Jenny Scheinman: American Songwriter Premieres

 

 

 

American Songwriter is exclusively streaming Jenny Scheinman’s upcoming album The Littlest Prisonersaying it “splits the difference between rootsy Americana and Scheinman’s typically innovative, ethereal approach.” The latest from the critically hailed singer, violinist, composer and arranger, the new record will be released May 6 on Sony Masterworks and can be streamed via American Songwriter HERE. To hear Jenny talk about the album, watch her short film HERE and the video for “Run Run Run” HERE. Jenny will play select dates on the west coast with Bill Frisell and has just added a solo show at Le Poisson Rouge on June 30 with support from Brian Blade and another very special guest.

 

Her eighth studio album, The Littlest Prisoner follows Scheinman’s 2012 release Mischief & Mayhem, which All About Jazz hails “a near-flawless package of musical craftsmanship,” and The New York Times has called Scheinman “full of playful ideas” and “a soulful, generous improviser.”

 

Mixed by Grammy-nominated producer Tucker Martine (The Decemberists, Neko Case, My Morning Jacket, Sufjan Stevens), the album was recorded in just three days of studio tracking in Martine’s Flora Studio in Portland, Oregon.

Scheinman says that she “had always imagined that this album would have a sort of Buddy Miller acoustic Americana sound,” however, “as fate would have it I ended up bringing the material into the ethereal, moody, stripped down world of my trio with Bill Frisell and Brian Blade. This added a sense of newness, risk and adventure to the process, which was extremely exciting.”

As for the lyrics Scheinman says, “I attempted to look directly at love and all its ugly beauty through the eyes of mothers, inmates, wives, artists and children. What amazes me about the album is that all the tough stuff of life is stuck in the middle of such a beautiful band sound.”

 

In addition to her eight solo records, Scheinman has collaborated with Rodney Crowell, Norah Jones, Bill Frisell, Bruce Cockburn, Madeleine Peyroux, Todd Sickafoose, Nels Cline and many others. She has also earned great acclaim for her high-profile arrangements for artists such as Lucinda Williams, Bono, Lou Reed, Metallica and Sean Lennon.

 

May 14                                                    Mondavi Center                                             Davis, CA*

May 15                                                  The Monday Club                        San Louis Obispo, CA*

May 16                                                     Lobero Theater                                  Santa Barbara, CA*

May 17                                          Musical Instrument Museum                                Phoenix, AZ*

June 03                                                   Le Poisson Rouge                                     New York, NY†

†with Brian Blade