USA Today's Pop Candy 100 People of 2010.
Sarah released The Way Sound Leaves a Room, a cd/dvd combo in Fall 2011. In early 2012, Sarah will release the follow up to Suburban Nature.
PRESS
"Jaffe is blessed with both a trenchant lyrical pen and a vocal instrument perfectly suited to mainlining her effortlessly crafted, heartbroken tunes straight to the soul." –Paste Magazine
"Great songwriters bring together two things…the ability to relate to people's daily lives and the wisdom to express emotions in new and powerful ways…Sarah Jaffe passes both tests." –NPR
"One listen to 24-year-old Texas native Sarah Jaffe’s music and you’ll feel like you’ve known her for years….with lyrics so intimate you’ll feel like you’ve read her diary and a focus on her lovely, smoky voice (as if she’s whispering directly into your ear)." –Magnet
"Sarah Jaffe is easily a charmed singer / songwriter. Her obvious talent draws you in and takes care of you. This album is sure to stand among the best female singer / songwriter albums of the year." –Country Music Pride
"Best thing I heard: I've been digging the debut from a young singer / songwriter out of Texas named Sarah Jaffe. Go to MySpace right now and hear ‘Before You Go.’" –USA Today Pop Candy
"If you’re even remotely alive/awake, (this will) knock you flat on your ass. Jaffe’s voice is the best instrument I’ve heard in a long, long time. Seriously: the last time I was this excited about a new singer was, I don’t know, a decade+ ago, hearing Richard Buckner for the first time (let’s be fair: I’ve dug Throw Me the Statue and Bon Iver and Ritter and Spoon and everyone else, but in terms of just pure singing power? In terms of voice? It’s not even close)." –Corduroy Books
"Suburban Nature, Sarah Jaffe’s full-length debut, announces the Denton, Texas-based musician’s arrival as a force on the folk-pop scene in a big way, offering up 13 gems that could make even a hardened critic start throwing around terms like the next big thing.” –American Songwriter
"Suburban Nature the provocative and quietly commanding debut album from 24-year-old Denton, Texas singer / songwriter Sarah Jaffe strips back, track by amazing track, any remnants of artifice or glossy veneer to get to the naked core of the personal joys, pains and haunting imagery that pulse beneath her bruised, resilient skin. This is an album of brilliantly understated, finely crafted miracles. Highly recommended." –Direct Current
- Website:
- http//:http://sarahjaffe.com/
