jamie jenkins: press

The first time I popped Ani Difranco in my tape deck (yes, it was awhile ago) I did one of those cartoon double takes because she was so refreshingly new with her aggressive guitar style, deeply poetic lyrics and offbeat phrasing. Jamie has all that too with a voice that’s just as intimate but much smoother. Everything is centered on her interesting chord progressions, some banged out in an open tuning and some, more delicate with fingerpicking. Most tunes are solo while three are enhanced by the very capable backing of Fil DeAngelis on bass and Nino Moschella on drums. They wisely stay out of the way, letting her lyrics, guitar and voice be the focus.

The opening cut is political:

the blue team in the corner
we got the red team on the other side
either red or blue kid, it’s me against you kid
all requests for peace will be denied

For the rest of the songs, she examines a relationship from beginning to end, leaving nothing hidden in her poetic landscape. They’re very personal, but you’ll nod your head to every one – from the excitement of a new relationship to the bitter regret of one long cold. There’s that delirious start where you know you should put on the brakes but who needs ‘em anyway that she profiles in “Event Horizon.” Waiting for the phone to ring but wanting to run is covered in “Experience Says.” The ache of longing is strong in “Anything Goes" ("My head is resting on the pillow that should be you").

In “Into a Song” she sings

with the memory of your breath
still sketched upon my skin,
your form impressed upon my chest
can you feel me caving in?

The strongest cut is the title song, about that point in a relationship where there’s equal parts pain and pleasure. It opens with:

moonlight drips through the open window
a thin coat of white is painted on the dark canvas of my eyes

And ends with

I’ll do more than die for you tonight, I’ll live

Jamie is definitely no simple “he said/she said” type of writer. What also makes this song a standout is the simple fingerpicked arrangement – just her honey smooth voice and that clean guitar. Absolutely beautiful.

While the comparison to Ani means she’s good – many songwriters try the style and fail -- she ventures into Ani-land too often. “Experience Says” sounds so much like one of Ani’s earlier songs (with the same phrasing and similar guitar tuning) that I could almost sing the words. And it’s clear that every song is written with one of those great chord progressions at the center, a change at almost every measure. While that works well for some songs, I’d like to hear more variety. If she could write a song without her guitar, then add the chords later, I’ll bet it’d kick some serious poetic ass. I wonder, too, if she’s ever done a spoken word performance. I’d be in the front row for that.