Jen Wood: guitar,vocals,piano Wolf Carr: bass,fender rhodes, banjo, backing vocals Joel Harmon: percussion, backing vocals, bells Tomo Nakayama: piano, guitar, bass, xylophone, backing vocals
Influences
as of late:
nada surf's album "let go"
snowpatrol (please don't make fun of me but i like that song called "run"
iron and wine
drive like jehu
fugazi's album "13 songs"
goldfrapp's new album
ella fitzgerald is always on my playlist
classical
movin 92.5fm
npr
“This album is about finding the light inside the darkest places of my mind and my past” says Seattle-based singer/songwriter Jen Wood of her record Finds You In Love. Trust, unconditional love and forgiveness are some of the themes that run through the record.
Over three years in the making, Finds You In Love is Wood’s most accomplished release to date. It’s also the most personal, but yet is still the most optimistic. “When I first started out as a musician, with Tattle Tale, I was 15 at the time, and a lot of the songs captured the angst I was feeling. With Finds You In Love, I wanted to explore a different facet of my personality – one that was not so bleak.”
Working closely together with her band that includes members of some of the most respected and accomplished bands in Seattle, Wood’s band includes Tomo Nakayama of Grand Hallway, Joel Harmon of Sleepy Eyes of Death and Wolf Carr of Wesafari. Of her band, Wood says, “I’ve been playing music with Joel and Tomo since 2002; and there has not been one day where I felt truly blessed and lucky to have them be a part of my music and my life. They are two of the most gifted and intuitive musicians I’ve ever known, and they are like family to me. I’ve known Wolf since he was 12. He is an amazing bassist and a trained vocalist (and voice instructor).” She adds, “What makes my bandmates so amazing is that I don’t ever have to tell them what to play. Every melody they create is on their own and is perfect and well crafted between the three of them. I show up with a new song and I pitch it to them. I then let them decide how they feel about it, and whether or not to keep it. They help me find the diamonds in the haystacks of songs that I’m always writing”
Finds was helmed by producer/engineer Shawn Simmons, who has worked with such diverse artists as Brandi Carlile, Tim Seely, and SUNN O))). “I knew Shawn was the person I wanted for this record because of the work ethic he showed in getting the absolute best recordings from me and my bandmates. He really pushed each of us to 200%. I have never worked with a producer so dedicated to a project as he was to this” says Wood. On the recording process, Tomo Nakayama adds, “When it came time to do overdubs, Jen was open minded enough to let us try anything we wanted, from any angle, and that kept the process fresh and vital. ‘People Like Us’, for example, has the sound of Joel and I knocking on a chair, and the huge choir sound at the end was also something that happened very spontaneously…With so much freedom, however, there was also a fair amount of arguing between the four of us, and Shawn was the perfect arbitrator. He was incredibly patient, but also very firm and convincing when he felt an idea worked or did not work. He also came up with some brilliant atmospheric parts of his own (the eerie, ghostlike middle section of ‘You Are The Promise,’ for example) that really served the songs well, and tied our different ideas together.”
Known for her delicate and gorgeous voice, Wood has appeared on some very high profile releases including singing on the Postal Service’s landmark 2002 album Give Up, singing the duet “Nothing Better” with Benjamin Gibbard as well as providing the backing harmonies for the single “Such Great Heights”. She also has appeared on recordings by artists such as Jeremy Enigk, Black Heart Procession and Joan of Arc. She has also played guitar as a member of the popular indie rock band Aveo.
Several years in the making, Finds You In Love is the perfect storm that results from a gifted singer-songwriter writing the best songs of her career, a dynamic band and the right producer working together and trusting one another to create such a powerful and special album.
Hey Jen, Hope the song writing goes well...I think you should write something that talks about the "revolution" so to speak...the green movement and seeking truth in government and what not. I think it's something a lot of us young adults can relate to right now...
Sometimes when I'm just having a really... really hard time.
Listening to your music really helps.
It's not even the lyrics or your voice.... it just makes me realize someone else has overcome some big obstacles to make so much of herself, and touch so many people's lives for the better...
and that is enough to inspire me to keep going... keep trying...
Battle to the Beach starts today!!! Enter your band to win $5,000 and a spot on the South Padre International Music Festival's line-up!! Battle starts here: www. battletothebeach. com
I finally got a new copy of getting past the static on ebay. It was a war to get let me tell you! It's time for the new album and I demand polyvinyl to release it!
so the other day i clicked on 'give up' in my itunes for the first time in probably 2 years... upon listening to 'nothing better' i came to the realization that my pants will probably never be dry after hearing that song. amazing. amazing. amazing. ben's got nothing on you, love.
PLEASE post some of the other songs that use to be on here. or let me know if there are any stores i can actually but the albums at cause i don't have any card to buy online.
I've been up and down. Not sure where I stand right now honestly. We should get coffee/dinner/drinks sometime real soon, I miss you. I'm free tonight, how about you?
can you add "caught halo" to your page so i can add it as a song to mine? it's not that i'm living in the past or anything, but it's one of the greatest songs i've ever heard and on at least 80% of all the mixes i've made. thanks for it!
