Mason Jennings

Mason Jennings fuses a poet’s introspective depth, a protest singer’s pointed political statements, and a jazz player’s wide-ranging sonic palette with the drive of a rock and roller. That distinctive mix quickly positioned him among the most discussed newcomers in acoustic circles and built a devoted grassroots audience: without major-label support he sold more than 30,000 copies of his debut pair of albums—1998’s Mason Jennings and 2000’s Birds Flying Away—while consistently filling venues nationwide. He reached an artistic peak with the reflective yet charged 2004 release Use Your Voice; two years later, on Boneclouds, the resolutely self-reliant songwriter briefly partnered with Glacial Pace, the Epic imprint founded by Modest Mouse’s Isaac Brock. After issuing a pair of albums on Jack Johnson’s Brushfire Records—including 2009’s Blood of Man, which adopted a tougher, electric edge—Jennings regained full control by starting his own imprint for the 2010 concert set Live at First Ave. He alternated between intimate indie-folk statements (2013’s Always Been) and fiercer, rock-driven work (2016’s Wild Dark Metal) before emerging from a short hiatus with the intimate 2017 album Songs from When We Met.

Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, in 1975, Jennings relocated with his family to Pittsburgh while still a child. Soon afterward his father settled in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and mailed his son cassettes of acts then flourishing in the city’s thriving music community. The recordings sparked Jennings to begin playing guitar and composing by age thirteen. Three years later he abandoned school to devote himself entirely to music, relocating to Minneapolis at sixteen. By nineteen he had drawn interest from a prominent booking agency and fielded multiple label offers, yet he rejected deals that promised rapid financial gain at the expense of artistic autonomy. Instead he withdrew to his apartment, where he tracked and discarded four complete versions of his debut before finalizing its track list.

The resulting Mason Jennings, performed solely by Jennings on guitar and self-produced, functioned as an effective introduction; local radio embraced it, and he launched a weekly Thursday residency at Minneapolis’s 400 Bar that quickly cultivated a strong regional following. He soon expanded to a trio with bassist Robert Skoro and drummer Chris Stock, but work on the next album was interrupted when Jennings contracted mononucleosis and paused all activity for six months. Upon returning he set aside the live staples he had intended to document and instead recorded a fresh collection of often politically charged songs that became 2000’s Birds Flying Away. Further touring ensued, though Stock departed amicably; Brazilian jazz percussionist Edgar Oliveira assumed the drum chair.

Continued roadwork heightened fan enthusiasm and critical regard for the early catalog. For his third album, 2002’s Century Spring, Jennings established Architect Records and arranged distribution through Bar/None Records, the same East Coast indie that later handled 2004’s Use Your Voice. The following year he became the first signing to Isaac Brock’s Glacial Pace imprint, which issued Boneclouds in 2006. After parting ways with that label, Jennings moved to Brushfire Records for 2008’s In the Ever and remained there for Blood of Man, tracked in a woodland studio and released in 2009. In 2010 he inaugurated Stats & Brackets with the live album Live at First Ave; later the same year he released The Flood, re-recording previously unissued material some of which originated in the early ’90s. The 2011 studio album Minnesota followed, highlighted by the single “Witches Dream.” In 2013 he returned with the Bo Ramsey-produced Always Been. After 2016’s Wild Dark Metal, Jennings paused his career to confront anxiety, agoraphobia, sobriety, and the end of a marriage. Having adopted a healthier routine and begun a new relationship, he completed Songs from When We Met, issued in 2018; on his website he characterized the album as “a love record” and “a record about healing.”