Minstrel's Daughter by Jennifer Leonhardt
Release date: July 22, 2009
Recorded at the kitchen table in her east Austin home, Minstrel's Daughter (Grassroots Records) is Jennifer Leonhardt's fifth recording in as many years, dedicated to her parent's musical influence. Co-produced with guitarist Jeff Rady, the majority of the record got put down on a bunch of old Shure 57 mics in the span of a month for a stripped-down, homemade sound, following up her studio release Gods & Nations (Grassroots Records, 2007), produced by Matt Brown (Lucinda Williams, Bill Frissell) and Marc Copely (Tracy Bonham, James Montgomery). Born into a family of artists and musicians out of Ft Worth TX, home to native sons Townes van Zandt and T Bone Burnett (a band member of one of her uncles back in the 60s), Jennifer wasn't allowed to listen to recorded music growing up; instead she trained hands-on taking part in living room jams. Studying classical violin since the age of seven and self-taught on guitar and keys, she's been touring the US with her band, garnering solidly positive reviews and sharing stages and festival lineups with other Americana artists Kevin Gordon, Mark Curry, Doug Burr, Caroline Aiken, Gram Rabbit, Marc Broussard, Los Lonely Boys, Billy Harvey, Green Mountain Grass, and Tom Freund.
All ten tracks were written by Jennifer ("Kerby Lane Jubilee" co-written with Rady). The songs are layered with cello, violin and dobro, contrasting plain acoustics with raw guitar-driven blues. The wild, ramshackle instrumentation on the title track suggests the laboring of the whole human condition, just getting by in a frayed and broken-down world, lyrically noting the struggles like a road map all while suggesting a clear-eyed mandate for hope. Throughout, the vocals wrap around the oddly emotional and unexpected rhythmic changes with the effect of a gin-and-tonic baptism, earthy one minute, ethereal the next and the deceptively simple compositions have a melodic spaciousness which frame her vocals perfectly. It's a powerfully personal work, a gentle but gritty referendum on love and survival by an artist who, in an era of patent conformity, is clearly thinking for herself.
Tour dates are scheduled for fall this year.
Produced by JL & Jeff Rady, Recorded at The Chicon Shack, Austin TX. Mixed & mastered by Matt Brown, The Brewery Recording Co. Seattle WA. Art and design by Holly Bronko.
Vocals: JL Guitars:
www.jenniferleonhardt.com www.myspace.com/
