Album Notes

Recorded in Brooklyn in October 2009 in a single live take, from songs chosen by listeners who had pre ordered the release, Sovereign was a name for recent experience as much as the album. Following an assault the previous summer which left her mostly unable to play for over a year from a concussive brain injury, the album was originally planned as a major studio collaboration with producer Mike Deming (Neil Casal, Pernice Brothers). "I got to New York in pretty bad shape. My hands were just starting to have dexterity again and my memory was still pretty shot. We had just finished the re-release of Minstrel's Daughter and I had a meeting scheduled with Mike to arrange the project, but I just couldn't. I didn't want to just sidestep the things which had happened. I wanted to go ahead and let the injury become part of the actual sound for the record and not bury it under a lot of production and other players. I wanted the truth of what had happened to be the template. Like a life field recording." Contrasting the driving Americana rock of 2006's Gods & Nations and the blues-laced classical elements of Minstrel, Sovereign lays bare the elements of survival in the songwriting as well as the sound.

(Album photography by Stephanie Clifton.)

"The label name 'Grassroots'couldn’t be more apt: this is music coming up from the earth, a heartfelt sound that goes back in time to when making music was one of the few things that gave people some solace. Almost primeval in the way it has been constructed, Jennifer’s slightly raw but refreshing voice fits the lo fi production perfectly. With only acoustic guitar accompaniment, occasional backing vocals by her daughter Juliet Tondowski and a gentle bass intro on “Shoot U Up”, Jennifer's seventh recording proves she is a very fine songwriter. “America” (also released on the Waterbug Records sampler from 2009) is a take on shattered dreams:

‘I’m a Louisiana purchase
and a dry Dakota grain
once was a man
made my heart move fast
I’d wait for him like a hillside
in a darkening plain’

Then betrayal crops up on “Belonging”:

‘Get yourself together
or get you gone
there is no forgiveness
no heart of understanding
when you’ve stepped across
you’re as good as done”

I’ve left love ‘til last, because it's a common refrain on this album, “Shoot U Up” for example:
‘Damn the spaces between us,
put your skin on me
stain me all over
with your love’

What she delivers here is a tribute, to life really, that should you miss out on could leave rather a large hole in your musical character."

Kev A.
Leceister Bangs Music reviews