Do you need to laugh? I did, and that is one reason why I am so glad that my guest this week is my dear longtime friend, Erin McKeown. This is a special crossover episode of Jess Klein's Big Table and Erin McKeown's Fax of Life. Like when, in the 90's, a star from one sitcom would appear on the other, and the storylines would get blurred, and everyone would get really excited.
Erin and I go waaaaaay back, to the late 90's whe we met on the Northeast songwriter scene. Then we became two parts of the folk supergroup known as "Voices on the Verge". Listen for a clip of Erin's tune "Blackbirds" from the Voices on the Verge album "Live in Philadephia".
Erin McKeown is a musician, writer, and producer known internationally for their prolific disregard of stylistic boundaries. Their brash and clever electric guitar playing is something to see. Their singing voice is truly unique —clear, cool, and collected. Over the last 20 years, they have performed around the world, released 11 full length albums, and written for film, television, and theater, all the while refining their distinctive and challenging mix of American musical forms.
Erin's first musical, Miss You Like Hell, written with Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Quiara Alegría Hudes, opened Off-Broadway at The Public Theater in 2018. It was nominated for 5 Drama Desk Awards, including Best Lyrics, Best Music and Best Orchestrations, and The Wall Street Journal named it Best Musical of 2018.
Leading their own band, Erin has performed at Bonnaroo, Glastonbury, and the Newport Folk Festivals. A familiar presence on NPR and the BBC, McKeown's songs have also appeared in numerous commercials and television shows.
While a student at Brown University, Erin was a resident artist at Providence, RI's revolutionary community arts organization AS220. A 2011-2012 fellow at Harvard's Berkman Klein Center For Internet & Society, they are also the recipient of a 2016 writing fellowship from The Studios of Key West and a 2018 residency at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. McKeown was a 2020-21 Professor of the Practice at Brown University and a 2022-23 fellow at The University of Chicago's Gray Center for Arts and Inquiry.
In this episode:
-How to be vulnerable onstage
-What is a 5-Year Plan to an Artist?
-How Monte Python taught Erin the subversive power of humor
-Actually, anyone can write a song
-The moment when Erin knew they needed to devote their life to music
-Erin helps me send a fax to Leonardo Da Vinci
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Singer-songwriter Jess Klein – whom the New York Times calls "a songwriter with a voice of unblinking tenacity" – has always used music to dream her way forward. Over multiple decades and 12 critically acclaimed albums, Klein has pursued a creative evolution that has seen her delve into her own empowerment for emotional insights, while continuing to refine her eloquently melodic, effortlessly accessible song–craft.
Jess has toured the globe performing in pin-drop listening rooms, cozy theaters and at raucous festivals in front of tens of thousands of fans. She has toured nationally and internationally supporting Arlo Guthrie, Josh Ritter, Damien Dempsey, John Fullbright and Jonathan Byrd and has opened for such legends as Ani DiFranco, Steve Earle and Alejandro Escovedo. Jess has appeared on Good Morning America and NPR's All Things Considered and has performed at the Newport, Winnipeg, Falcon Ridge and Philadelphia Folk Festivals as well as Fuji Rock Festival in Japan.
She is the host of Jess Klein's Big Table - conversations with fellow artists and activists about creativity and social justice.
Jess's upcoming tour dates, new releases and more at https://jessklein.com/home and on her Substack
As well as:
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@msjessklein
Insta: https://www.instagram.com/msjessklein/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jesskleinmusic/