Mason Jennings

Mason Jennings has the most interesting songwriting process I’ve come across. Since he was around 13 years old, the Minneapolis songwriter has had songs just come to him while randomly playing guitar and singing. He gets in touch with his subconscious and discovers his songs there very naturally. He also never writes the songs down. That’s right, he commits each song to memory and only writes them down for liner notes.

Songwriter and performer Mason Jennings lives right by a lake in Minnesota. In his home, there are large glass windows to look out onto the water. It’s from this vantage point that Jennings wrote many of the songs for his new forthcoming LP, Real Heart, which is set to drop on Friday (February 4). He wrote these songs on his acoustic guitar, singing with the instrument on the demos. Over the past four years, Jennings has done this, amassing a nice collection. To get another artist’s perspective, Jennings sent the batch to his friend and bandmate (Painted Shield), Stone Gossard, of Pearl Jam. At first, Jennings thought he’d drop the guitar and add new instrumentation. But Gossard recognized the central quality the six-string had. It was important for the tender, open-hearted LP. And so Jennings kept it prominent.

In Their Words: “‘Tomorrow’ is the first song on my new album Real Heart. During the pandemic I had my guitars tuned to different open tunings because I didn’t have to tune them regular for tour. I had an old 1952 Martin laying around that I would play in open C tuning for hours. This is a song that I’d play. I wrote it over a few months and kept working on it because it is basically a loop and can be played for as long as you want as it keeps repeating. Stone Gossard produced the album, and when I sent him the first batch of demos, this was the song he picked out first. It surprised me because it felt more like a guitar meditation but after thinking about it, it made sense that it was the first one he picked. It felt like the center of how I was writing during these times and a new chapter for me. So, a simple guitar meditation in a new tuning that I played during the pandemic to comfort myself became the first song on my new album and a reminder of hope in these troubled times.” — Mason Jennings.

Today, Minnesota songwriter Mason Jennings has released his new album Real Heart via Loosegroove Records. The record has been acclaimed by outlets like Relix, American Songwriter, No Depression, and Glide who calls it “a record that both reclaims and redefines Mason Jennings’ role as a leading light in the folk community.” Real Heart is available to stream and purchase here.

MINNEAPOLIS — For acclaimed folk singer-songwriter Mason Jennings, it all started 25 years ago in a rented house next to Bryant Lake Bowl in Minneapolis. "I made that record in a house right beside the Bryant Lake Bowl. It's no longer there, but yeah, that's sort of how it all started here for me and the Twin Cities," said Jennings.

Jill Riley from The Current dropped by to share her weekly Minnesota music update with host Cathy Wurzer. First up: This month marks the 50th anniversary of Bonnie Raitt’s self-titled debut album, which was recorded at an empty summer camp on Enchanted Island in the Lake Minnetonka area. Check out this track-by-track breakdown of the album from The Current.

Minneapolis songwriter Mason Jennings has shared his new video for “On The Brink,” the debut single from his upcoming LP Real Heart. The video is currently available to stream on Relix. Jennings will release Real Heart on February 4, 2022 via Loosegroove Records. Watch: “On The Brink”. Jennings writes: “This...

The Mason Jennings pre-sale password that we’ve had so many requests for is here! Anyone with this presale code will have a fantastic opportunity to order tickets before they go on sale!. Believe it, this could very well be your only opportunity ever to see Mason Jennings live in Minneapolis,...

FARGO — Fargo events promoter Jade Presents has announced two new upcoming shows for Fargo. 1964 The Tribute will bring the heyday of Beatlemania to the Fargo Theatre on Jan. 28. The show reenacts a concert from the year the Fab Four played “The Ed Sullivan Show” and released “A Hard Day’s Night.”

Dr. Michael Sapiro of Radio Awakened interviews Mason Jennings about his background and musical process. Mason Jennings is a singer/songwriter who has released 15 critically acclaimed albums (both as a solo artist and as a member of Painted Shield) and has toured the world extensively over the past 20 years. He and his wife currently live in Minnesota.

Dr. Michael Sapiro of Radio Awakened interviews Mason Jennings about his background and musical process. Mason Jennings is a singer/songwriter who has released 15 critically acclaimed albums (both as a solo artist and as a member of Painted Shield) and has toured the world extensively over the past 20 years. He and his wife currently live in Minnesota.

Six years after issuing their first Painted Shield single, Stone Gossard and Mason Jennings have grown their slow-burn project into a de facto supergroup. What’s a musician to do when he’s in one of the biggest bands in the world but that band has been known to take up to seven years between albums? For guitarist Stone Gossard—who also played in the seminal grunge bands Green River and Mother Love Bone before co-founding Pearl Jam—the answer is to work with different collaborators until his well of ideas solidifies into the new musical vehicle. And the Seattle musician’s latest, slow-burn project is Painted Shield, a de facto supergroup featuring Los Angeles-based former Pearl Jam drummer Matt Chamberlain, Twin Cities singer-songwriter Mason Jennings and Seattle singer/keyboardist Brittany Davis. Created in a socially distant manner by sharing files, years before that recording method was a forced norm, the band’s self-titled debut incorporates elements of electronica (“I Am Your Country” and “Evil Winds”), pop psychedelia (“Ten Years From Now” and the title track), lo-fi (“On the Level”) and upbeat funk-rock (“Knife Fight”).