Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. (January 26, 2015) — The Ponte Vedra Concert Hall proudly announces that indie folk singer- songwriter Mason Jennings will perform on Sunday, March 15, 2015. Tickets for Mason Jennings will go on sale to the public this Friday, January 30 at 10 a.m.
Before setting to work on his 10th studio album, Minnesota-based musician Mason Jennings was looking for a new approach to writing. At the advice of a friend, the singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist holed up in the back room of his wood-nestled cabin studio with just a guitar, electric piano, bookshelf, notebook, tape recorder, and one 90-minute cassette and then wrote all winter long. Emerging with the notebook and tape full of about 30 new songs, Jennings decided to skip his standard approach of self-recording and called on producer Bo Ramsey (Greg Brown, The Pines, Iris DeMent), as well as a wish-list-plucked lineup of guest musicians that includes DeMent and Neil Young drummer Chad Cromwell. The result of those “dream collaborations” and his own hard-won inspiration is the latest album Always Been, Jennings’s most radiant and refined effort of his career. Recorded at Minneapolis studio The Terrarium, Always Been builds on the rugged, acoustic-guitar-driven indie-folk of Jennings’s earlier work (from his 1998 self-titled debut to 2011’s highly acclaimed Minnesota) with sunnier melodies and more hi-fi sonics.
With the songwriting and recording of Always Been so wholly charmed, Jennings says his main ambition is for the album to uplift its listeners. “Music’s always been very transformative for me. I remember hearing “I Want to Hold Your Hand” as a kid and having it hit me in a really deep way,” he says. Noting that the medicinal quality of DeMent’s albums was a major influence on the mood of Always Been, Jennings adds that he ultimately aims to create music with its own healing effect. “I started making music because music saved my life when I was little—it was something I could go to and always have a feeling of connection, even when times were hard,” he says. “Above all else, I want to make sure I always remember that trying to give other people that sort of feeling is the major purpose behind what I’m doing.”
“Love is the most important thing to me, my relationship with my wife and kids,” Mason says, adding “And music has always been as important as breathing to me. I have come to realize that to have it all, I have to take the long view when it comes to integrating all these parts of my life.” Increasingly, a sense of place and community has become important to him as well.
Tickets for this seated show go on sale this Friday, January 30 at 10 a.m. Tickets will be available for purchase at the Ponte Vedra Concert Hall and St. Augustine Amphitheatre Box Offices, ticketmaster.com, all Ticketmaster outlets and by phone at (800) 745-3000.
