FREE – JANN ARDEN IN HER OWN WORDS It’s not easy writing about yourself…or myself as it were. But here I go, about to ramble on quite gladly about all things me.
I feel like I should give a brief synopsis of how I even got to this point in my life. We lived, and still live, in a very small community south of Calgary. I didn’t roll far from the tree. I don’t plan on rolling.
My mother, Joan Richards, was taking guitar lessons when I was 12 years old. She needed something to do while I was engaged in hockey practice at the Rockyview Community Association. If you’ve ever tried to learn to play guitar, you find out very quickly that it’s hell on your fingers. They become bloody knobs. Mom gave up within a few months, after having perfected “On Top of Old Smokey”, and “Irene, Goodnight Irene”.
I used to sit atop the stairs in our living room and watch her strum away, struggling to make the chords sound like something, singing quietly, not knowing anyone was listening. I was intrigued to say the least.
Whenever I had a spare moment I’d grab that giant Yamaha guitar, open her large orange songbook, and try to figure out how to make something happen. After learning a few chords, I was able to play the entire John Denver collection. I moved on to Janis Ian, The Carpenters, Frank Zappa, James Taylor, Bette Midler, Olivia Newton John, ABBA, KISS, Blondie, Carly Simon, Seals and Crofts, and a hundred other artists that I wanted to dissect and emulate. I was overjoyed. I had found something that I loved to do. That I could do on my own, that I could do without having to be funny. Writing unlocked my imagination and the very key to my soul.
I was obsessed with all things guitar. John Denver, not so much, but it was a great start to understanding that people wrote songs about simple sentiment. I started writing my own songs that same year …they were all terribly sad and lonesome and introspective and usually long and winding ballads. The first song I ever remember writing was about my mom and dad dying. The song was called “Paradise”. I still laugh about that one…
It would take me an entire book to cover what’s happened between then and now, that perhaps will be at another time.
“FREE” is my tenth studio record. That in-and-of-itself is unbelievable to me. I didn’t sign with Universal until I was nearly 30 years old, so all of this came to me rather late in life. In light of labels signing 15 year old acts these days, I don’t think my story will be repeated very often, if ever. I am 47 now and feel like I don’t know anything about music. I feel like I am just getting started.
With “FREE”, I’ve more or less gone back to my roots. All 11 of the songs are very simple in their message. They are all about simple human sentiment. Not political in nature, not preachy, not overly poetic, just very simple basic emotions. I did a fair amount of co-writing on this project to try and get my mind pushing into different corners of my own understanding. That was a wonderful, educational experience. I didn’t want to keep making the same record over and over again, and I felt like I had begun to do that over the past 5 or 6 years. I just found myself in a rut for a thousand reasons, so I was determined to make some big changes.
It’s hard to change. It’s hard to move forward for the most part…. But I knew I had to. It’s not easy breaking off relationships that you’ve nurtured for a long time, but art suffers if you don’t constantly try to reinvent yourself, which is what I feel like I did with this record.
I worked with an old friend of mine, Bruce Leitl, who is more known for his work on composing music scores for film and commercial use, than he is for pop music production.
Bruce is a brilliant musician and a wonderful composer. He has a wonderful sense of structure. I needed structure. I wanted to be very clear as to what my intentions were. He kept me on track. I wanted to experiment with different textures and grooves and sounds and Bruce was confident in what we needed to do. He presented ideas to me that were exciting and innovative. I felt like it was a new and fresh version of me and my work. Because of the amount of time that I’d spent in Nashville the previous year and a half, I felt it only natural to use some of the extraordinary musicians.
Mandolins and acoustic guitars and pedal steel and dobro and banjo…all sounds that I loved, but had never thought to use these past 25 years. Between those organic sounds and Bruce’s progressive programming, I knew I’d done something very different for me, but yet, extremely familiar. We knew with the blend of organic and electronic sounds we’d threaded together that we’d need someone amazingly gifted to mix the entire project. I didn’t have to think twice. It would be Ed Cherney. I won’t list off his thousands of triumphs: you can do that on the world wide web. He was as much a part of the music as the music itself. I trusted him completely to carve his way through the hundreds of tracks we’d recorded. I love what he’s done and I’m proud of what we have made.
I’ve found a great amount of comfort in my life over the past 3 years…amazing peace and happiness. For whatever reason, I feel like that all shows up here on “FREE”. I do feel free. I feel like I’ve come over the hill and I can see much clearer than I did before.
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS:
Millions of records sold worldwide, with 16 top ten singles from eight albums: Time for Mercy, Living Under June, Happy?, Blood Red Cherry, Greatest HurtsñThe Best of, Live With the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Love Is The Only Soldier, Jann Arden and her latest release, Uncover Me.
Winner of 8 (eight) Junos, 8 (eight) 2006 SOCAN Awards, 2 (two) 2006 Western Canadian Music Awards and many other industry accolades including a star on Canadaís Walk of Fame.
JANN IS A SUPPORTER OF THE FOLLOWING CHARITIES:
Thank you for all of the messages! It's so great to hear from you all!
Yes, this is a real page that is viewed and updated by Jann and her management staff. Although Jann makes every attempt to be actively involved in this page, please realize that due to the large volume of e-mail and comments that she cannot always personally respond. Thank you for being a part of this page and for supporting Jann's career. For Charity requests and inquiries, please email jatours@jannarden.com. This email address is for inquiries only and is not a "fan mail" address.
Thanks for the request, support, and your luv,,,,,
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Listen to their new Trax, and let them know by joining their site that you support them, and let them know what you think of their tunes,,,,,,,,K,,,,,,,,peace,,
Jann.. loved, loved LOVED you back in Edmonton (the first night) again. It's been too long. I miss your humour. You make me laugh like no one else. Best of luck on the rest of your tour! =)
Oh Jann! You were so truly amazing last night in Winnipeg! Thank you for always enlightening and entertaining us all!! I think you should play at smaller venues every time you come to Wpg because it was so personal and the sound of the incredible band and you were absolutely magnificant!! I go to a lot of concerts from KISS to Disturbed to Black Eyed Peas to Akon to Van Morrison etc. and you are always, always in my top 5 concerts of all time! Last night you made number 1!
hey Jann, i been follow you since 1996 from Argentina. Be good,and remember, your best album is "Jann Arden 2005", i hope "free" are better than that. But really, whatever you do is amazing. Sorry for my english.
hey Jann, i been follow you since 1996 from Argentina. Be good,and remember, your best album is "Jann Arden 2005", i hope "free" are better than that. But really, whatever you do is amazing. Sorry for my english.
I'll sit back patiently and wait for the likes of Itunes to release this collection in America. In a world where everything is at ones fingertips some things still hold to the old ways of doing things. Nice hearing some new Jann Arden music, still has a beautiful voice and a way with lyrics that still amaze me, she's real and has her ups and downs and talks to people through her songs like I've never heard any artist do, she tells it like it is and is so damn funny to listen to. Living in the USA I haven't had the chance to see her live, hopefully some day. Thanks Jann Arden for keeping it going and speaking to those that could use an uplift.
"Not what we say about our blessings, but how we use them, is the true measure of our thanksgiving." A wish to my friend is to have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving with the ones you love.
hey, just stopping by to say hi - hope you're doing well. I've got a new video up on my page at the moment, as well as my new single, The Waiting. If you get a minute, I'd love to know what you think. Just spreading some love your way - Thanks and catch you soon! Kevin
Hi Check out my new and improved site and let me know what you think. Do not forget to also check out my latest songs. You will not be disappointed. Much Luv
We liked everything you said on Fanny's cable show the other day, especially the stuff about not being able to read music and not knowing what your songs are about til later. That describes us perfectly ... good to know it's okay to be that way . . . Thanks Jann! You're awesome. Peace . . . Sam and Luke
Tonight in Calgary [Nov 23rd] you made a birthday present absolutely amazing for a very special friend of mine, thank-you for helping her get through some very hard times in her life with your music. She wouldn't of been the same person today without your beautiful songs and for that I am even more thankful. I wish you a good nights sleep and a beautiful life.
Thanks so much Jann for another Wonderful evening and it was so great to meet you. I know you wanted to build a pyramid to get to our height (Brad & Margaret- Edmonton) but we love ya just the way you are. The band....asolutely frickin amazing!! The variety of instruments and the talent behind those instruments blows me away. Keep it up. You are truly an inspiration to all us out there. Thanks again so much for taking the time to come and meet us and the books are beautiful! PS will you smooch that dog of yours for me....I just wanted to cuddle the little cutie! Lots of hugs....
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