b. Honolulu, Hawaii, USA. A whole slew of new roots rock singer-songwriters appeared on the scene during the early twenty-first century, including acclaimed artists such as Ryan Adams, Rhett Miller, and Mason Jennings.
Jennings was raised in the frigid locale of Pittsburgh, where he and his younger brother played in a variety of local outfits. By the time he was 15, Jennings began discovering other musical styles, especially classic blues, which led to the burgeoning singer-songwriter dropping out of school by the time he was 16 to focus solely on music. After travelling around the USA for a few years, Jennings eventually settled in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where his father lived. Jennings’ first Minneapolis-based band, Mason, failed to get off the ground but led to the launch of his solo career. His debut, 1998’s Mason Jennings, was a folk pop concept album of sorts, which saw the singer-songwriter recount his earlier expeditions throughout the west coast.
After the debut’s release, Jennings enlisted a rhythm section comprised of Robert Skoro (bass) and Chris Stock (drums), resulting in the formation of the Mason Jennings Band (one of the trio’s first gigs was backing ex-Soul Asylum vocalist Dave Pirner, when his backing band failed to show up). Brazilian Edgar Oliveira (percussion/drums) replaced Stock on the band’s recording debut, the overtly political Birds Flying Away (2000). The follow-up Century Spring, with new drummer Noah Levy, confirmed Jennings’ burgeoning reputation and gained wider distribution via the Bar/None label. During the same year Jennings released a collection of acoustic rarities, Simple Life.
Further line-up changes in the Mason Jennings Band saw a new rhythm section, Chris Morrissey (bass) and Brian McLeod (drums), brought on board. The new line-up completed the recording of Jennings’ next studio album, Use Your Voice, which was accompanied by a documentary DVD entitled Use Your Van. Jennings’ burgeoning reputation was confirmed when he signed a recording contract with Glacial Pace, a subsidiary of Epic Records. He made his debut for the label in summer 2006 with Boneclouds.
