Jenn Grant at the Vancouver Folk Music Festival, held at Jericho Beach Park, Friday to Sunday (July 17-19). Concert: Saturday at 1:40 p.m. Workshops: Friday at 3:35 p.m., Saturday at 11 a.m., and Sunday at 12:20 p.m. Tickets and info: thefestival.bc.ca.
When writing the music for her latest album, Compostela, singer-songwriter Jenn Grant fully committed herself to the process, challenging herself to keep her heart open in hopes the resulting songs might inspire and offer solace to others similarly embarking on a journey of healing in the wake of personal tragedy.
Having lost her mother in 2012 at the young age of 62 to breast cancer, Grant, now 34, set out to honour her spirit with something beautiful, and to allow her goodness to come through in all the songs, whether they were directly about her or not.
"After having gone through a traumatic experience of losing the person that you love, it felt like the right thing to do for me would be to put out something beautiful and open, and that would be a full-circle healing process for me where I could move on from all this in a good way," says the PEI native who currently calls Lake Echo, N.S., home.
Grant is proud of the record, her fifth full-length studio album to date, and feels like she accomplished her goal, encouraged by continued positive comments from a grateful and supportive audience.
"I know that it's helped other people because I meet people on the street who tell me their life stories and talk to me about things about healing and it makes me feel like I've done something of value with that experience. I feel really lucky to have been able to use music for something good or healing," she says.
Reached Tuesday from Los Angeles, Calif., the multiple Juno Award nominee and East Coast Music Awards winner was gearing up to kick off a string of western dates with a show that evening. Having maintained a busy touring schedule since Compostela's release in the fall, including a spring tour in Europe, she's coming to Vancouver this weekend to perform at the 38th annual Vancouver Folk Music Festival, running today through Sunday at Jericho Beach Park. Others on the bill include Phosphorescent, Said the Whale, Lindi Ortega, The Sadies, Paulo Flores and Old Man Luedecke.
Grant, who previously played the folk festival in 2008, is slated to perform at three workshops over the course of the weekend, and will take centre stage for a solo performance Saturday at 1:40 p.m. Joining her for the performance is her husband and producer Daniel Ledwell on guitars, drummer Mike Meadows and bassist Tavo Diez de Bonilla.
Compostela marks a new approach for the artist. In addition to wanting to honour her mother, Grant approached the recording project with an interest in focusing more strongly on storytelling and lyrics. To do so, she studied the works of artists Father John Misty, Rodriguez and Damien Jurado.
"I kind of put myself on a diet of listening to those records so that I could be inspired. I'm kind of a bit of a chameleon," she says.
While her resulting record doesn't sound like any of the other artists' per se, it could be described as a cousin of sorts due to their felt influence, she says.The album's title is a translation of "field of stars," referencing Spain's El Camino de Santiago and the associated legend suggesting the dust from the pilgrims who walk the renowned trail goes on to comprise the stars in the Milky Way. Grant spent some time in Spain following her mother's passing and says it was there that her writing process began, the songs starting to percolate in her head.
Joining her as producer on Compostela is her husband of four years, Daniel Ledwell. They recorded the album mainly in their home studio and it marks the third they've done together.
"Working with Danny, it's been really interesting and rewarding," says Grant."Work and life, there really isn't a division. We're just starting to try to, every once and a while, take a few days away from the Internet and work of any kind. Because, I'm finding that I'm really craving that sense of just unattachment I think of online stuff and that's been really good for us. I think when you do that you are re-inspired and you just come out fresher," she adds.
Grant enjoys watching her husband, an award-winning producer and multi-instrumentalist, work with other artists.
"I can see him broadening his horizons," she says of his own burgeoning career. Examples of artists Ledwell has recently been working with include Justin Rutledge and Mama Kin - a fellow 2015 Vancouver Folk Music Festival performer.
Joining Grant on Compostela are close to a dozen special guests - Sarah Harmer, Buck 65, Ron Sexsmith, Rose Cousins and her brother Daniel on charango to name a few. Grant relishes the opportunity to express herself through music alongside artists she's inspired by. "I think it adds a layer of celebration to something when you have friends and mentors. . . part of your project. It gives it some wings," she says.
As for her next album, which she hopes to begin work on more seriously next year, Grant has already started penning some new material.
"It's coming from a different place than Compostela," she says.
"I'm not going to play any of it yet, but I'm really excited about it. I've been writing it on piano. . . It's definitely different than what I've been doing," she says, of yet another direction she's considering pursuing.
In addition to her current solo tour, another focus of Grant's is her new side project, Aqua Alta, formed as a result of her contributions to Rich Terfry/Buck 65's album 20 Odd Years. For the new group, Grant joined forces with two fellow contributors to Terfry's 2011 record, producer Graeme Campbell and recording engineer and musician Charles Austin.
Aqua Alta's musical direction is different than that of Grant's typical style, described by Austin as "country music for aliens," merging beats and synth pop offerings from
Campbell and Austin, with Grant's vocal melodies and lyrics. The trio recently released its debut, Dreamsphere, and has about 10 shows under its belt so far with more to come.
"I really like working with those guys," says Grant, who says a potential follow-up release is already in their sights.
Grant is looking forward to performing at this weekend's Vancouver Folk Music Festival. Today (Friday) at 3:35 p.m. she's set to take the stage for a workshop with Hawksley Workman, Jasper Sloan Yip and Fortunate Ones entitled Cross Country Checkup. Saturday morning she'll join Workman again, along with Matthew and Jill Barber for The Cure for Everything at 11 a.m. "I know those guys really well. Hawksley I've toured with a few times, and Matt and I did a tour together last fall when my record just came out, and I've been friends with Jill for 10 years. So that's awesome, I'm really excited," she says.
Sunday, in Messin' with the Wrong Heart, Grant will perform alongside Frazey Ford, Lucius and Basia Bulat at 12:20 p.m.
