Upcoming Concert Dates
(Additional / full listings under Tour Dates)
4-13 ~ Joe Jencks in Concert, Seattle Folklore Society ~ Seattle, WA
4-14 ~ Joe Jencks in Concert w/ guest Linda Allen ~ Bellingham, WA
4-14 ~ My Highway Home Broadcast (Joe’s Radio Show) 6 PM ET/ 3 PM PST
4-17 ~ My Highway Home Re-Broadcast (Joe’s Radio Show) 12 Noon ET/ 9 AM PST
4-18 to 4-21 ~ Joe Jencks Performer & Panelist at Labor Notes ~ Chicago, IL
4-25 ~ Lansdowne Folk Club w/ guest Jessica Smucker ~ Lansdowne, PA
4-27 ~ Joe Jencks in Concert, Heart & Soul Concert Series ~ Abingdon, MD
5-4 ~ Joe Jencks Little Folks Show at Caffe Lena ~ Saratoga Springs, NY
5-4 ~ Joe Jencks in Concert, Caffe Lena ~ Saratoga Springs, NY
5-5 ~ Joe Jencks in Concert, Music At The Ridge ~ Danbury, CT

Greetings and Happy Spring! And Eclipse! (Yeah. That!)

I am writing today from sunny Seattle, and looking out the window across Green Lake past flowering trees toward the Cascade Mountains. It is a fabulous week to be in this part of the country.

April & May will include some beautiful collaboration with several friends and colleagues. This weekend it is my distinct joy to be returning to Seattle and Bellingham, WA. A great show on Saturday 4-13 for the incomparable Seattle Folklore Society, and a shared show on 4-14 with my friend, Linda Allen. She is a genuine treasure of the Pacific Northwest. And her music has been sung by people all over the world.

Then I am off to the semi-annual Labor Notes Conference in Chicago. This is a gathering of 4500 of the most forward-thinking people in the Labor Movements from the U.S., Canada, Australia, and beyond. It is my honor to be performing, facilitating, and presenting as a panelist.

Later in April I will be returning to the Lansdowne Folk Club (Lansdowne, PA) w/ guest Jessica Smucker, and then on to Abingdon, MD for the fabulous Heart & Soul concert series.

The first weekend in May I am delighted and honored to return to the one and only, Caffe Lena!

I am sad to say that the Climate Justice retreat I discussed in my last newsletter has been postponed until 2025. But we are planning a monthly Zoom lecture and Q & A moving forward, featuring some of the panelists who would have been at the event. Stay tuned for more details.

Also, on Sunday April 14, my radio show ~ My Highway Home ~ will be on Folk Music Notebook (.com). This week’s episode features an interview with Janet Stecher, a marvelous Seattle based musician, organizer, performing artist, and founding director of the Seattle Labor Chorus.

Last but not least, I want to wish my beloved friend, mentor, occasional performing partner, and brother in solidarity—Si Kahn, a happy 80^th Birthday! April 23, 1944 was a good day for working people, and brought to the world a very gifted and committed musician, songwriter, ally, and organizer. Happy Birthday, buddy!

Please note below some reflections on the Eclipse. I was privileged to see it in Totality from start to finish at a rest area off of I-90. Stunning.

In Gratitude & Song,

~ Joe Jencks

Eclipse Camaraderie on I-90
Copyright ~ Joe Jencks 2024

On Monday April 8th, I needed to drive from Albany, NY to Chicago. I was sad to be traveling on the day of the Solar Eclipse. I had wanted to be with friends in Texas. But life has its own plans, and this was how it worked out. As I traced the pathway of Totality, I was delighted to see that it would include a long stretch of I-90 from west of Cleveland, OH through the northern tip of PA, on through the Buffalo, NY region. I figured if I could get in that zone, I would see the Eclipse somehow. But it was a calculated leap of faith.

The day arrived. I was about 15-20 minutes late hitting the road (not bad for me). And the skies were clear until I got west of Syracuse. Then it started clouding over. By time I was south of Rochester, full cloud cover. Buffalo was socked in as well. I was getting anxious. For many of us this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. And a few science friends had pressed upon me the profound difference between being in the path of total Eclipse (Totality) vs. partial. They were right.

With total coverage where I was at about 3:18 PM ET, I kept waiting for a break in the clouds. And then I crossed into Pennsylvania and saw a welcome center rest area at mile marker 2. I looked up and the clouds were thinning considerably. I hopped off the road to find nearly every parking space full (and then some) save for one. I pulled in, grabbed my Eclipse glasses and hopped out of the car with enthusiasm. Sure enough, I could see the dark arc of the Moon moving across the sky, obscuring the Sun with surprising swiftness. I made it. The sky was clearing and I was in a good place 20+ minutes ahead of the big event.

I found a fellow there with an array of equipment set up. He had a telescope on one tripod with a cable running to a computer on another, a still photography camera on yet another tripod, and a third camera in his hand. Then I noticed the insignia on his polo shirt. NASA. I asked if he worked for NASA, he did. I asked why he was at a rest area. He was supposed to be in Buffalo, but he made a last-minute dash for the farthest west point he could get and still have time to set up all of his gear. Turns out he was recording hi-def video from the telescope which was viewing the infrared spectrum. The still camera on a tripod was doing its own thing. The rest was just luck. We both waited with hopeful anticipation for the clouds to fully disperse and for the magic to happen.

As it got darker, it also got colder. A woman who worked for the welcome center (and who had been passing out Eclipse glasses) was also checking on the temperature. It was dropping fast. A couple of minutes before the point of Totality was reached, the last of the clouds were gone. And in perfect clarity, we saw the last few bits of light before the Moon completely occluded the Sun.

It had been getting darker on a gradient that was fairly consistent until the big moment. Then all of a sudden, it was like someone flipped a switch and it got nearly nighttime dark. And then I looked up at the silhouette of the Moon with the Sun’s Corona shimmering around the entire circumference. I was awestruck. This moment was unlike anything I have ever witnessed or felt, and it was not oversold by my science friends who were adamant that if I wanted the full experience, I needed to get into the pathway of Totality.

I expected the Moon to look black. It did not. It appeared a beautiful midnight blue. Deep. Fathomless. And easily four times bigger than I expected. It looked like someone had turned a blue star sapphire inside out. The rich impenetrable center surrounded by the shimmering and ethereal circle of blue-white light that appeared to the eye to dance in slow motion. A large red solar flare (Coronal-mass ejection?) was visible to the naked eye, and my sense of wonder for the universe in which we exist was turned up to eleven.

The quality of light was beautiful. Low but still articulating the shape of everything. Luminous but minimal. Unlike dusk or nighttime, unlike a full moon on a clear night, it was as if the world had become the leading character in an old silver-screen film. Yet somehow, infinitely more dimensional.

I kept looking up at the massive inverted sapphire in the sky, and my guy from NASA was occasionally explaining what I was seeing through the lens of his perspective, as well as his camera. I felt blessed. Lucky beyond measure to have made it to this place at just the right time, and to stumble on a photographer working for NASA who was my docent through the whole experience.

It is frequently my inclination to draw attention to some deeper meaning buried in a story like this. I am still sitting with it. I had three Eclipse specific dreams leading up to the event, and a couple of dreams after that were clearly related. Against the odds, I made it to a perfect place from which to view this extraordinary event in Totality, cloud and traffic free. Grateful. Clearly this is deep in my conscious, unconscious and subconscious mind. It will keep tumbling.

When the Eclipse moved into Totality there was no cheering at the rest area along I-90. There was quiet joy and reverence for the wonders of the universe. People gasped and were collectively awed by this phenomenal sight which we all seemed to observe with gentle respect. But around us, in nearby towns and parks, on farms, and on Lake Erie, there were people setting off fireworks. I was surprised. The NASA guy was annoyed. He muttered something about this being a once in a lifetime event for most people, and wondered why humans can’t let that be enough? Indeed, there was nothing about the majesty of the moment that required anything extra. It was complete all by itself.

~ Joe Jencks (4-9-24)

Dear Friends in Music,

It is my joy to be on the road a great deal this year. I traveled nearly coast to coast just in the month of January. February had me touring in Canada. And March has me traversing a broad swath of the U.S. I hope to see you at one or another of my upcoming shows.

March 8-10 in Texas: Georgetown, Austin, and San Antonio.
March 15-18 in Illinois and Wisconsin: Downers Grove, Kenosha, Shawano, and Rockford.
March 22-24 in Virginia: Residency at Averett University and a concert in Charlottesville.
March 26-27 in New York: Artist in Residence at SUNY Oneonta.

Here is a link to a new song, one that many of you have been asking for since I debuted the song last summer at the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival. A studio single will follow later this year, and I will be working on a new record this year as well. Stay tuned. For now, please enjoy this LIVE performance recorded earlier this week on FOX 7 - Good Day Austin.
Link: https://www.fox7austin.com/video/1422315

Please check the Tour Dates page for full concert listings
Link: https://www.joejencks.com/calendar
Please also see the essay below: Let It Breathe – offering some thoughts about what it means to me to be revolutionary by offering compassion, and how some words written and spoken by friends and colleagues helped me make a hard decision.

I look forward to seeing many of you at concerts, in the coming weeks!

In Gratitude & Song,

~ Joe

Let It Breathe
Copyright 2024, Joe Jencks, Turtle Bear Music

I received an invitation to sing live on a FOX News affiliate: Good Day Austin, on FOX 7. I was delighted. Major network air in a place like Austin is a thing. I was honored. And then they asked me in advance, what I wanted to sing. One song. What do I want to say? The temptation to be the activist is ever-present. The chance to do so on a FOX station? Nearly irresistible. But there are many ways to be an activist. Many ways to offer contradiction to the difficulties of the moment. And as much as I wanted to sing about immigration issues, labor, gun violence, environmental issues, racism, and more; I got one song. What to do?

There is no way you can put yourself into the world, authentically, and not take risks. And art, all by itself, is risky and revolutionary. Pete Seeger said many times in general and a couple of times to me in particular, “A song does not need to be about the revolution to be revolutionary.” That is to say, if what is needed is a lullaby, or a love song, that too is part of the evolution and revolution of that moment.

Baked into the cake of what we think of as the role of a Folksinger (at least in much of North America) is to be a champion of the downtrodden. Many have followed in these footsteps, and many have blazed new trails as variations on a theme, uplifting complex social issues and those who are most affected by them. And yet we find ourselves in a time when the divisiveness is becoming so toxic that we are pitted neighbor against neighbor, friend against friend, and sometimes family member against family member. And as we defend our views, ideas, and perspectives, actual progress seems always just out of reach.

I am all for rigorous debate, and I am definitely for social justice, racial and gender equity, the right of laborers to organize, the staunch defense of Civil Rights, the advancement of climate justice and awareness, the deconstruction of exploitative economic models, and the sovereignty of one’s body – especially as pertains to women’s reproductive rights. And yet, there is a need for the healing power of music in ways that sometimes needs to sidestep one idea of what it means to be a Folksinger to uplift another: Making people feel welcome, and deciding not to “other” another person. There is a tacit call to build a relationship of some form, and then carry the dialogue forward having first humanized another person and bothering to know some piece of their story.

Crys Matthews wrote a beautiful song released on her Changemakers album that I have been privileged to sing with her on several occasions: Exactly Where You Are. Look it up. Stunning. It is invitational but not sidestepping differences.

Plains and trains and buses too
No us and them just me and you.
And every person’s like a book with a story yet to tell,
A hidden gem buried deep within the depths of their well,
Hello how’s it going, how’s your journey been so far,
Nice to meet you, nice to meet you, exactly where you are.

Nearly 20 years ago, John Flynn wrote a song speaking to these differences, and a desire to overcome them. A choice to see what we share rather than what divides us. Not that the differences don’t matter, they do. Our stories and lived experiences are real, and our need to give voice to them and be witnessed for the lives we have lived is real. But maybe we get to a better place by offering compassion as we are able to cultivate it, rather than continuing the endless back and forth volley of assertions and assumptions.

There’s No Them There
Copyright - John Flynn (used by permission)

Chorus:
I want to
Go where there’s no them there
There’s no us there, somewhere we share
What we’re given, This ain’t livin’
and I’m dying to go

It’s more than intuition,
or a strong suspicion
A whole lot more than wishin’
I know it in my heart
Races, creeds and nations
are false separations
and we can replace them
with love it’s time to start (Chorus)

Colors of the rainbow
bend together and show
how we can blend also
If we look beyond
the things that divide us
to what is inside us
May their beauty guide us
from this dark road we’re on (Chorus)

From fear we’ve learned to cherish
and hate we’re taught to nourish
the light of hope may perish
if soon we do not find
a brand new way of seeing-
a brand new way of freeing-
our fellow human beings
by simply being kind (Chorus)

Thinking of these two beloved colleagues, and thinking to myself, “What would Pete do in this moment?” I decided to sing a new song of mine called, Let It Breathe (Love Has You Surrounded) for my one moment of fame on FOX 7 in Austin. I wrote the song last summer, in part inspired by a Haiku written by my friend and colleague Jenny Bienemann. I expect to release it as a single sometime this spring or summer. But so many people have been asking for the song after hearing it in concert. So many people have asked for lyrics and for permission to learn the song. Sometimes the world tells us what is needed. Not a protest or a lullaby, but a song of welcome. A song inviting compassion for the self and others. And that is a good place to start when figuring out how to move forward.

Sometimes the most revolutionary act we can engage in, is compassion. This song comes from that place, a place of compassion for others and for self. We are all in need of mercy and compassion. May you find some in this song.

~ Joe Jencks (3-8-24, Austin, TX)

Joe Jencks ~ Let It Breathe (Copyright 2023, Joe Jencks, Turtle Bear Music, ASCAP)
Link to the FOX 7 broadcast performance: https://www.fox7austin.com/video/1422315
Lyrics below.

Let It Breathe (Love Has You Surrounded)
Copyright 2023 – Joe Jencks, Turtle Bear Music, ASCAP

Lay down your weapons
Love has you surrounded
There is no easy way out
Lay down your shield, and
Let your heart break, just a little
Let Love remove all doubt

You go through the world
Everybody’s sweetheart
Keeping up a front that wears you down
But in a quiet moment
The truth comes out, Somedays you
Feel like you’re about to drown

There is no reason
To play this charade
You can be loved for who you are
And for every troubled thought
That crosses your mind, please hold that
You are someone else’s shining star

What do you need?
By what measure would you know, that
You are more than what you achieve
When you look in the mirror, Is it
Possible to see that
You are enough, so let it breathe

Thank You For Your Support

Donate

Upcoming Concerts early January)

Jan. 2 ~ John Platt’s On Your Radar – The Bitter End, NYC
Jan. 4 ~ Joe Jencks & Zoe Mulford in Concert - Park Ave. Center - Swarthmore, PA
Jan. 5 ~ Joe Jencks & Zoe Mulford in Concert - Happy Valley Concerts, State College, PA
Jan. 6 ~ Joe Jencks & Zoe Mulford in Concert - Historic Coopers House - Columbia, MD
Jan. 7 ~ Joe Jencks & Zoe Mulford in Concert - The Folk Factory – Mt. Airy/ Philly, PA
Jan. 11 ~ Joe Jencks In Concert - The Railway Cafe - North Adams, MA
Jan. 13 ~ Joe Jencks in Concert - Circle of Friends Coffeehouse - Franklin, MA
Jan. 14 ~ Joe Jencks in Concert - Halcyon Arts - South Hadley, MA
(Amherst, Northampton/Easthampton)
***Upcoming concerts in KS, NM, AZ, CO, Alberta, Saskatchewan, IL, WI, VA, WA +
***Full listings + more dates on the tour page: https://www.joejencks.com/calendar


Dear Friends in Music,

As another calendar year heads into the home stretch, my annual holiday broadcast: On a Midwinter’s Night will Stream LIVE from my studio on Sunday Dec. 17th at 8:00 PM ET/ 7:00 PM CT/ 6:00 PM MT/ 5:00 PM PT.

On A Midwinter's Night ~ Live-Stream (12-17-23)
Link: https://youtube.com/live/OZu2u03vG8Y

Also... In early January, my dear friend and beloved songwriter colleague Zoe Mulford and I will share some co-billed concerts including: John Platt’s On Your Radar at The Bitter End (NYC, 1-2-24). We will also have concerts in Swarthmore and State College, PA (Jan. 4 and 5), Columbia, MD (Historic Coopers House Concerts on Jan. 6), and at The Folk Factory in Mt. Airy / Philadelphia, PA (Jan. 7^th). I look forward to making some great music with Zoe, and reconnecting with friends and fans in all of these places.

Please also note the essay below: Complex, Not Complicated. It was inspired by a recent interview in which I was asked, “What is your legacy?” While feeling entirely unqualified to answer, I suddenly remembered standing under a Saturn V rocket at the Johnson Space Center with my friend Jim Noble. I remembered a question he asked me at the time, “Do you understand the difference between complicated and complex?” The ensuing conversation was fascinating.

Wishing you all the best as we head into the holidays.
May they be gentle and restorative.
And may your Yule log burn brightly!

In Gratitude & Song,

~ Joe Jencks (12-17-23)

Complex, Not Complicated

Copyright 2023 Joe Jencks, Turtle Bear Music

My friend Jim Noble is an architect, inventor, and ipso-facto engineer. One of his designs was adapted by NASA to house an experiment that was towed behind a space shuttle on an orbital mission. How cool is that? He and I are both ardent fans of the space program, and of human exploration of our solar system, galaxy, and of interstellar space. We are both fascinated by the many extraordinary things humans have achieved, and the boundless things humans yet need to achieve, environmentally and otherwise. The world needs problem solvers who can work together, especially when it comes to environmental issues that touch on every aspect of human life and every society on this planet. We need big idea people. And we need people who know how to translate that into pragmatic process-driven solutions.

Jim Noble took me on a personally guided tour of the Johnson Space Center near Houston. As we were walking through the exhibits, he explained a great deal to me that that was not included in the kiosk write-ups about how and why certain things happened. He explained how specific problems were solved, and talked about some of the sub-processes (both successes and failures) that led to workable solutions.

At one point during our visit Jim asked me, “Do you understand the difference between complicated and complex?”

I said, “I think I do, but please explain it to me from your perspective.”

Jim looked at me with a twinkle in his eye that suggested, maybe I did not in fact understand the difference. And patiently, with his beautiful Texan accent and graciousness, he dove into an explanation. This is what I remember him saying to me that day, while standing under a Saturn V rocket laying on its side at the Johnson Space Center.

Jim began, “Any great undertaking is necessarily complex. There are many stages. A rocket has many stages from the time it launches until the capsule, satellite, scientific package, or other piece of hardware or habitat is doing what it was intended to do. Whether in orbit, on its way to the Moon or Mars, or out of our solar system, there are many stages. But every one of those stages is made up of thousands of parts and pieces, of hardware and constructed machinery, and required process. Each step and component is essential to the success of the process and the objective.”

He continued, “Each one of those parts and pieces had to be invented and fabricated by people who understood their work with precision, and had an ability to grasp how their work would relate to the work of others. So, there are stages not just in the rocket, but in every part and piece, in every aspect of conception, creation, and assembly. At every stage in the process, there is trial and error as materials are tested, reconsidered based on experimentation, and re-created to compensate for unexpected outcomes. This is necessarily complex work. But it only becomes complicated when there are non-essential steps and stages included in the process. The job of a good inventor, designer, engineer, project coordinator, or fabricator is to remove every step of the process that does not NEED to be there. In this way, complicated is reduced to merely complex. It is the art of reducing a process to the most elemental and elegant number of steps required to meet the objective, while still doing so with reasonably assured outcomes and safety.”

His implications were clear, though understated. And my take-away is ever unfolding.

We live in a necessarily complex world. But there is a lot we could do personally and collectively to make it less complicated. We can reduce complicated to merely complex. Whether putting people on the Moon or solving problems of climate change, homelessness and poverty, or a lack of access to food, water, sanitary conditions, or healthcare. There is a way. There is always a way. If we get enough people working together for common purpose and check our egos at the door (and throughout the process), we can find solutions. Furthermore, just because we have not found the solution yet, does not mean that it does not exist. Persistence in the face of failure is not always foolhardy. Sometimes it’s just common-sense scientific process, applied to things outside of obvious science.

I am a musician. I am a songwriter. I try with great effort in my art, in my performances, in my composing and songwriting to shine light on the stories of other people, sometimes in a precise moment of action or effort. Because it exemplifies a character trait that I respect and that could be emulated by more people.

I can write a song about a Labor strike, about racial justice, homelessness, about the Shoah (the Holocaust), about fisherman, immigration, about the wonders of love, the splendor of nature, or the enthusiastic joy of a child. But if it is not framed as an invitation into the story and the lives of other people, if it is not framed as an invitation into ourselves, it falls short. Somehow a song, or the story that precedes a song needs to be an invitation - palms up and heart open - into a deeper consideration of something. Sometimes that something is joy! So, whimsy also has a place in the conversation.

I have been a story teller. I have been an advocate for all sorts of social work, causes, justice movements, and laborers. I have been an advocate through my music for human rights, civil rights, climate justice, and civil discourse. And I have been a singer of love songs and lullabies.

But I have also been a minister of sorts, not of a given faith practice but as a spiritual humanist, ever interested in letting the power music give people permission to feel whatever they need to feel, in order to eventually arrive at a place of increased hopefulness. Music, art, dance, poetry, theater, singing together, being together, being in nature, having a good meal in the company of good people, all of these things can lead to greater hopefulness. They can also lead to tears and release. Laughter and release. Discomfort and release. Awareness and Ah-Ha!

Art has the power to allow us to express what we do not know how to express in any other way, whether we have created the art or are witness to it and in the presence of it.

So, as a personal tool, as a personal practice, art is invaluable. But as a community practice, shared performance, shared singing, shared dancing, shared jamming, shared art of all forms can re-connect us to one another and to ourselves in unique and needed ways.

Music is the path I have chosen, it is what comes most naturally. And I see myself as a crafts-person engaged in an honorable trade. I am grateful for the skills and the tools I have been given and have been privileged to develop. I am grateful for the many people who have helped me along the way, who saw potential and passion in the same place and decided to support it within me. I am grateful to have grown up in a musical family where I was surrounded by the ongoing and exploratory relationship that all of my older siblings had with music. I am grateful that I had the chance to go to a marvelous music conservatory and to study with other committed and accomplished practitioners of music, in all of its many forms. I am grateful for that diversity and the awareness of how BIG music is.

From the camaraderie I feel with other working musicians and artists, to the people like Jim Noble who share their world views and learned perspective with me, I continue to be a student. I am in the world, ever curious about nature, science, other cultures, other people, and what they know that I do not!

I was asked recently in an interview what my legacy might be? I am hard pressed to define it. In part because I sincerely hope that at 51, my best and most creative years are still in front of me. I hope that my capacity for organizing, problem solving, and collaboration is just finding its legs. I hope that I will be blessed to work with friends I don’t yet know, in places I have yet to go, to be a part of exploring and helping to solve problems I cannot yet comprehend, or may not yet be aware of in this moment.

But I hope my legacy also includes some of the following: I hope my legacy begins and ends with a deep and abiding love for humanity in all of our failings and striving, in all of our dreams and successes. I hope that I am remembered as a lover of people. Because for all of the difficulties in the world and the people who seem to thrive on discord, my experience has been that the vast majority of people in the world are really decent. And given the chance to self-actualize, the chance to chase their dreams or dare to grow, most people will choose to do so. If I can encourage that in any way through my music, what a beautiful thing to have helped foster.

I hope that I am recognized for the thoughtful and purposeful songwriter that I am and that I aspire to continue becoming. I hope that more musicians will look at my life and career (unorthodox as it is even for the music industry), and consider that they too do not need to fit into a specific mold in order to have an extraordinary life making music and bringing goodness into the world.

I hope to be a bridgebuilder, a peace maker, a journalist of sorts through the music and stories I choose to put on stage and on my albums. I hope that part of my legacy is that more people are curious about the world around them and the people in it, and bother to know something about their neighbors. I hope that people understand that my purpose was never to win a Grammy. (Though it would be nice. HA!) My purpose was and is not commercial. My purpose is HUMAN. My process is relational, rather than transactional. My hope is to shine light on the good that I see in other people and in the world. And to lift up that goodness and reflect it back to the people who listen, that we all might see each other with less suspicion and greater hope for understanding and acceptance.

We may never witness the whole picture of what has been affected by our art or work. But we see evidence that people have been affected by our work in useful ways. And when someone is willing to share how they have been specifically impacted, through that one person we can reasonably see that many more people are being positively affected by our efforts.

I don’t know what my legacy will be, but I hope it will be a legacy of hope. A discipline of hope. A hope carried forward by a lot of great music, good people, right relations, and productive collaborations. A hope that acknowledges complexity, while graciously side-stepping irrelevant complications. A belief that hope is not a Quixotic or Pollyannaish way of being. Rather, hope is how we find the strength to envision a world where positive change is possible, and in which we get to be a part of making that change happen.

~ Joe Jencks

(Written on a SW Flight from Chicago to Seattle 11-29-23. Revised on the return flight, 12-6-23.)

Upcoming Concerts (December & early January)

Dec. 8 ~ Ethical Brew Concerts - Teaneck, NJ
Dec. 9 ~ Another Chance Café House Concerts – Flourtown, PA (RSVP required)
Dec. 10 ~ My Highway Home, Joe Jencks interviews Wes Weddell - Folk Music Notebook
Dec. 17 ~ Joe Jencks’ annual seasonal broadcast: On A Midwinter’s Night

Jan. 2 ~ John Platt’s On Your Radar – The Bitter End, NYC
Jan. 4 ~ Joe Jencks & Zoe Mulford in Concert - Park Ave. Center - Swarthmore, PA
Jan. 5 ~ Joe Jencks & Zoe Mulford in Concert - Happy Valley Concerts, State College, PA
Jan. 6 ~ Joe Jencks & Zoe Mulford in Concert - Historic Coopers House - Columbia, MD
Jan. 7 ~ Joe Jencks & Zoe Mulford in Concert - The Folk Factory – Mt. Airy/ Philly, PA

Dear Friends in Music,

As another calendar year heads into the home stretch, I am flying from Seattle back to Chicago for one night at home. I’ll have a 16-hour turnaround, and then head back to Midway to fly east and play a few shows in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Then back home to keep working on 2024 tour plans and to rehearse for my annual holiday broadcast (12-17-23): On a Midwinter’s Night.

On A Midwinter's Night Live-Stream (12-17-23)
Link: https://youtube.com/live/OZu2u03vG8Y

In early January, my dear friend and beloved songwriting colleague Zoe Mulford and I will share some co-billed concerts including: John Platt’s On Your Radar at The Bitter End (NYC, 1-2-24). We will also have concerts in Swarthmore and State College, PA (Jan. 4 and 5), Columbia, MD (Historic Coopers House Concerts on Jan. 6), and at The Folk Factory in Mt. Airy / Philadelphia, PA (Jan. 7^th). I look forward to making some great music with Zoe, and reconnecting with friends and fans in all of these places.

Please also note the essay below: Complex, Not Complicated. It was inspired by a recent interview in which I was asked, “What is your legacy?” While feeling entirely unqualified to answer, I suddenly remembered standing under a Saturn V rocket at the Johnson Space Center with my friend Jim Noble. I remembered a question he asked me at the time, “Do you understand the difference between complicated and complex?” The ensuing conversation was fascinating.

Wishing you all the best as we head into the holidays. May they be gentle and restorative.

In Gratitude & Song,

~ Joe Jencks (12-7-23)

Complex, Not Complicated

Copyright 2023 Joe Jencks, Turtle Bear Music

My friend Jim Noble is an architect, inventor, and ipso-facto engineer. One of his patented structural designs was adapted and used by NASA to house an experiment that needed to fly a couple miles behind the space shuttle on an orbital mission. How cool is that? He and I are both ardent fans of the space program, and of human exploration of our solar system, galaxy, and of interstellar space. We are both fascinated by the many extraordinary things humans have achieved, and the boundless things humans yet need to achieve, environmentally and otherwise. The world needs problem solvers who can work together, especially when it comes to environmental issues that touch on every aspect of human life and every society on this planet. We need big idea people. And we need people who know how to translate that into pragmatic process-driven solutions.

Jim Noble took me on a personally guided tour of the Johnson Space Center near Houston. As we were walking through the exhibits, he explained a great deal to me that that was not included in the kiosk write-ups about how and why certain things happened. He explained how specific problems were solved, and talked about some of the sub-processes (both successes and failures) that led to workable solutions.

At one point during our visit Jim asked me, “Do you understand the difference between complicated and complex?”

I said, “I think I do, but please explain it to me from your perspective.”

Jim looked at me with a twinkle in his eye that suggested, maybe I did not in fact understand the difference. And patiently, with his beautiful Texan accent and graciousness, he dove into an explanation. This is what I remember him saying to me that day, while standing under a Saturn V rocket laying on its side at the Johnson Space Center.

Jim began, “Any great undertaking is necessarily complex. There are many stages. A rocket has many stages from the time it launches until the capsule, satellite, scientific package, or other piece of hardware or habitat is doing what it was intended to do. Whether in orbit, on its way to the Moon or Mars, or out of our solar system, there are many stages. But every one of those stages is made up of thousands of parts and pieces, of hardware and constructed machinery, and required process. Each step and component is essential to the success of the process and the objective.”

He continued, “Each one of those parts and pieces had to be invented and fabricated by people who understood their work with precision, and had an ability to grasp how their work would relate to the work of others. So, there are stages not just in the rocket, but in every part and piece, in every aspect of conception, creation, and assembly. At every stage in the process, there is trial and error as materials are tested, reconsidered based on experimentation, and re-created to compensate for unexpected outcomes. This is necessarily complex work. But it only becomes complicated when there are non-essential steps and stages included in the process. The job of a good inventor, designer, engineer, project coordinator, or fabricator is to remove every step of the process that does not NEED to be there. In this way, complicated is reduced to merely complex. It is the art of reducing a process to the most elemental and elegant number of steps required to meet the objective, while still doing so with reasonably assured outcomes and safety.”

His implications were clear, though understated. And my take-away is ever unfolding.

We live in a necessarily complex world. But there is a lot we could do personally and collectively to make it less complicated. We can reduce complicated to merely complex. Whether putting people on the Moon or solving problems of climate change, homelessness and poverty, or a lack of access to food, water, sanitary conditions, or healthcare. There is a way. There is always a way. If we get enough people working together for common purpose and check our egos at the door (and throughout the process), we can find solutions. Furthermore, just because we have not found the solution yet, does not mean that it does not exist. Persistence in the face of failure is not always foolhardy. Sometimes it’s just common-sense scientific process, applied to things outside of obvious science.

I am a musician. I am a songwriter. I try with great effort in my art, in my performances, in my composing and songwriting to shine light on the stories of other people, sometimes in a precise moment of action or effort. Because it exemplifies a character trait that I respect and that could be emulated by more people.

I can write a song about a Labor strike, about racial justice, homelessness, about the Shoah (the Holocaust), about fisherman, immigration, about the wonders of love, the splendor of nature, or the enthusiastic joy of a child. But if it is not framed as an invitation into the story and the lives of other people, if it is not framed as an invitation into ourselves, it falls short. Somehow a song, or the story that precedes a song needs to be an invitation - palms up and heart open - into a deeper consideration of something. Sometimes that something is joy! So, whimsy also has a place in the conversation.

I have been a story teller. I have been an advocate for all sorts of social work, causes, justice movements, and laborers. I have been an advocate through my music for human rights, civil rights, climate justice, and civil discourse. And I have been a singer of love songs and lullabies.

But I have also been a minister of sorts, not of a given faith practice but as a spiritual humanist, ever interested in letting the power music give people permission to feel whatever they need to feel, in order to eventually arrive at a place of increased hopefulness. Music, art, dance, poetry, theater, singing together, being together, being in nature, having a good meal in the company of good people, all of these things can lead to greater hopefulness. They can also lead to tears and release. Laughter and release. Discomfort and release. Awareness and Ah-Ha!

Art has the power to allow us to express what we do not know how to express in any other way, whether we have created the art or are witness to it and in the presence of it.

So, as a personal tool, as a personal practice, art is invaluable. But as a community practice, shared performance, shared singing, shared dancing, shared jamming, shared art of all forms can re-connect us to one another and to ourselves in unique and needed ways.

Music is the path I have chosen, it is what comes most naturally. And I see myself as a crafts-person engaged in an honorable trade. I am grateful for the skills and the tools I have been given and have been privileged to develop. I am grateful for the many people who have helped me along the way, who saw potential and passion in the same place and decided to support it within me. I am grateful to have grown up in a musical family where I was surrounded by the ongoing and exploratory relationship that all of my older siblings had with music. I am grateful that I had the chance to go to a marvelous music conservatory and to study with other committed and accomplished practitioners of music, in all of its many forms. I am grateful for that diversity and the awareness of how BIG music is.

From the camaraderie I feel with other working musicians and artists, to the people like Jim Noble who share their world views and learned perspective with me, I continue to be a student. I am in the world, ever curious about nature, science, other cultures, other people, and what they know that I do not!

I was asked recently in an interview what my legacy might be? I am hard pressed to define it. In part because I sincerely hope that at 51, my best and most creative years are still in front of me. I hope that my capacity for organizing, problem solving, and collaboration is just finding its legs. I hope that I will be blessed to work with friends I don’t yet know, in places I have yet to go, to be a part of exploring and helping to solve problems I cannot yet comprehend, or may not yet be aware of in this moment.

But I hope my legacy also includes some of the following: I hope my legacy begins and ends with a deep and abiding love for humanity in all of our failings and striving, in all of our dreams and successes. I hope that I am remembered as a lover of people. Because for all of the difficulties in the world and the people who seem to thrive on discord, my experience has been that the vast majority of people in the world are really decent. And given the chance to self-actualize, the chance to chase their dreams or dare to grow, most people will choose to do so. If I can encourage that in any way through my music, what a beautiful thing to have helped foster.

I hope that I am recognized for the thoughtful and purposeful songwriter that I am and that I aspire to continue becoming. I hope that more musicians will look at my life and career (unorthodox as it is even for the music industry), and consider that they too do not need to fit into a specific mold in order to have an extraordinary life making music and bringing goodness into the world.

I hope to be a bridgebuilder, a peace maker, a journalist of sorts through the music and stories I choose to put on stage and on my albums. I hope that part of my legacy is that more people are curious about the world around them and the people in it, and bother to know something about their neighbors. I hope that people understand that my purpose was never to win a Grammy. (Though it would be nice. HA!) My purpose was and is not commercial. My purpose is HUMAN. My process is relational, rather than transactional. My hope is to shine light on the good that I see in other people and in the world. And to lift up that goodness and reflect it back to the people who listen, that we all might see each other with less suspicion and greater hope for understanding and acceptance.

We may never witness the whole picture of what has been affected by our art or work. But we see evidence that people have been affected by our work in useful ways. And when someone is willing to share how they have been specifically impacted, through that one person we can reasonably see that many more people are being positively affected by our efforts.

I don’t know what my legacy will be, but I hope it will be a legacy of hope. A discipline of hope. A hope carried forward by a lot of great music, good people, right relations, and productive collaborations. A hope that acknowledges complexity, while graciously side-stepping irrelevant complications. A belief that hope is not a Quixotic or Pollyannaish way of being. Rather, hope is how we find the strength to envision a world where positive change is possible, and in which we get to be a part of making that change happen.

~ Joe Jencks

(Written on a SW Flight from Chicago to Seattle 11-29-23. Revised on the return flight, 12-6-23.)

Upcoming Concerts
11-16-23 ~ Joe Jencks in Concert at the Oak Park Library, Oak Park, IL
11-17-23 ~ Joe Jencks in Concert, The Ten Pound Fiddle, East Lancing, MI
11-18-23 ~ Joe Jencks in Concert, Benefit for The Catholic Worker, South Bend, IN
11-19-23 ~ Joe Jencks in Concert, Benefit/ St. Paul’s Community Outreach, Cleveland, OH
12-8-23 ~ Joe Jencks in Concert, Ethical Brew, Teaneck, NJ

Dear Friends in Music,

There has never been for me a greater comfort for me in times of struggle than the company of friends, shared meals, and good music. Sometimes we are lucky enough to get all three in the same evening. I had many such evenings while traveling in Ireland earlier in the fall. And I look forward to more, coming up soon.

I am on my way to Denver and Ft. Collins for my first performance trip to Colorado since before the Pandemic. I am delighted to reconnect with audiences and friends on the front range, and to return to two amazing venues/series. Friday, October 27th, (this Friday!) I will be performing at the legendary Swallow Hill Music, in the Tuft Theater. Sunday the 29th, I will be up in Ft. Collins offering a concert for Quantum Arts. Even if you are not a CO person, if you know people there, please tell them about the shows!

Next weekend I will share several performances with my beloved colleague and friend, Deidre McCalla. A gem of the women’s music circuit in the 80s and 90s, Deidre has continued to evolve and expand her music, and is one of the finest and most insightful songwriters I know. Our shared shows promise to be a deep merging of melody, harmony, cultural, and generational perspectives. We will be at Godfrey Daniels in Bethlehem, PA on Thursday Nov. 2nd. Saturday, Nov. 4th we will offer a concert for The 8th Step at Proctors Theater in Schenectady, NY. Sunday the 5th of Nov. we will be in concert at the Unitarian Universalist Society of Greater Springfield, MA. We’ll be bringing this show to The Ark in MI, Six String Concerts in OH, and Renaissance Concerts in IL in the spring. Stay tuned!

In mid-November I will be performing solo for the Ten Pound Fiddle in MI, A benefit for The Catholic Worker in South Bend, IN and a benefit for St. Paul’s community outreach in Cleveland, OH. I'll be starting that run of cincerts off with a show at the Oak Park Library on Nov. 16th.

Please read the essay below about a dream I had recently, involving the late and beloved Anne Feeney and Pete Seeger. As the veil thins and we approach Dia de Los Muertos, there are perhaps those speaking to us from beyond.

Nov. 12th and 15th, the next episode of My Highway Home will air on Folk Music Notebook. I was lucky enough to step in at the last minute for a colleague and lead a workshop at the Folk Alliance Region Midwest (FARM) conference. I also got to hear some AMAZING new music. I will share some of it with you on the next episode of my show. You can tune in online via www.folkmusicnotebook.com.

All tour dates mentioned and a few dozen more are listed on the Tours tab of my website. www.joejencks.com. Please check back as new dates are being added. If you have a venue in your region that you would like to see me play, let me know. We’ll look into it.

Wishing you all the best, and hopeful to see you out on the road at one of the shows or somewhere in between.

In Gratitude and Song,

~ Joe (10-25-23)


A Neolithic through early Bronze Age monument at Knowth (Brú na Bóinne), near Newgrange in Co. Meath, IRE.

Anne Feeney, Pete Seeger & Dia de Los Muertos
Copyright - 2023 Joe Jencks, Turtle Bear Music

I awoke one morning last week from a dream that was so real, that it took me some time to draw the delicate boundary between the waking and the dreaming worlds. In the dream, I was performing a songwriter-in-the-round concert with Anne Feeney and Pete Seeger. It was a wonderful sharing of music in community. We went the whole evening just trading songs, and singing and playing with each other as the song called for it. It was so genuinely joyful to spend an evening in the presence of these two cherished colleagues and friends.

In the dream, we were playing a concert for a Folk Music series at a Unitarian Universalist church in Cincinnati. I know it was Cincinnati, because many of my Cincinnati friends and audience were there. I could call them out by name, even now. I could see their faces, know their stories in the waking world. Toshi (Pete’s wife) was sitting in the audience as well. Every once in a while, she would look at her watch and then at Pete who was singing away, seemingly without a care in the world. And then she would settle back in, knowing Pete was in his happy place and we were going to be here for a while.

Anne, Pete, and I sang songs of peace, hope, and possibility alongside some stronger indictments of certain issues and practices. But the tone of the show was uplifting and empowering. I was so unbelievably happy to be making music again with these two power-houses of progressive Folk. And the audience was rapt, lingering on every word and melody. We sang with each other and the audience sang along. It was a perfect night of music, together.

When I awoke, I was still humming something to myself. I don’t now recall what it was. But I kept remembering moments from the evening as if it were a concert I had actually given, the night before. I got out of bed, and it was solidly 10 minutes into my day before I remembered the implausibility of this scenario. I’m the only one of the three of us in that song-swap performance who is still alive on this plain of existence. With a certain solemnity, I reconciled myself to the realities while still holding the warmth and joy of the night before.

It was all so plausible, because I was privileged to perform with Pete Seeger on several occasions. I gratefully played at least a dozen co-bill concerts with Anne Feeney. And I was on shared stages at Festivals and Social Justice events another dozen times with Anne and a few times with Pete and Anne. The whole dream was 100% plausible. Until I remembered that the price tag for joining that song circle would be high. I had a melancholy moment, remembering fondly my time in musical and activist community with both Anne Feeney and Pete Seeger. And then I set to the tasks and projects of my day.

On Dia de Los Muertos, I usually set out an ofrenda. Photos of loved ones, bits of festival and treat food, maybe a bit of something each person on the altar of memory liked in particular. I even got a bottle of Barley Wine to pour a toast to my brother Jerry on this year’s ofrenda. I just took a look at the tour schedule. It turns out that I will be home for one evening next week, and it’s Dia de Los Muertos. I will set out a photo of Anne and one of Pete, alongside those of family of origin and other friends, and play a few of their songs, just because.

It is said that on the night of Dia de Los Muertos (Samhain in the Irish Pagan traditions) that the veil that separates the spirit world from this one is at the thinnest point of the entire year. Every year I hope to feel the connection with the ancestors who have passed. Parents, my brother Jerry, dear friends, and beloved colleagues. But this year, I will be listening especially closely to see if Anne Feeney and Pete Seeger have something specific to say to me. Their visit in the dreamscape being so close to this time when the veil thins, seems meaningful. Whatever they have to say to me, sure they must have said to me a dozen of times while they were alive. I just need to listen with special care, that I might hear their wisdom one more time. I need to listen so that I remember why I was walking in their footsteps in the first place. And then share in the power of music, healing, community, and positive change bestowed by these beloved friends departed with the ones who are here now, with me on the journey.

As we approach Dia de Los Muertos, I invite the question: Whose wisdom are you missing, right now? And, how might you make room in your mind and heart and life, for them to give you a few signs of comfort and guidance?

~ Joe Jencks

A midwest autumn sunset... reflected off the roof of my car. ~ JJ

Dear Friends in Music,

It has been far too long since I have written, and that means it was a busy summer and early fall. Among the highlights of the last few months were multiple Mainstage sets at the Falcon Ridge Folk Fest (and getting to meet and talk with Livingston Taylor about songwriting). And, teaching at the Pinewoods (Music & Dance) Camp in Plymouth, MA; as well as a wonderful tour in Ireland, from which I have just returned.

I have some great concerts coming up this fall, as well as some much-needed time at home to catch up on admin, start work in the studio on my next album, and ground myself with some good sleep, home cooked meals, morning meditation, and regular visits to the gym. FAB.

Upcoming concerts include:
9-30-29 ~ The Linden Tree Coffee House, Wakefield, MA
10-7-23 ~ Oktoberfest, Sauganash Community Church in Chicago, IL
(Sharing the afternoon with Jenny Bienemann & Kaia Fowler)
10-11-23 ~ Daily Antidote of Song ~ Song-leader (Online)
10-27-23 ~ Swallow Hill Concert Association, Denver, CO
10-29-23 ~ Quantum Arts Presents, Ft. Collins, CO
11-2-23 ~ Joe Jencks & Deidre McCalla at Godfrey Daniels, Bethlehem, PA
11-4-23 ~ Joe Jencks & Deidre McCalla at The 8^th Step (at Proctors), Schenectady, NY
11-5-23 ~ Joe Jencks & Deidre McCalla at The UU Society of Springfield, MA
11-16-23 ~ Oak Park Library, Oak Park, IL
11-17-23 ~ The Ten Pound Fiddle Coffee House, East Lancing, MI
12-8-23 ~ Ethical Brew, Teaneck, NJ
12-9-23 ~ Another Chance Concerts (Philly area), PA

*More concerts are being added weekly, and concert dates well into 2024 are already posted. So, please do check out the concert calendar regularly: https://www.joejencks.com/calendar

*Please also note below, an essay below reflecting some thoughts about my recent time in Ireland, and my return home.

I look forward to seeing many of you out on the road somewhere, soon!

In Gratitude & Song,

~ Joe Jencks



(Athy, Co. Kildare, IRE)

Choosing Radical Hospitality, Regardless

Copyright, 2023 - Joe Jencks, Turtle Bear Music

I was born (unbeknownst to me until my late teens) a citizen of The Republic of Ireland. A Republic which from its inception was defined by stories of heroes and villains, patriots and traitors, laborers and radicals, alongside the ordinary and the innocent. A country whose history is complex and whose people are gracious in spite of countless generations of challenge and struggle. It was not until I was in my late 20s that I truly heard the call of this other motherland. But when I did hear her clarion call, I knew that my future was inextricably linked with my Granddad’s past, in Ireland.

I am returned via Aer Lingus from Shannon to Boston. I look up in the terminal and immediately see a sign with a “male” stick figure and an arrow denoting the direction to a men’s room. I am surprised not to read the words “An Fir.” Irish for The Man. I don’t speak Irish. I understand a few words, phrases, and idioms. And yet after 2 and ½ weeks in this other motherland, it is odd to return to the U.S. and see signs only in English.

Less than 5% of Ireland speaks Irish as their native tongue (though about 40% can speak some of the language). But this is enough to have bi-lingual signs everywhere. Roughly 20% of Canada speaks Quebecois (French Canadian) and they acknowledge that they are a bi-lingual nation. Nearly 15% of the U.S. speaks Spanish as their native tongue, with countless more speaking it as a learned language. And still, we refuse to acknowledge that we are bi-lingual. Food for thought.

When I am in Ireland, I hear the Irish language spoken and some part of me still expects to understand it. It is the language of generations of my ancestors. I understand its cadence, its musicality, its emotional content. But I don’t know the words. Even less so than was my mother, am I a child of two cultures. I am an American. What claim do I have to this extraordinary land? And yet the laws of The Republic declare me a Citizen of Ireland by birth. And I claim it with pride, with confusion, and with gratitude.

I am a dual U.S. / Irish citizen. And in some parts of the world I will be confused for being Irish first. Usually I am tagged as being Canadian. I’ll take that too, if someone is offering. I have roots in Quebec. But I am, by cultural inculcation, an American. That is a complex thing to own these days. Especially when traveling abroad. But we must each reconcile our contradictions and complexities of identity in some fashion, and this is part of mine: to be of multiple cultures and ideas, and to keep finding a way to feel at home both in my locations and in my own skin.

I love the ocean and I love mountains. I could not wait to move to Seattle after my senior year at music conservatory. Both mountains and ocean in one place. Marvelous! I met a lot of Irish ex-pats there. Then I began traveling in Ireland, and my love of the Puget Sound region made more sense to me. I go to Ireland now, and I am struck by how many parts of the island remind me either of where I grew up in northern, Illinois or they remind me of Washington State. Both places feel like home to me.

And still, I have lived much of my life on the road. I live a life seeking a deeper understanding of MANY cultures and places. Through friendships with people from other lands and cultures, by getting to know people from different cultures within the United States, and through cuisine and music and literature and spiritual practice, I seek to know more. I seek to understand my place in this world, and to understand better, how I can help others feel more welcome.

And for now, this is my détente with the complex notions of cultural identity. We are all strangers, born into a complex social system we did not choose, and over which we hold little or no sway. But we do get to choose how we act in the world. We can choose to be gracious, hospitable, welcoming, inclusive, generous, and aware. And in doing so, we are a part of transforming the idea of refugee into guest, of immigrant into neighbor, of stranger into friend.

It may seem reductionist, but sometimes I think it really is that simple. We get to choose how we are in the world, how we will be. And we help transform the experiences of others, by choosing to be our best selves, as often as we can. At home or abroad, in our homes or in public, in our own houses of worship or in another’s, we extend kindness to others, and amazingly enough, we usually receive the same in return.

In the face of people and systems who feel a need to divide and separate us from one another, I will do my best to keep choosing radical hospitality as my primary means of navigating this world. No matter what country or state I am from, no matter what passport I hold, no matter who is in front of me, I will aim for kindness and welcome as my first response, and see where it goes from there. More on Ireland, another time.

~ Joe Jencks (9-29-23)


Joe Jencks, Lucy Kaplansky, Steven Kellogg, and Tracy Grammer, and Jody Prysock at FRFF, 2023

Upcoming Concerts:

6/8/23 ~ Joe Jencks & Heather Styka at Café Carpe, Ft. Atkinson, WI
6/9/23 ~ Joe Jencks & Heather Styka at the Three Lakes Theater, Three Lakes, WI
6/10/23 ~ Joe Jencks & Heather Styka at Fox Valley UU Fellowship, Appleton, WI
6/11/23 ~ Joe Jencks & Heather Styka at The Big Easel Gallery, Wabeno, WI
6/16/23 ~ Joe Jencks in Concert at Mt. Toby Concerts in Leverett, MA
6/17/23 ~ Joe Jencks in Concert at Six On The Square, Oxford, NY
6/18/23 ~ Joe Jencks in Concert at Susquehanna Summer Solstice Fest, New Azilum, PA
7/13/23 ~ Joe Jencks in Concert at The Ark, Ann Arbor, MI
7/23/23 ~ Joe Jencks in Concert at The Listeneing Room - UU Franklin, NC - 2:30 PM
7/28/23 to 7/30/23 ~ Joe Jencks in Concert at the Falcon Ridge Folk Fest, Goshen, CT

Dear Friends in Music,

Summer 2023 is upon us! Graduations have happened or are about to, school is out or will be soon! Vacations are in the works, BBQs, and time with friends and families are happening. I hope your summer is off to a good start. I just returned from 9 days at The Kerrville Folk Festival in TX. It was wonderful to reconnect with so many friends and peers in community.

My friend Jenny Bienemann (Chicago area) has a longstanding and marvelous project called Haiku Milieu. She sends out a Haiku via email every Sunday morning. And she also ropes friends, fellow musicians, and the community into writing Haiku. (https://haikumilieu.com) This particular Haiku of Jenny’s spoke to me recently:

Whatever your gifts
They grow too heavy to bear
Unless you share them

I am still pondering this. But, I take it as a tacit invitation to consider that all of us have not only the opportunity to share our talents in community, but the obligation to do so. And that doing so is requisite not just for the well-being of community, but also for our own health and wellness. In short, we are made more whole by giving. And there are many talents beyond artistic. An ease with numbers, an intuitive understanding of the physical world, emotional intelligence, organizational capacity and drive, a capacity for nurturing others, and so much more. I like the implication that whatever our gifts may be, it is a virtuous circle to share them. Amen. Think on it. See where it takes you.

I am off this week to Wisconsin (June 8-11) for four concerts in collaboration with my long-time friend and colleague, Heather Styka. We’ll start at the legendary Café Carpe in Ft. Atkinson, and then head up to Three Lakes Theater, then to Fox Valley UU in Appleton, and finally to Big Easel Gallery in Wabeno. Please tell your friends and help spread the word, even if you can’t be there. Marvelous harmonies and good mojo will ensue.

The following weekend I am off to MA, NY, and PA for some solo concerts and a festival. Mt. Toby Concerts (Leverett, MA), Six On The Square (Oxford, NY), and the Susquehanna Summer Solstice Fest (French Azilum, PA). I hope to see many of you at one of these shows!

I’ll be attending the Unitarian Universalist General Assembly in Pittsburgh at the end of June, and I look forward to reconnecting with friends and community there. If you will be there also, please let me know.

My guest this week on My Highway Home (my radio show) is Aaron Smith. He and his band, The Coal Biters have just released a fabulous new album: The Legend of Sam Davis & Other Stories of Newton County, Arkansas. Please join us for a deep dive conversation. The show will broadcast on www.folkmusicnotebook on Sunday June 11th at 6:00 PM and again at 11:00 PM ET. The interview will rebroadcast on Wednesday June 14th at 12 Noon ET. Please adjust for your time zone.

Later this summer I will be performing at The Ark in Ann Arbor, MI (July 13), and as a mainstage artist at the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival (July 28-30, Goshen, CT). I will also be teaching at the Pinewoods Camp in Plymouth, MA. TradMad Week returns! More info on these and other tour dates for 2023 & 2024 can be found at: www.joejencks.com.

I hope to see you soon!

In Gratitude & Song,

~ Joe Jencks

Upcoming Tour Dates

March 31 ~ Old Songs ~ Voorheesville, NY
April 1 ~ Café Veritas ~ Rochester, NY
April 8 ~ The Hurdy Gurdy Folk Music Club ~ Teaneck, NJ
April 15 ~ St. Tim’s Coffeehouse ~ Skokie, IL
April 21 ~ Music on Malphrus ~ Bluffton, SC
*A more expansive list of upcoming cconcerts and festivals can be found on www.joejencks.com.

Dear Friends,

I hope this finds you well. Spring is in its full creative pendulum swing where I live. 50 degrees and sunny one afternoon, snowing and grey the next. But the longer days are making my plants happy, and me also.

I’m on the road again later this very afternoon. Headed to upstate New York with performances for Old Songs (March 31st in Voorheesville, NY – also LiveStreamed). And then to Rochester for Café Veritas (April 1st. No joke! A wonderful concert series held at First Unitarian).

Next weekend I will be in NJ performing for the Hurdy Gurdy Folk Club (April 8th in Teaneck). April 15th I will be in the Chicago area for St. Tim’s Coffeehouse, Skokie. And April 21^st I will be in Bluffton, SC for another wonderful concert series, Music on Malphrus. I’ve got to have a chat with my agent about routing. HA.

In the April episode of My Highway Home (Season 5, Episode 4) I interview Annie Capps. A wonderful musician and writer from Michigan, Annie has just released an extraordinary magnum opus recording titled, How Can I Say This. Tune in for some great conversation and music via www.FolkMusicNotebook.com on Sunday April 9th at 6:00 PM ET. Rebroadcast at 11 PM ET that same night, and at Noon ET on Wednesday April 12th. Please adjust for your time zone. More info on Annie at www.anniecapps.com

Please also note the essay below on The Interconnectedness of Creativity.
I hope to see you out on the road somewhere or online, sometime soon!

In Gratitude & Song,

~ Joe Jencks


The Interconnectedness of Creativity
(Copyright 2023 Joe Jencks, Turtle Bear Music)

Many people know that in addition to my multifaceted life as a musician, songwriter, singer, and a cultural worker, that I am an avid fan of cooking, Lego, model trains, making things with hand-made paper, and also a student of the natural world. Time in nature is restorative to me in ways that are never predictable, but consistently rewarding.

Equally so, immersing myself in any of my hobbies, engages creativity. It may not seem like time spent on one activity directly correlates to productivity in another. And in truth, most people would look at my life and see the chaos before they noticed the order. I could claim some point of erudition or eccentricity in this matter, but it would be nothing more than sophistry. The truth is, my life is a mess. One great, big, beautiful, chaotic, creative mess.

I love making a mess of the kitchen. Alchemy is real. Something that did not previously exist is being made from whatever ingredients are at hand. Baking has never been my thing. There’s more chemistry involved, and therefore more rules. But cooking for me is an improvisational practice, culinary Jazz. It is a present time practice that requires my attention to be in the moment. In this way it is a spiritual practice too. Cooking is centering and grounding, and almost always allows me to release something my mind or heart has been stuck on.

But while I cook, I am unconsciously whistling to myself, humming some fragment of melody. That almost always leads to other thoughts about the world and solutions to other problems. Not immediately, mind you. But the next time I sit down to do a thing I have been avoiding, I find I have renewed focus and a capacity to see new pathways through the proverbial thickets.

Creativity begets creativity.

My time with Lego, observing some novel and innovative means by which one might solve a dimensional problem also frequently adds to my willingness to look at problem in a different area of my life and see it too, with greater dimension and alternate solutions.

I set up a double ring of HO scale train track on the floor in my living room. I model mostly Canadian railroads (an homage to my Quebecoise roots). I don’t have a space suited for building a layout presently. But 14 months ago, I laid my Yoga mat out on the floor in the living room and figured out how wide the loops of track needed to be for me to do my practice in the center of the room and not disturb the trains. I do various practices when I am home inside that circle of brightly colored Canadian trains; one moving clockwise and the other counter clockwise. I always run them at slow speeds. And some days, especially in the winter, the gentle movement of all that color around me is both relaxing and uplifting. I sit and meditate, and the trains keep my attention in the present moment with the gentle sound of steel wheels on the rails. It is an archetypal sound for a Folksinger. The sound of the hobos, the workers, the builders, the farmers, the miners, and the mechanics.

Maya Angelou said once, “You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.”

Delightfully, this is the way with love as well. The more we love, the more we are able to love. And just as creativity begets creativity, goodwill begets goodwill. Kindness, begets kindness. Joy begets joy. And hope begets hope.

May the advance of spring bring some measure of these things into your life. If you are feeling stuck, know that unstuck is just around the corner, waiting in an unexpected activity, conversation, or place. Keep looking. You may not find what you are looking for, but you will find many wonderful things!

~ Joe Jencks (3-30-23)

Upcoming Concerts and Appearances
3-11-23 ~ Joe Jencks in Concert – Worcester, MA
3-12-23 ~ Joe Jencks Sunday Program, First Parish Quincy, MA
3-12-23 ~ Joe Jencks in Concert – East Bridgewater, MA
3-14-23 ~ Joe Jencks in Concert – Woodstock, IL
3-16-23 ~ Joe Jencks Live from Studio A, WNIJ (NPR) DeKalb, IL (www.northernpublicradio.org)
3-17-23 ~ Joe Jencks & Charlie King – Live Stream – St. Patrick’s Day Concert
3-18-23 ~ Joe Jencks – Live on Folk Stage – WFMT (NPR) Chicago, IL (https://www.wfmt.com)
3-31-23 ~ Joe Jencks in Concert - Old Songs, Voorheesville, NY
4-1-23 ~ Joe Jencks in Concert - Cafe Veritas, Rochester, NY
4-8-23 ~ Joe Jencks in Concert - The Hurdy Gurdy Folk Club, Teaneck, NJ
*Full concert listings on: www.joejencks.com

Dear Friends in Music,

There is an old phrase in the Midwest, March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb. Well, this particular March day seems to lack the conviction to do either. It is content to be overcast and monochrome. Luckily, there is a great deal to be joyful about, even still.

I have some great concerts coming up in MA and IL, several radio appearances, and one livestream on St. Patrick’s Day (3-17-23) with my dear friend and mentor, Charlie King. More info is available in Charlie’s website: https://charlieking.org/d/9510/Night-of-Irish-Song-with-Charlie-King-and-Joe-Jencks

March 12th through March 17th, MarySue Twohy will be featuring a generous performance segment focused on my newest album The Coming of the Years on SiriusXM Radio, The Village & The Bridge. Please check your XM Listings for specific times. March 16th, I will be featured on WNIJ (NPR) Live from Studio A. This is a performance show hosted by Spencer Tritt here in my own town of DeKalb, IL. Accessible via FM Radio or the internet. Go Huskies. And on March 18th, I will return to the lauded Folk Stage on WFMT (NPR) Chicago. Hosted by Marilyn Rae Bayer, who is also host of the syndicated folk radio institution, The Midnight Special. A happy reunion with a much beloved community.

This month’s episode of my own radio show, My Highway Home (5.3) features a deep-dive interview with Australian singer-songwriter, humanitarian, and renaissance man, Fred Smith. (a.k.a. Ian Campbell Smith) Tune in on Folk Music Notebook on Sunday March 12^th at 6:00 PM ET and again at 11:00 PM ET. Adjust for your time zone. The episode will rebroadcast at Noon ET on Wednesday March 15th. Listen in via: www.folkmusicnotebook.com.

And last but not least, this weekend will find me performing in Massachusetts, with concerts in Worcester on Saturday night March 11th, East Bridgewater March 12th, and leading a Sunday program on March 12th at First Parish (UU) Quincey, MA.

This is a very special Unitarian Church. It is the final resting place of John and Abigail Adams. Their sarcophagi are in the basement. It may be the only Unitarian Church I have encountered with catacombs underneath. And these two people played a vital role in the evolution of the USA. They were progressive by the standards of their day, and deeply humanitarian. Abigail nipped at John’s heals ever to be ever mindful of the rights of women.

“If we mean to have Heroes, Statesmen and Philosophers, we should have learned women. The world perhaps would laugh at me, and accuse me of vanity, but you I know have a mind too enlarged and liberal to disregard the Sentiment. If much depends as is allowed upon the early Education of youth, and the first principals which are instill'd take the deepest root, great benefit must arise from literary accomplishments in women. ”
~ Abigail Adams

As I look around me and see an increased banning of books in the U.S., I am astonished and disheartened. What is it about the rise of women that is still such a threat 250 years later? What is it about a multi-racial, multi-lingual, multi-cultural, queer-friendly society that is such a threat? I have never known. But I look to the words of another great American, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King for additional inspiration.

"Power without love is reckless and abusive, and love without power is sentimental and anemic. Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice, and justice at its best is power correcting everything that stands against love."
~ Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

I am ever a student of how we build a world in which this is the role of justice: To heal what is broken, to correct that which stands in the way of love. But I am grateful through the music community and through many progressive and activist communities across North America, Ireland, and beyond to be connected to so many AMAZING people. People who dedicate their lives to continuing to build a world in which ideas such as these of Abigail Adams, and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. can become a consistent reality.

And still, the U.S. spent 2.3 Trillion dollars* to fight a repressive regime in Afghanistan, and ostensibly defend the rights of women and girls to seek an education not dominated by religious extremism. Strange then that we would as a nation, seem surprisingly complacent in the face of religious extremism taking over the agenda of education in our own country. (*Figure from USA Today 9-1-21)

I applaud the people putting up micro-libraries in their front yards. Caffe Lena in Saratoga Springs, NY even set up an outdoor Micro-Library specifically for banned books. Awesome. Likewise, I salute all those who get involved in local school boards, library boards, city councils, arts councils, and county boards. Literacy is everything. And not just reading words, but cultural literacy. Being immersed in and taking time to understand some measure of the lives, stories, experiences, and traditions of different people. This too is needed and necessary literacy. This helps us reach critical-mass in society, moving ever more toward a time when diversity is not a threat but the very essence of engaged living and a genuine manifestation of love. May it be so!

Wishing you all good fortune, good friends, good music, and good day!

In Gratitude & Song,

~ Joe Jencks 3-9-23



A selfie with some traveling companions, Loophead Lighthouse, 2022

“Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls;
Where words come out from the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms toward perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action -
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.”
~ Rabindranath Tagore, Gitanjali

Amen. May we all awake into that reality where we see more clearly, love more freely, and act more effectively toward a world transformed. To that end, one more thought from Tagore that I have fallen in love with:

“I slept and dreamt that life was joy.
I awoke and saw that life was service.
I acted and behold, service was joy.”
~ Rabindranath Tagore

I hope to see you out on the road sometime soon. All confirmed tour dates are listed on www.joejencks.com. And even still, additions and cancellations related to the pandemic continue. So please do check the website frequently for updates, changes, and additions. Concerts in the next few weeks include shows in NY, WI, IL, IA, and MA.

May you find many forms of joy and restoration as this year unfolds. Beauty is revolutionary. Art is revolutionary. Love is revolutionary. A well cooked meal is revolutionary. Be rebellious.

In Gratitude & Song,

~ Joe Jencks

2-16-23

Photo by Neale Eckstein

Dear Friends in Music,

On a beautiful bright blue December morning, I awake on the road in Saratoga County, NY and begin the last run of road shows for 2022. It has been an extraordinary year. Thank you for returning to concert halls and coffee houses. Thank you for supporting your local Folk DJs and NPR stations and Community Radio. Thank you for keeping the faith and continuing to volunteer at your local clubs and concert series. And thanks for helping me put new music into the world this year.

For those interested in ordering the new CD, The Coming of the Years, it is available through www.joejencks.com. All CDs both back catalogue and new are $20 ea. or 3 for $50, now through the end of December. Please use the code HOLIDAY2022 when ordering. The new CD is featured in the upcoming edition of Irish Music Magazine, published in Dublin, IRE.

I was delighted to receive these comments about the new recording from one of my friends and mentors in the contemporary Irish music world: “In a dark and frequently shallow time, how refreshing to hear a man willing to wear his heart on his sleeve. How refreshing to hear someone sing with passion about matters which are not directly related to HIM. A man with a golden voice, who has a great feeling for history, and the role that songs play in documenting that history. The Coming of the Years, by Joe Jencks is a gorgeous record. His reading of City of Chicago is moving to me, and I thank him for it.” ~ Luka Bloom

I have two more live in-person concerts, a couple recording dates, and one last LiveStream for the year. Then I head into a quieter time with family and friends for a few weeks during the holidays.

Joe Jencks LIVE in Concert
Friday December 9th, La La Land Presents, Ithaca, NY
Saturday December 10th, Golden Link Folk Singing Society, Greece, NY / Rochester, NY (Special Seasonal Concert, On A Midwinter’s Night.)
*All concerts listed on www.joejencks.com

On A Midwinter’s Night - LiveStream
Joe Jencks Annual Holiday Broadcast
Sunday December 18, 7PM CT (8PM ET, 6PM MT, 5PM PT)
Tune in LIVE via YouTube:
https://youtube.com/live/wzuv78WCsNk?feature=share
***As with most of the broadcasts from my own studio, On A Midwinter’s Night is free to attend. Donations will be gratefully accepted, but not required. PLEASE share the link and invite friends and family to join in watching, listening, and singing along. The concert will include some originals, some songs written by colleagues and friends, and some seasonal favorites.

On Sunday December 11th, you can tune into my radio show, My Highway Home for a deep dive interview with singer, songwriter, and colleague John Dillon. John released a new album this year called Hope Road: From Addiction to Recovery. It’s a courageous and powerful musical expose on a lifetime growth, evolution, and hopeful re-emergence. Tune in December 11th at 6:00 PM ET via www.folkmusicnotebook.com. Rebroadcast at 11:00 PM ET on Dec. 11th and again at Noon ET on December 14th, please adjust for your time zone.

THANK YOU for contributing to an extraordinary year. There have been difficulties and losses to be sure. But there have also been wonders and joys and victories. And most of all there has been community, deep and wide and beautiful. Thanks for being a part of mine, and letting me be a part of yours.

In Gratitude & Song,

~ Joe Jencks

12-8-22

Photo by Bunny Moreau

On A Midwinter's Night - LiveStream Dec. 18th 7PM CT
https://youtube.com/live/wzuv78WCsNk?feature=share

Donate via PayPal or Venmo using one of the small icons below, or the large button for Square:

Thank You For Your Support

Donate

Dear Friends in Music,

As always, I hope that you are well. Having survived the chaos of another election cycle, may we all find peace and comfort in connecting with community, making music, and moving forward with the many other aspects of life that bring us joy.

I am excited and honored to be offering concerts this weekend and coming week for:
11/11/22 ~ Friday Night Folk ~ New London, CT
11/12/22 ~ Walkabout Clearwater Coffee House ~ White Plains, NY
11/13/22 ~ Concerts in The Nave ~ International Music Series ~ Stone Ridge, NY
11/19/22 ~ Old Sloop Coffee House ~ Rockport MA
*More details on www.joejencks.com.

In December I will have some additional concerts out east:
12/1/22 ~ Kendal Quaker Communities, near Philly
12/2/22 ~ Kendal Quaker Communities, near Philly
12/3/22 ~ Season of Hope, Johnson City, NY
12/9/22 ~ La La Land Presents at Coddington Road Community Center, Ithaca, NY
12/10/22 ~ Golden Link Folksinging Society, Rochester, NY

As I think about what I missed most for two years, while on the Great Basement Tour of the Pandemic, it was not the music. I was making music every day. It was the people. And 2022 has been a remarkable year for reconnecting with community and remembering why I log long hours on the road, sleep in strange beds night after night, and carry a substantive load of instruments and gear, multiple times a day. It is people who are at the center. And it is good to be back in the process of connecting with communities in person and connecting communities to each other. This is what I have missed the most.

I also missed hearing people sing together. Hearing you all raise your voices again in song has been one of the real highlights of this year. Returning to concert halls from New England to Ontario, from New Mexico and Arizona, to Texas, to North Carolina and so many points in between. I am grateful for community, for music, and for the stalwart efforts of so many people who keep stitching the quilt of community together by hosting concerts and holding space for magic to happen. Through festivals, camps, concerts, community centers, and conferences, spanning 2 continents, 3 countries, and 37 states ~ it has been a year of gratitude and reconnection. And it continues.

As we enter the Thanksgiving Season, I am grateful for you. Grateful for kindness and hospitality in so many ways great and small. Grateful for the support of the Folk DJ community in lifting up the new album, The Coming of the Years. I am grateful to all of you for helping me put the new music into the world. See a list of advanced supporters here: (https://www.joejencks.com/news/f/News/3332)

And I am grateful for making music with friends and colleagues, for countless volunteer hours spent by so many people who keep the music happening, and for helping hands in so many ways witnessed and unknown.

May your Thanksgiving be filled with an awareness of how much there is to be grateful for, even as we hold an awareness of so many losses in the last few years. May gratitude be the greater of our emotions and may it direct our actions and interactions.

Wishing you a safe and heartfelt Thanksgiving. I hope to see you on the road somewhere, soon!


In Gratitude & Song,

~ Joe Jencks


P.S. I am deeply honored to be included in a new compilation CD produced by the Music to Life Foundation (Elizabeth Stookey Sunde & Noel Paul Stookey) called Hope Rises II. It is a celebration of musicians and performance artists useing their talents to work for progressive change and social justice. The CD was officially released on November 10th and is available in physical and download form - from the Music to Life Foundation: https://www.musictolife.org. Check out an astonishingly gifted set of artists and all of the amazing work that Music to Life is doing by supporting Changemakers in the arts!

P.P.S. My radio show, My Highway Home, can be heard this week on Folk Music Notebook at 6:00 PM ET on Sunday Nov. 13, again at 11 PM ET on Sunday Nov. 13, and again at 12 Noon on Wednesday Nov. 16. A showcase of some new music from 2022 by colleagues and friends. You can tune in at www.folkmusicnotebook.com. Please adjust for your time zone.

Dear Friends in Music,

I hope this finds you well. I have been on the road pretty much non-stop since late April. And it has been an amazing year. I will continue at this pace until the 3rd week in December. And what a joy to make music again with friends and colleagues, and to give concerts again in some of my favorite music halls and theaters. The last 5 months have taken me all over the U.S., Canada, and Ireland. It’s good to be back in the world. And the new CD, The Coming of the Years, continues to do well on Folk Charts across North America! (https://www.joejencks.com/cds/f/Joe_Jencks_Solo/3276)

This week, I am psyched to share two concerts with my incredibly talented colleague and friend Crys Matthews. We will be in Wilmington, NC on October 15^th and in Durham, NC on October 16^th. Even if you are not in the area, please consider sending friends to see us! Crys and I shared a show on January 6^th at Caffe Lena. It was magical. And I look forward to sharing more music with her. She is as fine a folksinger and songwriter as I have known. The real deal, and not to be missed.

I’m off to Texas after that for four concerts on a solo tour leg, and then to Ontario for four shared concerts with my dear friend, road warrior, and solidarity sister Maria Dunn. Maria just won a JUNO for her latest album, Joyful Banner Blazing. YAY, Maria!

This Wednesday (10-12-22) at Noon ET you can tune into my radio show, My Highway Home (on Folk Music Notebook www.folkmusicnotebook.com) and listen to my interview with singer and songwriter Edie Carey as we talk in depth about her new album, The Veil.

Last but not least, please note the essay below: Like Water In The Desert.
It’s for you.

I hope to see you soon at a show out on the road!

In Gratitude and Song,

~ Joe Jencks

10-15 ~ Joe Jencks & Crys Matthews in Concert - UU Wilmington, NC
10-16 ~ Joe Jencks & Crys Matthews in Concert - Eno River UU – Durham, NC
10-21 ~ Joe Jencks in Concert – Kessler Park United Methodist - Dallas, TX
10-22 ~ Joe Jencks in Concert – Fritz House Concerts – Houston, TX
10-23 ~ Joe Jencks in Concert - Arhaven House Concerts (near) Austin, TX
10-24 ~ Joe Jencks in Concert - Sun City Limits – Sun City, TX
10-27 ~ Joe Jencks & Maria Dunn - Whole Village Concerts – Orangeville, ON
10-28 ~ Joe Jencks & Maria Dunn - Stonecroft Concerts – Ingersoll, ON
10-29 ~ Joe Jencks & Maria Dunn – Concerts at The Registry, Kitchener, ON
10-30 ~ Joe Jencks & Maria Dunn in Concert – Neighbourhood UU, Toronto, ON
Schedules change – please check for detailed listings at: www.joejencks.com

Like Water in The Desert

So, I’m sitting in a Toyota dealership in Albuquerque, NM. I am there for a long time. Unlike my small-town dealership where the service department is very quick and communicative, this place is a corporate juggernaut. I’m here for an oil change, but also because a vehicle half a mile ahead of me was driving with an unsecured load and dropped some things on I-25 North, at 75 miles an hour. I saw cars ahead swerving. But at dusk, in a rainstorm, in a desert, at 75 miles an hour, I decided to stay the course. Swerving could easily have put me into a slide. The combination of dust, car-drippings on pavement, and rain in the desert can be lethal. An experienced driver knows this. And, there were vehicles coming up from behind on either side of me. Where could I go?

I rolled over something. Firewood? A small propane tank, a small cooler? Not sure. But I hit it straight on; it rolled under the car, lifting the vehicle a little as it did and then I was back on the ground. Still moving at highway speeds in traffic. I looked in the rearview mirror. There were cars all over the road. Some off to the side with headlights askance, a couple in fender benders. It seemed like it could have been worse all around. And as I assessed the damage, I could tell there was nothing obviously mechanically wrong with my car. The engine was doing OK. No warning lights came on, the tires were rolling, and I thanked my lucky stars for the forbearance to recognize that even when we are surprised or scared, sometimes the safest course is still straight ahead.

You learn driving in snow country that many nasty situations can be managed by resisting the urge to slow down or speed up, or change direction swiftly. You just roll and time slows down. You roll and bring all of your awareness into the moment. If a course change is required, you determine in fractions of a second how incremental that change can be and still affect the needed outcome. Driving in the desert when it is raining is a lot like that. Velocity is not necessarily the enemy, but abrupt alterations in course or velocity are.

It has been an amazing year! Getting back on the road has been good. But not easy. I have played some marvelous festivals, concerts, and camps this year. I released a new album that is being well received by fans and DJs alike, toured in Ireland and Canada and across the U.S., I’ve given some compelling performances for LIVE audiences, and reconnected with colleagues and community in a beautiful way. It could not be better.

But, it is harder that it was 3 years ago. My instrument cases feel heavier, the drives seem longer, strange beds are harder to get used to. The faster pace of life on the road after two years of moving at a more measured and perhaps sustainable pace requires stamina. And there were people in the world 3 years ago who are not here now. I feel that sadness everywhere I go as I learn of yet more people who died during the pandemic.

And still there are the AMAZING people I get to meet and with whom I am privileged to be in relationship. Whether it is for an evening or a lifetime, the connections to people are what I have missed the most, and what keeps me on the road. If I am honest, that has always been the case. And like water in the desert, to reconnect with dear friends and colleagues along with making new friends and fans, this is lifeblood in a parched environment.

In the last 5 months, I have been dodging a bad back and some mysterious inflammation in my body, likely related to having had Covid-19 twice in the last 3 years. I now am dealing with a car that is limping a bit too (though nothing a good body shop can’t fix). The temptation is to make a swift course correction. But I think the bumps and snags are like the object I rolled over on I-25. They are temporary concerns if handled well, but the road is infinite. And so is the capacity for love, curiosity, wonder, and connection.

Driving across the great plains a few weeks ago, I marveled at just how much wide-open space there is. Room to breathe and think deeply. Traveling through the mountains, canyons, the caldera of an ancient volcano, through a petrified forest now covered with Saguaro, I see the marvels of nature. Watching a triple rainbow from the side of Mount Lemmon with my best childhood friend, sharing meals and memories, making new friends along the way, this is what keeps me on the road.

I love music, and I will be in service to music for this and perhaps many other lifetimes. But it is people who make it possible. It is people who are the story behind the songs, It is good people like you who sustained me when the bottom dropped out of the reality we knew. And it is good people like you who are showing up again in concert halls and coffeehouse series all over. Your enthusiasm for the music, your kindness, and your commitment to live music are like water in the desert. You are life. We are life for each other. What a beautiful thing. No need for any radical course corrections here. We are on a good path, together.

~ Joe Jencks (10-11-22)

"In a dark and frequently shallow time, how refreshing to hear a man willing to wear his heart on his sleeve. How refreshing to hear someone sing with passion about matters which are not directly related to HIM. A man with a golden voice, who has a great feeling for history, and the role that songs play in documenting that history. The Coming of the Years, by Joe Jencks is a gorgeous record. His reading of City of Chicago is moving to me, and I thank him for it."
~ Luka Bloom

Dear Friends,

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

My new CD, The Coming of the Years hit the North American Folk DJ Chart (Managed by Folk Alliance International) at #3. With 4 songs charting as singles in the top 20, and placing me as the #2 Artist for the month of August! (Based on total airplay for the month.) It also hit the NACC charts at #7 and rising. (North American College and Community Radio.)

None of this would have been possible without your support. The initial finding goals were exceeded by more than 25%. Thank you. I am as proud of this recording, as anything I have done in my artistic life. The songs, the arrangements, and the overall sonic experience of the album are really amazing. Charlie Pilzer & Randy LeRoy at Tonal Park Studios deserve a lot of the credit for that. I brought them compelling music – but they wove the tapestry together in mix and mastering – beautifully. The album is now up on I-Tunes and on most streaming services, and copies are available through the Joe Jencks store: www.joejencks.com. For voting members of the Recording Academy, the CD has also been submitted for Grammy consideration under: Best Folk Album.

I am excited to announce some upcoming concert dates as well, starting this weekend at Caffe Lena (Saratoga Springs, NY) and Club Passim (Cambridge, MA). Both shows are in-person and available online. And both venues have been tremendous allies to working musicians throughout the Pandemic – so please support these concerts. I am delighted to be sharing these two shows with my friend and very talented colleague – Kray Van Kirk.

After that it’s off for a tour leg in the SW with concerts in NM and AZ – including the Albuquerque Folk Festival. Then I will be in North Carolina for a few shows with my friend and beloved colleague Crys Matthews. Off to TX after that for a run of solo dates (Dallas, Houston, Austin, & Sun City); and I will close out October in Ontario with four concerts in partnership with my marvelous Canadian soul sister – Maria Dunn.

Upcoming tour dates:
9-16 ~ Joe Jencks & Kray Van Kirk – Caffe Lena, Saratoga Springs, NY
9-18 ~ Joe Jencks & Kray Van Kirk – Club Passim, Cambridge, MA
10-1 ~ Joe Jencks in Concert – Unitarian Church of Los Alamos, NM
10-2 ~ Greenwich Village Folk Festival On-Line: Phil Ochs Song Night!
10-7 ~ Joe Jencks in Concert - Catalina House Concerts, Tucson, AZ
10-9 ~ Albuquerque Folk Festival - ABQ, NM
10-9 ~ Joe Jencks in Concert - Second Sunday Studio Shows – Bernalillo, NM
10-15 ~ Joe Jencks & Crys Matthews in Concert - UU Wilmington, NC
10-16 ~ Joe Jencks & Crys Matthews in Concert - Eno River UU – Durham, NC
10-21 ~ Joe Jencks in Concert – Kessler Park United Methodist - Dallas, TX
10-22 ~ Joe Jencks in Concert – Fritz House Concerts – Houston, TX
10-23 ~ Joe Jencks in Concert - Arhaven House Concerts (near) Austin, TX
10-24 ~ Joe Jencks in Concert - Sun City Limits – Sun City, TX
10-27 ~ Joe Jencks & Maria Dunn - Whole Village Concerts – Orangeville, ON
10-28 ~ Joe Jencks & Maria Dunn - Stonecroft Concerts – Ingersoll, ON
10-29 ~ Joe Jencks & Maria Dunn – Concerts at The Registry, Kitchener, ON

***Schedules change – please check for detailed listings and updates at: www.joejencks.com

In other news, Irish Music Magazine (Dublin, IRE) will run a full review of The Coming of the Years in the October edition of the publication. This is huge. I have been hopeful about the potential this recording has to open up more international audiences for me. And it is already happening. Several DJs in Europe, New Zealand, Australia, and Canada have picked up the recording – and the review in Irish Music Magazine will be a big splash in the EU music pond.

Last but not least, I am honored to have been chosen for an Official Showcase at the Folk Alliance International conference in KSC, MO (Feb. 1-5 2023). Folk Alliance has been the prime epicenter of my musical and professional life since I first started touring full time, 23 years ago. To be recognized and celebrated with the new CD, and for the musical journey I have been on for the last few decades is marvelous. And I am grateful for the extraordinary work of Folk Alliance staff and volunteers, for the heavy lifting that mounting this conference represents. FAI engaged in Herculean efforts to hold the community together throughout the pandemic. And those efforts are ongoing, and appreciated by thousands.

I hope you are well, and keep finding goodness, hope, and strength through the music. It is what keeps me going.


In Gratitude & Song,

~ Joe Jencks (9-15-22)

Dear Friends,

I am so excited to announce the release of my newest album, “The Coming of the Years.”
If you have not yet ordered the CD, you can still do so via:
https://igg.me/at/JoeJencks2022

I some ways, this album began in 2007, when I first traveled to Ireland and wrote a song there inspired by my travels in my Granddad Felix Kilbride’s homeland. Since then I have been visiting and touring Ireland almost annually, bringing more dimension to my dual U.S./Irish citizenship. I want my relationship with Ireland to be more than an artifact of family history. I want that to be an integrated part of my life, ongoing. To that end I am planning more trips to Ireland not just for professional reasons, but to keep following the thread of family history and discovery. I live a peripatetic existence as a touring performer, songwriter, and bard. But that branch of my family has a nearly 400 year history in the same town. Amazing.

With the new CD “The Coming of the Years,” I am for the first time releasing an album born out of these paths of exploration, both internal and external. And the fruits of this labor are more beautiful than I could have hoped. In addition to a fresh batch of original songs, I have included songs written by colleagues and friends who compose brilliantly in a contemporary Celtic voice. Songs by Luka Bloom, Maria Dunn, Kat Eggleston, and Dougie MacLean grace the project as well as a few traditional pieces.

“The Coming of the Years” is a record I am very proud to place in your hands. I recorded my core tracks in my home studio earlier this year. And then my fellow musicians: Hanz Araki (Irish Flute & Whistles), Lissa Scheneckenberger (Fiddle), Shannon Lambert-Ryan (Vocals), Cheryl Prashker (Percussion), and the legendary John Roberts (Concertina), added their unique talents and helped me create a deep sense of place in each song. And my engineering team – Charlie Pilzer and Randy LeRoy at Tonal Park Studios (Takoma Park, MD) helped me stitch the quilt together brilliantly. Start to finish this is an album that stands firmly in the modern Celtic traditions and is still quintessentially a Joe Jencks record.

I am officially releasing the album this week in Ontario, as I am here performing and teaching at the Goderich Celtic Roots Festival, and the Goderich Celtic College. A fitting place to debut this particular recording. And August 1^st is the traditional Irish Festival of Lughnasa, the beginning of the harvest season. It seemed an auspicious day to release this specific album!

Here are a few comments from people who have heard the new music.

“Gorgeous! Wherever you come from and wherever you're going, you will find yourself in the songs on Joe Jencks' The Coming of the Years. It's a page-turner of a concept album that pulls the listener through generations of the immigrant experience and extends musical hands and hearts across the ocean. Throughout, Jencks' timeless voice is deep, warm and sweet, but never saccharine. Top-shelf accompaniment and harmonies limn every detail. His new songs align perfectly with the ancient and the familiar to spin a wholly satisfying saga.” ~ Marilyn Rea Beyer - Host, The Midnight Special, WFMT - Chicago, IL

“A great album! With loved ones remembered at every turn, this album is a personal one for Jencks, and one of his best. And with that knowledge, you may expect maudlin. Instead, The Coming of the Years offers a deeper dive than sorrow, profoundly connecting to a rich, complicated and healing river of love. Each of these songs holds a unique key with the power to unlock even the most recessed truth. Held in Joe Jencks’s care and undeniable talent  - this set of songs and arrangements are fully realized, freeing Jencks to embody century-old laments and deftly carry forward contemporary sounds of his own. ”  ~ MarySue Twohy, Program Director, SiriusXM

“With his meticulous care, craftmanship and exquisite sensitivity, Joe Jencks has once again blessed us with a thoughtful and stunningly beautiful collection. Themed from the shaping of his own heritage, Joe in his typically generous way encourages each of us to explore and reflect on where we’ve come from. Haunting, melancholy, hopeful and heartfelt all at once, Joe’s gorgeous baritone brings new perspective to the traditional, honour and homage to those written by others, and breathes life to his originals. Goes wonderfully with either a quiet cuppa or a wee dram.” ~ Suze Casey, Artistic Director, Calgary Folk Club

“Interspersing his own songs inspired by visits to Ireland to explore his heritage with carefully chosen covers and traditional pieces, Joe Jencks weaves a tapestry of love, immigration, history, and Irish pride. The instrumental arrangements support the vocals tenderly, giving Jencks' deep warm voice space to bring the lyrics to the fore. The Coming of the Years is an audio treat and a history lesson.” ~ Paul Hartman, Host of "Detour” WTMD - Baltimore, Founder -Dirty Linen Magazine


I want to thank all of you who have already ordered the CD. Your support has made this possible. My initial fundraising goal was $15K. I sent one email in June and made one Face Book post, and you all funded the project to the 90% level in just one week. STUNNING. Then I was off on tour, including two weeks in Ireland. Last Wednesday, I made one more Face Book post about the album, and in one 8-hour period you all funded the project to 105%. AWESOME! THANK YOU. You are the best! Discs are shipping out this week to all who placed orders prior to July 26th. Orders placed after July 26^th will ship after I get home from Canada, roughly August 15th.

Even though the project is “funded,” the site will remain live for a few more weeks. And I have a new goal. I would actually like to raise a total of at least $20K. The addition $5K will help me more effectively promote the album internationally. The sort of music I have written and recorded for this CD is quite popular in various parts of Canada, Australia, and Europe. And I think the spirit of the music will resonate deeply with audiences in many places right now. It speaks of times past, but in allegory it is equally about this very moment in history. As an artist dedicated to my craft and trade, I put so much effort into creating elegant recorded versions of the music, as have my dear colleagues. So, I want to share that finished music with as many people as possible.

If you have already ordered your copy of the album, again I say, THANK YOU! If you have not yet ordered the recording and would like to have this new music in your library, please do order the CD. I can’t wait to share it with you.
The Coming of the Years - IndieGoGo: https://igg.me/at/JoeJencks2022

I also have a multitude of upcoming tour dates across the US and Canada listed on my website: www.joejencks.com. A few highlights of the upcoming shows include:

The Goderich Celtic Roots Festival (August 6-8)
TradMad Music Week at the Pinewoods Camp (Plymouth, MA)
Caffe Lena
(Saratoga Springs, NY Sep. 16 w/ special guest, friend, and colleague Kray Van Kirk)
Club Passim (Cambridge, MA Sept. 18 w/ Kray Van Kirk)
The Albuquerque Folk Festival (Oct. 9)
Arhaven Concerts (Oct. 23 Bastrop, TX)
The Registry Theater
(Oct. 29 Kitchener, ON w/ beloved friend and colleague, Maria Dunn)
Friday Night Folk (Nov. 11 – New London, CT)
Walkabout Clearwater Coffee House (Nov. 12 White Plains, NY)
Old Sloop Coffee House (Nov. 18 Rockport, MA)
*For regular tour updates please visitthe Tour Dates page at: www.joejencks.com

Thank you for helping me keep the music flowing. I have always been a listener supported musician. And you have graciously helped me do this work full-time for more than 22 years. My promise to you is that I will always give you my best, and in return I ask only that you support the music if you are so moved. I am deeply graced by that support. And I say thank you in the best way I know how, by continuing to give myself to the music and then to give the music to you in live performance and in recorded form. It is a good partnership, and I am grateful.

In Gratitude & Song,

~ Joe Jencks

Support Joe's New CD ~ The Coming of the Years: https://igg.me/at/JoeJencks2022


Dear Friends in Music,

It is official. After months of hard work, hints, rumors, and creative process I am ready to ask for your help. For those who have been inquiring about how to support this album, thank you! The time has arrived.

The Coming of the Years is an album centered around songs I wrote while on tour in Ireland over a 12-year period. This album emerges as a synergistic blend of my Irish & Celtic heritage with themes of immigration spanning multiple generations. As a dual U.S./Irish citizen, I have been exploring some of these ideas musically and personally for decades. The Coming of the Years is a deep musical exploration of identity and place, carried forward by beautiful melodies and rich lyric narrative.

Primary tracks were recorded in my home studio, my musical “Ark” during the pandemic. My electric bouzouki is making its recording debut as a featured instrument on this project. Several internationally acclaimed musicians from the trad. Irish, American, and English Folk traditions kindly supported the album with their marvelous talents. And now, after a lifetime of singing songs of Ireland and of the Celtic diaspora, I have finally recorded an album that specifically focuses on being inclusive of these overlapping identities personally, historically, and musically. And I need your help to bring it across the finish line.

After recording my core tracks in Illinois, I drove off to Maine to record Hanz Araki playing Irish flute and whistles in various keys. Then it was off to Vermont to record Lissa Schneckenburger on fiddle, and then to upstate New York to record the legendary John Roberts on concertina. Shannon Lambert-Ryan (Runa) and Cheryl Prashker (Runa) were gracious enough to add their respective skills on harmony vocals and percussion. And finally, the music I have been hearing in my head for years came to life in resplendent form. It is a beautiful musical tapestry, evocative of the past and present in equal measure.

Before I came to you my fans and friends and asked for your support, I wanted to make sure I could deliver an extraordinary album of beautiful songs, well recorded and produced. I wanted to guarantee that this album would stand firmly in the traditions, firmly in my discography, and that I would be genuinely proud to share it with you and the world. As such, I chose to borrow a tidy sum from a kind friend to make sure the project was produced in both timely and top-notch fashion.

Grammy-winning audio engineer and dear friend Charlie Pilzer mixed the album beautifully at his studio (Tonal Park) in Takoma Park, MD. Grammy-winning engineer Randy LeRoy mastered the project at Tonal Park, and stitched the quilt together brilliantly. I could not be happier with the result. It is an extraordinary musical portrait, painted with the colors of many cultures and generations, painted by hands deft in those traditions.

But I still need your help. Not only do I need to repay the loan I took out to produce this CD, but I need to raise the funds for duplication and for promoting The Coming of the Years to radio. As a result of increased costs across the board, I am asking for your gracious support in helping me share these songs with the world.

The URL for the official album funding site is: https://igg.me/at/JoeJencks2022
More of the back story can be found on the official Indie GoGo funding site.

I cannot adequately express my level of excitement about how this album is shaping up, or how sincerely needed your support is, to bring it all together.

You have colletively sustained me for more than 2 decades on the road full-time, for which I am grateful. And then you were there through the unimagnieable circumstances of continuing to make a living at music - through the pandemic. Extraordinary. I have no adequate words to express my wonder, joy, and gratitude. But now I do have a new collection of songs (13) and I am eager to share them with you and with the world.

Please support this project at whatever level is manageable for you. Even if you are unable to contribute financially, consider sharing this funding campaign with your friends and fellow music lovers via social media and email. This is a barn raising. It cannot be done alone. I need you - the AMAZING community that supports my art and music - to continue to do so admirably. In return I promise to keep giving you the very best I have to give in live concert, on broadcasts, and in my recorded albums. The Coming of the Years lives up to that commitment in fine form.

Thanks for your ongoing encouragement in every way!

In Gratitude & Song,

~ Joe Jencks

6-16-22

Dear Friends in Music,

I am into the second half of my first 6-week tour since before the Pandemic. With the gracious support of community, I have continued to perform throughout the last 2 and a half years, mostly streaming online from my studio or from various venues like Caffe Lena or The Ark. So my chops have remained in solid order. But it has been fabulous to be back in the world with in-person audiences. And I am immensely grateful for the enthusiasm with which people are receiving the live musical experience of sharing space and the physics of sound.

I have alluded in a few emails now to a new recording project. I remain hard at work in between tour dates, but the album is coming along nicely. After a couple decades of more fully integrating my dual US and Irish citizenship into my musical life, I am finally making a record that overtly reflects the historic and contemporary musical and personal ideas that flow from this shared identity. I will have a Pre-Order site LIVE next week, and will send an announcement when that site is up and running. The creative work is ongoing but the pipers will need to be paid, so to speak.

In the meantime, I have several live appearances in the next several weeks I want to highlight. I am on my way to Florida for several concerts there, then to Indianapolis, and then to Kerrville, TX for the Kerrville Folk Festival. Brilliant routing for those following the geography.

Thursday May 12 ~ The Meadows Concerts, Sarasota FL

Friday May 13 ~ The Peacock Theater, Brooksville, FL
(Special Musical Guest - Jane Ross Fallon)

Saturday May 14 ~ Tarpon House Concerts, Tarpon Springs, FL

Sunday May 15 ~ UU Clearwater, FL

Sunday May 15 ~ LunaZoot Concerts, Tampa, FL

Saturday May 21 ~ The Indy Folk Series, Indianapolis, IN

Ticketing and RSVP info for most events may be found at: www.joejencks.com.

Summer Festivals and Camps where I will perform and teach include, Kerrville (TX), Old Songs (NY), SUUSI (NC), Goderich Celtic College and Goderich Celtic Roots Festival (ON), TradMad Week at the Pinewoods Camp (MA), and more!

It is marvelous to reconnect with old friends as I have been privileged to do these last few weeks. But I am again remembering the joy of making new friends, and the joy of the unanticipated connections that flow from being on the road.

I had a brief but emergent need for a dentist while in Asheville, NC. A random search by a friend for any practice with an available appointment led me to a particular office on the south side of Asheville. Much to my astonishment, their lead dental tech and I went to high school together in Rockford, IL. We chatted for some time about favorite teachers and memories of our home town. We did not know each other per se, but when you pass people in a hallway every day for a few years you do recognize one another. Small world. And that is my point. The unexpected graces and wonders that emerge in this big world as a result of being on the road again, continue to help me see and find hope in our interconnectedness.

And I hope to see you soon, somewhere!

In Gratitude and Song,

~ Joe

Watch Joe's ~ NPR Tiny Desk Concerts Entry here: https://youtu.be/3VR7IuTYbMY


Dear Friends in Music,

I am back out on the road this week with concerts in Schenectady, NY (The 8^th Step 3-11-22), White Plaines, NY (Walkabout Clearwater Coffee House 3-12-22), and Amherst, MA (Halcyon Arts 3-13-22). I am honored and excited to be working with three extraordinary presenters in the same weekend. I have a long history with each, and the reunion of dear friends that happens at concerts will bring some needed joy and comfort. I hope to see many of you there.

Please also note some thoughts for this moment in time in the essay below: Sibelius and Hope

3-11-22 Live & Live Streamed from The 8^th Step at Proctors Theater in Schenectady, NY. Tickets for the live show and the LiveStream via the Mandolin platform are available through The 8^th Step Website: https://www.8thstep.org/events/2020/12/12/joe-jencks-roots-amp-wings. This show will specifically focus on Roots and Wings, Irish and Celtic Heritage and stories of immigration and immigrants. Timely. Do join us online, if you can’t be there in person!

3-12-22 ***POSTPONED to Nov. 12th 2022***
Live and in-person only for the Clearwater Walkabout Coffee House in White Plaines, NY. This coffee house and the Walkabout Clearwater Chorus have an amazing and lengthy history in the Hudson valley. Always a pleasure. For more info visit: https://walkaboutchorus.org/coffeehouse/ and also: https://artswestchester.org/events/walkabout-clearwater-coffeehouse-present-joe-jencks/

3-13-22 Live at Halcyon Arts in Amherst, MA. I have a long history with the producer, but the organization is fairly new, and amazing. Check it out: https://www.hartsne.org/

My radio show, My Highway Home - Episode 4.3: Songs From The Emerald Isle and Beyond, will broadcast on Sunday March 13th at 6:00 PM ET and again at 11:00 PM ET (Adjust appropriately for your time zone.) The show will rebroadcast on Wednesday March 16th at 12 Noon ET. www.folkmusicnotebook.com

Additional concert and summer festival dates for 2022 and beyond can be found at: www.joejencks.com.

Last but not least, I am finally working on a new album. The tentative release date is July 1st. This project will focus on some of my Irish roots, songs I have written while on tour in Ireland, and songs from some friends and colleagues that I have been singing live for years, and finally decided to record. An IndiGoGo page will go up later this month. I’ll keep you posted, and thank you in advance for your unwavering support.

Wherever you are, I hope you are keeping well and remembering that through it all, we have each other and we have the music.

In Gratitude & Song,

~ Joe Jencks

Sibelius and Hope
Copyright, Joe Jencks, 2022 Turtle Bear Music

There are no adequate words to express the anxiety that we are all experiencing on some level, at this moment in time. We’re still in a Pandemic, but no one has to wear a mask anymore. We’re not at war per se, but we’re not at peace either. We’re not past winter, but we’re definitely ready for spring. Interpret that on as many levels as you like.

As many of you do, I have friends who are Ukrainian and Ukrainian American. I have friends who have traveled extensively or lived in Ukraine and Russia. I have colleagues in Europe for whom the impact of present-time global geo-politics and refugee crisis are very real. And I have friends who are doing all they can to provide for human needs with swiftness and compassion.

And we are aware of the humanitarian crisis in Europe, because it gets all the news. It is everywhere. And it should be in our minds and consciousness. We should be as attentive and informed as we are able. That said, there are still humanitarian crisis closer to home. There are still people without adequate shelter in our own towns and cities. Victims of ongoing racial injustice, domestic violence, refugees of political, economic, and public health concerns that still need to be solved, are with us here and now.

I had a bit of a meltdown on Sunday and again on Monday. I think I had consumed too much information about the world for me to process adequately. It came out as tears and despair. I would give a lot to know how to be most useful at this moment in history. And I keep coming back to music as what I have to give. That and a good meal if you are near enough for me to cook for you. I do that pretty well too. But how can I be of service to people so far away, for whom life is now irrevocably changed? How do I serve those nearest who are also struggling?

This Is My Song, is one of my favorite hymns. I have been singing it in my head and out loud for days. The music is the melody of Finlandia, written by the extraordinary Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. Wikipedia says Finlandia was composed for the Press Celebrations of 1899, a covert protest against increasing censorship from the Russian Empire. In order to avoid Russian censorship, Finlandia had to be performed under alternative names at various musical concerts.

Most of the piece is taken up with rousing and at times turbulent music, depicting the national struggle of the Finnish people at that time. Towards the end however, a calm comes over the symphony and one of the most astonishing melodies I have ever heard emerges and brings us into a place of hopeful serenity. Often incorrectly attributed as a Folk melody, the hymn Finlandia is all Sibelius. And it is amazing. You have no doubt heard it before, perhaps without even realizing what it was.

In 1933, Lloyd Stone, a US public-school teacher was living and working in Hawaii. He wrote among other things, poetry for children and he wrote the words to This Is My Song. Set to the melody Sibelius had penned a nearly two generations earlier, it is an entreatment for world peace, and a plea for all of us to see in each other our shared humanity, value, and inherent worth and dignity. During the Great Depression and without knowing it, on the very leading edge of a world war, Lloyd Stone wrote an anthem for the ages.

Around 1937-1938 theologian and poet Georgia Harkness was teaching at Mount Holyoke, and penned the third verse in direct response to the many people and nations globally who were falling under the weight of advancing fascism. She wrote a third stanza to Stone’s poetry inspired by the many young women and men devoting themselves to finding ways to be helpful through the Wesleyan Service Guild, the American Friends Service Committee, and other organizations that were working hard to provide humanitarian relief to the innocent caught in the cross-fire, literally and figuratively.

These words, set to the stunning melody written by Jean Sibelius have a long history and herstory of pride, resistance, fortitude, humanity, and hope.

This is my song, Oh God of all the nations
A song of peace for lands afar and mine
This is my home, the country where my heart is
Here are my hopes, my dreams, my sacred shrine
But other hearts in other lands are beating
With hopes and dreams as true and high as mine

My country’s skies are bluer than the ocean
And sunlight beams on cloverleaf and pine
But other lands have sunlight too and clover
And skies are everywhere as blue as mine
Oh hear my song, oh God of all the nations
A song of peace for their land and for mine

May truth and freedom come to every nation
may peace abound where strife has raged so long
that each may seek to love and build together
a world united, righting every wrong
a world united in its love for freedom
proclaiming peace together in one song

May it be so. May we be a part of building a world where peace is a reality. May we also not get so lost in the global concerns that we forget that there are those in need, among us every day. There are injustices here and now where you and I reside, that require our focus, attention, and compassion. Holding great need, near and far feels like a careful balancing act. But I know we are up for it. And with beautiful songs in our hearts, and on our lips, and in our ears, we will rise to the occasion whatever it may be. How can we keep from singing?

~ Joe Jencks (3-9-22)

Thank You For Your Support

Donate

Dear Friends in Music,

I am excited to be hitting the road again. As with many things, life is a hybrid right now. LIVE and Live-Streamed. Ups and downs. Sun and Rain. Mixed emotions and thoughts as we open up, and eager to see dear friends and community – and make new friends. So many losses even still, and so many unexpected moments of wonder and gifts of gentle grace during the Pandemic. I am grateful to still be making music through it all. And grateful for all of you.

I need to hit the road, so this newsletter is mostly focused on tour updates. I’ll be back to essays next month! But please do read through for a poem from Langston Hughes. I am honored to share a birthday (February 1st) with this amazing poet, writer, artist, scholar, organizer, and activist. And his words and poems are for me, not unlike the writings of Kahlil Gibran, personal scripture. He was born on February 1st, 1901. I am considerably younger.

Upcoming shows & broadcasts:

February 18th (Friday), FOLKUS Concerts in Syracuse. In person ONLY.
Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/joe-jencks-tickets-220611022507
Concert Website: http://folkus.org/shows/upcoming-shows/show/joe-jencks

February 19th (Saturday), Online ONLY – Joe Jencks & Rod MacDonald co-bill for Peoples’ Voice Café, NYC Purchase Tickets for this one via: https://www.peoplesvoicecafe.org/

February 26th (Saturday), UUCA Coffee House, Atlanta, GA – Online ONLY
Joe Jencks in concert with some lovely musicians from the community opening. The event starts at 7:00 PM ET. Joe’s set at 7:30 PM ET. View on YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AxnzyvcVDM&ab_channel=UUCAtl

On March 1st (Tuesday)I will begin teaching a four-week course on Songwriting as Journalism through the Caffe Lena School of Music. Very excited about this. A course I have taught at many summer programs and music camps and even at a few universities. But since this course will be online ONLY – anyone who wants to up their game on writing and explore a new approach to thinking about songs can sign up. For more information and a course description, please visit: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/caffe-lena-school-of-music-songwriting-as-journalism-with-joe-jencks-tickets-265469796307

March 2nd (Wednesday) I will off a concert for Off Square Concerts in Woodstock, IL In-Person and Online – Hybrid. Come out or stay in. You choose! Stage Left Cafe is at 125 Van Buren St., Woodstock, on the historic Woodstock Square. 7:30 PM CT
Tickets & Info: https://offsquaremusic.org/event/1st-wednesdays-concert-series/#tribe-tickets
And you can also watch via my YouTube Channel: https://youtu.be/CrlShKeNLfo

Additional Joe Jencks concert dates upcoming in March, 2022
March 11th, 8^th Step Concerts at Proctors in Schenectady, NY
March 12th, Clearwater Walkabout Coffee House in White Plains, NY
March 13th, Halcyon Arts in Amherst, MA
More in the next newsletter and updates ongoing at: www.joejencks.com
Donation links for PayPal, Square, and Venmo are on the home-page.

I hope to see you at one or several of these concerts and events, in person or online. It has been a lean time for a lot of folks, especially in the arts. Please continue to support the artists and arts organizations that you love. It only looks like things are returning to normal. We’re not quite there yet, friends. And I thank you for your extraordinary generosity and kind, stalwart support. We all keep giving the best that we have, and it all keeps moving forward!

In Gratitude & Song,

~ Joe Jencks (2-17-22)

I Look At The World
By Langston Hughes

I look at the world

From awakening eyes in a black face—

And this is what I see:

This fenced-off narrow space

Assigned to me.

I look then at the silly walls

Through dark eyes in a dark face—

And this is what I know:

That all these walls oppression builds

Will have to go!

I look at my own body

With eyes no longer blind—

And I see that my own hands can make

The world that's in my mind.

Then let us hurry, comrades,

The road to find.

~~~~~

To Donate Via Square:
Square Donate Button

Thank You For Your Support

Donate

To Donate Via Paypal or Venmo:

Dear Friends in Music,

Happy New Year! I hope this finds you well, restored in some way from the holidays, and finding hope for good things ahead in 2022.

I am kicking off the 2022 road schedule, sharing a concert with my colleague and friend Crys Matthews this Thursday, January 6th at Caffe Lena in Saratoga Springs, NY. Crys is a phenomenal writer, performer, artist, and activist. And I am pleased to help share her music with people who may not yet be familiar with her work. https://www.crysmatthews.com

Sarah Craig, the Director of Caffe Lena called me several months ago and asked if I would offer a concert there on the anniversary of the January 6th insurrection. I was honored to say yes, and equally honored that Crys was interested in sharing the evening with me so that we could sing some healing into the world from the Caffe Lena stage, together.

As with all of my shows from Caffe Lena during the Pandemic, this will be available as a real time LiveStream via YouTube Live. Tickets are also available for in person seating. All tickets and contributions will be split between the artists and Caffe Lena, and as always your generosity is deeply appreciated. www.caffelena.org
Caffe Lena TV: https://caffelena.tv/programs/live-joe-jencks-crys-mathews
YouTube Live Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGosgfRhc8k

Please also see below an essay I wrote: A Place In The Choir, honoring Bill Staines. He was a treasured colleague, mentor, friend to many, and a much beloved and gifted Folksinger and songwriter. His music and storytelling will live on and continue to be cherished.

May this be a year of healing, growth, re-connection, and peaceful prosperity for us all.

In Gratitude & Song,

~ Joe Jencks (1-4-22)


PS. My radio show, My Highway Home features an interview with renowned harpist, David Michael. A legend in the Pacific NW, David shares amazing stories from his remarkable transcontinental life as a rogue harpist and busker. Sunday January 9^th at 6:00 PM ET & 11:00 PM ET (adjust for your time-zone). And rebroadcast at 12 Noon on Wednesday January 12^th. (adjust for your time-zone). All on Folk Music Notebook: www.folkmusicnotebook.com.

-----------------------

A Place In The Choir: Remembering Bill Staines
Copyright, Joe Jencks, Turtle Bear Music 2022

I was about 11 years old the first time I heard Bill Staines’ music. One of my big sisters worked at the Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center in Pennsylvania. Bill was friends with the director of the outdoor education program and played a concert there almost annually. My sister loved his performance and bought several cassettes. No small commitment on her part, if you have a sense of what young environmental educators made for a living in the early to mid-80s. He was an instant favorite, and the recordings she brought home to share with me were a joy. His songwriting and delivery were compelling to me, and the authenticity and lack of pretense were inviting. And of course the first Bill Staines song I ever learned to play on my own guitar was A Place In The Choir.

A Place In The Choir
Copyright, Bill Staines

All God's critters got a place in the choir
Some sing low, some sing higher,
Some sing out loud on the telephone wires,
And some just clap their hands, or paws, or anything they got now

Listen to the bass, it's the one on the bottom
Where the bullfrog croaks and the hippopotamus
Moans and groans with a big t'do
And the old cow just goes moo.

The dogs and the cats they take up the middle
While the honeybee hums and the cricket fiddles,
The donkey brays and the pony neighs
And the old coyote howls.

Listen to the top where the little birds sing
On the melodies with the high notes ringing,
The hoot owl hollers over everything
And the jaybird disagrees.

Singin' in the night time, singing in the day,
The little duck quacks, then he's on his way.
The 'possum ain't got much to say
And the porcupine talks to himself.

It's a simple song of living sung everywhere
By the ox and the fox and the grizzly gear,
The grumpy alligator the the hawk above,
The sly racoon and the turtle dove.

I am quite sure that by the tens of thousands, different fans all around North America and beyond could tell you deeply personal stories about how Bill’s music touched their lives. And I hope you share your memories with your friends, family, and community. Bill deserves remembering, and his songs deserve to be sung, again and again. They are timeless.

As a young man, I looked up to Bill as a model of how to be a Folksinger. He was by no means the only model, but a real thriving model nonetheless. Bill Staines walked to his own drummer from the get-go until he passed on December 5^th, 2021. While spending much of his career having record deals – including a lengthy stint with Philo Records – he lived the lifestyle of the Indie Singer-Songwriter before that was a hip thing to do. Bill charted his course, and hit the road. He loved the road. For all of his laments about missing home in various forms and places, I think actions almost always speak louder than words. And even for a fine songwriter like Bill, his persistent relationship with the road spanning parts of seven decades suggests that he actually loved what he did. And the fact that he loved the music more than the hype is further testament to his devoted practice of being a true American Folksinger. It was a deep calling and one he manifestly inhabited.

Bill was born in Medford, MA, on February 6^th, 1947. His first national release A Bag of Rainbows came out in 1966. From then until this past fall – Bill was a road dog. And he was an adventurer. He wrote fondly of the places he traveled to and the places he was from with equal grace and humor. He wrote an entire suite of music all about Alaska. And songs like River and Sweet Wyoming Home were veritable Hymns in the Church of Folk. He was a storyteller par excellence, and was also known for his children’s albums and performances. His music was used in film and television on a few occasions, and he was a guest on Mountain Stage and on A Prairie Home Companion.

I first met Bill when I opened for him in 2002, at a performance in the big room at Swallow Hill in Denver. Swallow Hill is much like the Oldtown School of Folk Music in Chicago. It is an epicenter and mecca of Folk culture, music, performance, and educational instruction. Swallow Hill is one of the premier Folk venues in all of the western US. Playing there at all on the mainstage was a thrill for me. But sharing a night with Bill Staines, that was a shot in the arm for my blossoming international touring career. It filled my heart and soul in ways I can neither forget nor adequately share. But suffice to say that it was a moment of deep personal satisfaction for me. I had travelled in my own life along some of those highways and byways that Bill wrote and sang about. And I now understood differently his love of the road and the side of humanity he was privileged to see in each of the towns and cities and communities in which he played.

Bill was always kind to me. And he was always a little distant too. A little self-isolating in crowds, seeking solitude and a few close colleagues over throngs of folks at a festival. He was humble in all the right ways, and he understood at some point in his life that the reason people came to see him play was because they wanted to hear specific songs that were as mentioned – Hymns in the Church of Folk. It wasn’t that he didn’t have anything new to say. 26 + albums prove to me that he had plenty to say and write. But he also understood that certain songs of his were balm for the soul, for others. And whatever he was on about in a given phase of creativity, he also knew that people yearned for the gentle tones of his voice and the comfort of being together and singing together in a Bill Staines concert. To those who said critically of Bill, “Every time I see Bill, it’s the same show…” I say kindly, you are wrong. I opened for Bill on several occasions, and shared stages with him at festivals spanning 2 decades. Even when the songs were the same, the singer had changed. And with each passing year, with each new growth-ring on the tree, Bill made the songs feel fresh. It was as if he was speaking a truth that a younger self had written but an older self was just beginning to understand.

Sweet Wyoming Home
Copyright, Bill Staines

There's a silence on the prairie
That a man can't help but feel;
There a shadow growing longer now,
And nipping at my heels.
For I know that soon that old four-lane
That runs beneath my wheels
Will take me home to my sweet Wyoming home.

I headed down the road last summer
With a few old friends of mine.
They all hit the money, Lord,
I didn't make a time.
The entrance fees they took my dough,
And the travelin' took my time,
And now I'm headed home to my sweet Wyoming home.

Watch the moon smiling in the sky
And hum a tune, a prairie lullaby.
A peaceful wind, an old coyote’s cry
A song of home, my sweet Wyoming home.

Well, the rounders they all wish you luck
When they know you're in a jam.
But your money's ridin' on the bull,
And he don't give a damn.
Well there's shows in all the cities,
The cities turn your heart to clay;
It takes all a man can muster
Just to try and get away.
And the songs I'm used to hearin'
Ain't the kind the jukebox plays,
And now I'm headed home to my sweet Wyoming home.

You know I've always loved the ridin',
There ain't nothin' quite the same,
And another year may bring the luck
Of winning all the game.
There's a magpie on the fence-rail,
And he's callin' out my name,
And he calls me home to my sweet Wyoming home.

As a songwriter and storyteller, Bill Staines was capable of inhabiting a character with such remarkable authenticity that one would believe that he had been a Hobo, a Cowboy, a Rodeo Circuit Rider, an Alaskan Bush Pilot, and so much more. But it was his capacity for empathy, I believe, that made him both incredibly entertaining and beloved by many; and I expect a bit lonely even in good company. I would submit that one cannot easily turn off that much empathy. One cannot choose to see less humanity in others once it has been seen. Sometimes being alone is easier than trying to tune out so much awareness and perception. And so his long road trips, solitary camping trips, and quiet demeanor when out of the public eye were, I suspect, part of Bill’s efforts to consolidate his thoughts and conserve his focus for when he needed it most. But I think he was no less happy alone in any mountain range than he was on any good stage in a room full of people. Bill was a man squarely in his own skin. For that alone he has my respect.

RIVER
Copyright, Bill Staines

I was born in the path of the winter wind
And raised where the mountains are old
The springtime waters came dancing down
And I remember the tales they told

The whistling ways of my younger days
Too quickly have faded on by
But all of their memories linger on
Like the light of a fading sky.

River, take me along
In your sunshine, sing me your song
Ever moving and winding and free
You rolling old river, you changing old river
Let's you and me river run down to the sea!

I've been to the city and back again
I've been moved by some things that I've learned
Met a lot of good people and I called them friends
Felt the change when the seasons turned

I heard all the songs that the children sing
And listened to love's melodies
I've felt my own music within me rise
Like the wind in the autumn trees.

Someday when the flowers are blooming still
Someday when the grass is still green
My rolling waters will round me bend
And flow into the open sea

So here's to the rainbow that followed me here
And here's to the friends that I know
And here's to the song that's within me now
I will sing it wherever I go.

For Bill Staines, there is a global garden of flowers still blooming and the grass is still green in the hearts of those who know and love his music, sing his songs, and cherish his memory. He was a man who gave himself to the muse with dedication. His spirit lives on in every camp counselor and camper who sings about, “...the Ox and the Fox and the Grizzly Bear.” And for each of us traveling on our own River, we too will and must travel that river until it carries us back to the great sea. Gratefully, we will have Bill’s music as our companion on the trip. So, here’s to the song that’s within us now, Bill. We will sing it wherever we go, and bring a part of you with us on the journey. Thanks for the songs, brother. Thanks for the memories and the kindness, the laughs and the tears, the spirit of hospitality and the creative spark that set so many others on their own path of discovery. Thanks for making a place in your choir for all of us.

~ Joe Jencks (12-27-21)

To make a donation via Square:

Thank You For Your Support

Donate

To make a donation via PayPal or Venmo click on of the icons below:

Dear Friends In Music,

As 2021 winds down, I am keenly aware of the strength and joy of community, the extraordinary power of music, and the sadness in my heart for those friends who are no longer with us. To dwell in loss is to miss the present moment. To ignore the solemnity of the moment is to not really be paying attention. Striking a balance, that is the key. To that end, I light candles every morning and remember those who are in my heart that day, those who are struggling, those who bring joy to my life, those who have passed, and those people and things for whom and which I remain genuinely grateful.

The music world lost some giants this year from Folk artists such as Anne Feeney, Nanci Griffith, Bill Staines, Scott Alarik, and Paddy Maloney (The Chieftains) to more widely known composers and performers like Stephen Sondheim, Charlie Watts, Don Everly, and Jazz songwriter Dave Frishberg. I have many friends and a couple family members who were on this planet a year ago, who are now gone. But I think Phil Ochs summed it up well in his song, When I’m Gone.

There's no place in this world where I'll belong when I'm gone
And I won't know the right from the wrong when I'm gone
And you won't find me singin' on this song when I'm gone
So I guess I'll have to do it while I'm here

To that end, I will keep singing on these songs!

Friday December 10th, 8:00 PM CT / 9:00 PM ET/ etc. Adjust for your time zone.
LIVE and Livestreamed from Two Way Street Coffee House in Downers Grove, IL Ticketing and streaming links can be found on their website: https://twowaystreet.org
Special Guest – Taiwanese Ruan player and fabulous musician, Tzu-Tsen Wu. We discovered in rehearsal that the Ruan and the Bouzouki are tuned exactly the same!

Saturday December 18th at 7:30 PM ET/ 6:30 CT/ etc. Adjust for your time zone.
Joe Jencks ~ On A Midwinter’s Night ~ Annual Holiday Concert
LIVE & Livestreamed from 6 On The Square in Oxford, NY
https://www.6onthesquare.org
*** Please note, Nancy Morey will be checking the reservations up to and during the show – but to make her life easier, PLEASE reserve your ticket link at least 2 hours before showtime if possible. Sliding scale for the Live-Stream, pay what you can. This concert will be broadcast on Zoom, not YouTube, FYI. So, you will need to get the link in advance. A few in-person tickets are still available if you want to and are able to be in the live audience.

New music, old favorites, good community, and genuine camaraderie. May your holiday season be filled with all of these and more. May you know more joy than sorrow, may you find moments of peace, and may you hold gratitude as a true companion.

Thank you for your many forms of kindness and support, and for counting me as part of your community, just as I continue count you as part of mine.

Happy Holidays,

~ Joe Jencks (12-10-21)



PS. My radio show, My Highway Home, Episode 3.9 ~ Songs and Stories of The Season will broadcast on Folk Music Notebook this Sunday – December 12th at 6:00 PM ET & again at 11:00 PM ET (3:00 PM PT & 8:00 PM PT) Adjust for your time zone. The show will re-broadcast on Wednesday December 15th at 12 Noon ET/ 9:00 AM PT www.folkmusicnotebook.com

PPS. Save the date: January 6th, 2022 at Caffe Lena, Saratoga Springs, NY: Joe Jencks & Crys Matthews LIVE in Concert. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/joe-jencks-and-crys-matthews-tickets-220134065917


A happy 2021 memory... Rock Pond, Pharaoh Lakes Wilderness - in the Adirondacks

To donate via Square:

Thank You For Your Support

Donate

To donate via Paypal or Venmo:

Dear Friends In Music,

I am very excited to kick off a run of LIVE concerts this THURSDAY, November 18th (8:00 PM ET) at The ARK in Ann Arbor, MI. One of the premier Folk/ Music venues in North America, this performance at The ARK his is open for physical seating as well as online streaming.

Here is a YouTube Live Link for the concert at The ARK: https://youtu.be/IjMwjXVIj_M

***If for some reason this link does not work for you – please go to The ARK website (www.theark.org) for additional links to the concert as it will also be streamed on The Ark’s Facebook channel.

After more online performances than I ever imagined I would offer from my home studio, I am very excited and indeed, deeply grateful to head back out into the world for some LIVE performances in concert venues. I have a number of engagements in November and December, and I am hoping that even if you can’t attend one of these limited events, that you might pass word onto friends. Artists have had our struggles through the pandemic. But our presenting partners, especially the brick and mortar venues have also had their challenges. Please share this information so that we can keep the music flowing for all of us!

Additional concerts this month include the Princeton Folk Music Society (Princeton, NJ), Mt. Toby Concerts (Leverett, MA), Stone Soup Coffeehouse (Providence, RI), and The Cooperage (Honesdale, PA). Please also check www.joejencks.com for ongoing updates, additions, and other information.

Upcoming Joe Jencks Concert Dates:

November 18th at The ARK in Ann Arbor, MI. Tickets via: https://theark.org

November 19th at Princeton Folk Music Society, Princeton, NJ: https://princetonfolk.org

November 20th at Mt. Toby Concerts, Leverett, MA: https://mttobyconcerts.wordpress.com

November 27th at Stone Soup Coffeehouse, Providence, RI: http://stonesoupcoffeehouse.org

November 28th at The Cooperage in Honesdale, PA: https://thecooperageproject.org/event/rivervibes-concert-joe-jencks

December 10th at Two Way Street Coffee House, Downers Grove, IL: https://twowaystreet.org

December 18th at 6 On The Square, Oxford, NY: https://www.6onthesquare.org

January 6th, 2022 at Caffe Lena, Saratoga Springs, NY: Joe Jencks & Crys Matthews in Concert!

***Some of these Concerts may also be LiveStreamed. Please check venue site for details or check the Tour Dates tab on www.joejencks.com.

As we head into our season of Thanksgiving here in the US, I am grateful for so much. And I am aware even still of the many difficulties that so many people face. But I am also mindful that even amidst hardships, losses, and austerity there remains a great deal for which to be grateful. I hope that you are well, and can find some of those points of gratitude no matter the challenges.

I wish for you a peaceful and gratitude filled Thanksgiving. I am grateful for you. I am grateful for all of the letters, cards, emails, phone calls, Zoom and Skype chats, online festivals and conferences, and the immense commitment the music fans have shown during the pandemic, to the music makers. I am still doing what I love and do best, as a direct result of your kindness and generosity. Thank you.

Happy Thanksgiving!

~ Joe Jencks (11-17-21)


* Please check out some of the timely essays and articles under the NEWS tab, as well as archived concerts and episodes of My Highway Home on the official Joe Jencks YouTube Channel.

Donate via Square:

Thank You For Your Support

Donate

Donate via Paypal or Venmo:

The Story of Deportees & Why I Became a Folksinger
Copyright 2021, Joe Jencks, Turtle Bear Music

I was 8 years old and laying on the floor in my parents dining room. I liked music. And I liked music louder than many people in the house, especially my mom. But we came up with a compromise. In the absence of headphones or even a stereo that had a headphone jack, I would lay on the floor with a couch pillow under my head and one speaker on either side. I could bring the speakers in very close to my ears and listen at a satisfying volume, while bothering no one else in the house.

I listened to a lot of music back then. Everything I could get my hands on. As the youngest of a family of seven kids, I had a wide array of musical tastes to choose from in the house record collection, and I explored them all. From 78s of Enrico Caruso and Duke Ellington, to 45s of the Motown era, to 33 & 1/3rds of James Taylor, Supertramp, Olivia Newton John, and ABBA. Dan Hill, Jim Post, Karen Carpenter, John Denver, and various Disney musicals were equally common. From Tchaikovsky’s Pathetique to the The Who’s Tommy, from Jethro Tull to the original London cast recording of Jesus Christ Superstar, I was a voracious consumer of music of any kind. And then something happened that created more focus in my musical tastes. I was given a copy of Pete Seeger and Arlo Guthrie’s double album, Together In Concert, by one of my older sisters.

Interestingly enough, my recollection was that the album was recorded in concert at Carnegie Hall in New York. But in this information age, no myth need go unopposed. And a little bit of research reveals that it was in fact recorded at several different live shows in Chicago, Boston, Montreal, and elsewhere. Just like the song on that album that made me want to become a folksinger, my own origin narrative was incomplete. But a little research into the matter set the record, so to speak, straight.

In 1948, Woody Guthrie read a newspaper article about an airplane crash in Los Gatos Canyon in California, that inspired some verses of poetry. Woody delivered the poetry set to various melodies, but most often in his talkin’ blues style for many years. It was called The Plane Wreck at Los Gatos (Canyon). But in 1957, a young man named Marty (Martin) Hoffman who was at the time a student at Colorado State University in Ft. Collins Colorado, took Woody’s words and wrote a fresh melody. Hoffman was an English major, Folksinger, an aspiring educator, and a member of the CSU Balladeers. After a Pete Seeger concert in Ft. Collins in 1957, Marty met Pete at an after party to which the CSU Balladeers had been invited. There he played the song Deportees for Pete Seeger for the first time, and Pete loved it. He asked permission to record it, and credited Hoffman and Guthrie as co-writers, since Woody had never settled on any specific melody and Marty’s melody was haunting, powerful, and was appropriately inspired by a Mexican style waltz.

Fast-forward to 1980, and an 8-year-old me laying on the floor in my parent’s dining room. I had only recently learned to play guitar. Another sister had taught me some chords on my guitar – a gift from some family friends who had moved out of town. I LOVED my guitar, almost as much as I loved listening to records. So, naturally I would listen and then figure out how to play along with the recordings, and eventually to play the songs on my own without the recordings. Deportees was one of the very first songs I learned to play off of a record. And it made me want to do what Pete and Arlo were doing for a living. From then on, when people asked me what I wanted to do when I grew up, my answer was almost always. “I want to be a Folksinger!” (I also wanted to be an astronaut and a forest ranger. It remains a marvel to me that becoming a Folksinger ended up as the most pragmatic personal choice.)

In 2017, Tim Z. Hernandez - a poet, writer, educator, historian, and activist published a book, All They Will Call You, about the Guthrie/Hoffman song, and the 32 people (28 deportees and 4 crew) who died in the airplane crash in Los Gatos Canyon back in 1948. In 2012 and 2013 Hernandez conducted research with help from musician Lance Canales, to find the full-names of these 28 individuals and to make sure a proper stone was placed on the mass grave in Fresno, CA where the remains of the “deportees” were laid to rest. He wanted all of us in this day and age to see that a name matters.

In a 2013 interview with NPR Tim Z. Hernandez said, “It all comes down to the same idea of why it matters that their names are even brought up. You know, here we are, 65 years later. I mean, at the end of the day, right? Our names are really what represent who we are. They're our stamp on the fact that we've existed here, at one point. And obviously, too, names are about lineage, where we come from, the culture we come from, who we are. So in that same way, then, accuracy is pretty important, in terms of, at least, my book; it's very important. And so I'm trying to find out not only who they are, exactly, but where they came from.”

The names of those famous and no longer anonymous Deportees: Miguel Negrete Álvarez. Tomás Aviña de Gracia. Francisco Llamas Durán. Santiago García Elizondo. Rosalio Padilla Estrada. Tomás Padilla Márquez. Bernabé López Garcia. Salvador Sandoval Hernández. Severo Medina Lára. Elías Trujillo Macias. José Rodriguez Macias. Luis López Medina. Manuel Calderón Merino. Luis Cuevas Miranda. Martin Razo Navarro. Ignacio Pérez Navarro. Román Ochoa Ochoa. Ramón Paredes Gonzalez. Guadalupe Ramírez Lára. Apolonio Ramírez Placencia. Alberto Carlos Raygoza. Guadalupe Hernández Rodríguez. Maria Santana Rodríguez. Juan Valenzuela Ruiz. Wenceslao Flores Ruiz. José Valdívia Sánchez. Jesús Meza Santos. Baldomero Marcas Torres.

Presente!

And this is why I became a Folksinger, so that I could be a part of speaking truth where I am able, being a prophetic voice that asks the big questions even when there are no obvious answers. To use music as a tool for shining light where it is needed, bringing nourishment of the soul to those who thirst for it. To return names to those whose story has become anonymous and therefore more easily forgotten and dismissed. To bring healing and tenderness when that is the medicine most needed. I wanted to sing a lullaby to comfort some to sleep and wake others up! I wanted to be in various measures part journalist, minister, historian, activist, and entertainer; to be a part of telling our stories. Though I did not know it at the time, I became a Folksinger because 24 years before I was born, the overt racism and classism of the time prevented people from bothering to care about the names of the people who died on that “air-o-plane” as Woody used to pronounce it, when it crashed in Los Gatos Canyon.

I do not believe that I was thinking in quite such broad terms when I was only eight. But we know truth when we encounter it, even as children. And after hearing Deportees, there was no going back to the Disney of the day. I wanted to be a part of the community of people who were truth-tellers. In more elemental terms, I wanted to help other people feel how I felt when I listened to or sang that song. I wanted to give other people the sense of compassion and connectedness I felt when I listened to that music. I wanted to be a part of that music. And I am grateful that my life has taken me in a direction where I am able to do just that. I am a part of the music as surely as it is a part of me. And we are a part of the story, just as surely as the story is a part of us.

When I wrote, Lady of The Harbor back in 2010, The United States / Estados Unidos was dealing with yet another immigration crisis. I wanted European-descended Americans to consider the inherent hypocrisy of celebrating our culture as a culture of immigrants who sought out a new world, to live in a place free from oppression. In so doing, we certainly and ironically created plenty of it here. But in addition to telling the truth as I saw it, I also wanted to honestly celebrate my own family history as immigrants from Ireland, Canada, France, Sweden, Alsace Lorraine, Wales, and other places spanning a few centuries.

And now, now we see new challenges and mis-steps regarding immigration. Policy blunders and human tragedy met with political rhetoric and more deportations of more people whose names will never be known to most of us. And the reasons why those names will not be known are the same reasons why those other names were unknown in 1948. Racism, classism, sexism, and colonial-cultural supremacy. They are now the names of people who are Afghani, Pakistani, Afro-Caribbean, Haitian, Dominican, Latino/Latina/LatinX. They are people who deserve compassion, people fleeing violent and oppressive situations, radical poverty, and they are seeking asylum. They are people who more often than not are still seen as statistics, as other, as less-than. They are seen as problems to be solved in the abstract, rather than other human beings deserving of equal access to human rights and civil rights.

It took from 1948 to 2017 for the broader story of the people in Woody Guthrie & Marty Hoffman’s song Deportees/ The Plane Wreck at Los Gatos, to be known. But music played an integral role in keeping the story alive for some future historian/herstorian to bring back to the forefront. And music plays an integral role in documenting the times we live in now. No song can tell the whole story. But I am so grateful for the songs we have that guide us on a journey of exploration, both into the past and into our own hearts. And that journey of exploration is critical because music has a unique power to open our hearts in ways that ofttimes an article or a news story does not. Music conveys some unique sort of soul with it, that allows us to see some piece of ourselves in others, and some piece of them within ourselves. May it be so!

And as we approach the holiday formerly known as Columbus Day, now Indigenous People’s Day, may our hearts be filled with compassion, and our minds open to a willingness to untangle our own attachment to origin stories that may not be accurate. We are who we are. We live where we live. But our story is not the only story, and there were people here before us of many cultures and races. There will surely be many people here after us of many other cultures and races. We are neither the beginning nor the end of the story. But we are a part of the story. And we have an opportunity through Folk music and the broader arts communities, to help set some pieces of the story in greater alignment with both historic and present time truths. Every piece of the puzzle counts in the big picture. And the music we love can help paint that picture with an eye toward greater inclusivity and more detail.

I am grateful to those who came before us, and for their efforts to document the world they experienced first-hand. From love songs to work songs to stories like The Plane Wreck at Los Gatos. I am grateful to those people who left some part of their story behind for us to learn from, contribute to, and pass forward to the next generation of story lovers.

Songs change lives. That’s why I became a Folksinger. And I am grateful to have a life steeped in the songs of many generations and cultures.

~ Joe Jencks (10-2-21)



Woody Guthrie

Thank You For Your Support

Donate

If you have problems with the above links then use: https://www.paypal.me/JoeJencksMusic

For The Love of Lilacs
Copyright 2021, Joe Jencks

Death and I have been in a tug-o-war since I was nine years old. For the first part of my life, my Grandma K. lived next door to my family. Her house was a sanctuary. I am the youngest of seven children in my family of origin, and have always been keen on serene and calm places. There is little serenity in a house filled with nine people and their extended community. So Grandma Kilbride's house was my sanctuary, a place where I could always go for a hug, a cookie, or some much needed quiet time. She used to teach me how to water and spray her plants. She had an amazing indoor garden and had turned about ¼ of her living room into a plant sanctuary.

When I was 9 years old, Grandma Kilbride died. She navigated a yearlong struggle with cancer, and succumbed in May of that year. I remember friends coming to visit and saying, “Ellen, we’re just so sorry you’re sick.” Grandma K. would respond with humor and reproach and nonchalance in equal parts, “I’m not sick, I’m dying. There’s a difference.”

The day of her death is etched in my consciousness. My family coordinated sitting vigil with her 24/7 during her last few weeks, in essence offering home hospice care with some guidance from visiting nurses. My parents and siblings prepared me for the moment of her passing, and talked about how Grandma K. would live in my heart. I knew what death was, or so I thought.

But on the evening when she finally died, I was filled with so much sadness and anger that I did not know what to do. It was hard for my nine-year-old psyche to integrate everything that I was feeling. I walked up and down the block to various neighbors’ houses, bearing the sad tidings that Grandma had died. And after my solemn rounds, I returned to our front yard to see the Lilacs in full bloom.

I don’t know what came over me. But I could not stand the beauty of them. Their vivid purple color was an offense. Their sweet, nearly saccharin odor was contemptible. I could not handle in my moment of loss, their immense audacity; daring to be beautiful and cheerful, and hopeful when I was so broken. I snapped. In full rage at having just lost my beloved grandmother and best friend, I picked up a big stick from underneath a nearby tree and I bludgeoned the Lilac hedge into oblivion. I beat it senseless until every blossom had been destroyed. Blow after blow I attacked the hedge. I was filled (I believe in retrospect) with the sense that the lilacs were taunting me somehow in my grief. I just could not abide by their obliviousness and unwavering beauty. When my world had fallen into such chaos, they had the ability to exist without care. The whole world should have stopped that day. But it did not. It kept going.

I beat the lilacs so hard it took nearly a decade for them to return in full glory. But they did return in splendor and majesty. That Lilac (tree would be a fairer assessment) was as old as the house, 1909. And it had seen worse than a broken-hearted 9-year-old.

And so it was, 10 years later nearly to the day, on the occasion of my father’s death that I again had a deep interaction with the Lilacs in the front yard. But this time it was a very different sort of connection. Gentle. Grateful.

My dad had been working to help one of my older brothers with a project. I was helping too. I had just returned from the hardware store. Dad had sent me on an errand to fetch a bag of “1/4 20 hex nuts and a bottle of Welch’s Grape Soda.” Not long after I returned, Dad had a heart attack. I did CPR to no avail. I can tell you the precise moment of his passing. I was inches from his face, doing compressions and blowing air into his lungs. He was there one minute and gone the next. He hung on for a while, but then the light went out in his eyes and he was just gone to wherever we go.

As a Korean War Veteran and a kid who grew up in rural Minnesota during the depression, he knew how to fight. He was tender and kind, but he was also tenacious and determined. Nonetheless, on this particular day his body ran out of fight. Even as the paramedics arrived, I knew it was too late. As I have looked back over the years sifting for meaning, I think if there were one last lesson he had to impart to me, that was it. Life is precious. Life is a gift. The people we love, are a gift. Sometimes even the people we don’t love are a gift. Love them while you can. We are here for an undetermined period of time. And when we go, it is a finite moment in time. Notice that moment. Honor the loss. Honor the love.

Late that afternoon, after Mom and I returned from the hospital, after time-of-death had been declared by the professionals, I went out into the front yard and looked at the Lilacs. My heart, once again was broken beyond measure. My mind wondering if I had been better at CPR, if Dad would still be alive? Autopsy later determined that no amount of CPR would have fixed his broken heart or mine. But there I was with my old friend, the Lilacs.

I walked across the front yard, the smell of fresh mown grass in the air. But this time I did not cause harm to these stunningly beautiful flowers. I cupped one cluster in my hand, drawing its transformative and luminescent scent into my nostrils. Then I sat under its branches, like falling into the arms of a cherished friend, and I cried. I sobbed. The intensity of the day and the immensity of the loss just starting to really settle in. The sweet scent of beauty, the salt of tears, and the unrelenting angst of unquenchable grief merged. And in that singular moment, I came forever to appreciate Lilacs as my flower. Lilacs are my sacred bond with the divine, and that occasional reminder that we are human, that we are mortal, and that while transition is a constant in the universe, transcendence and transformation are a choice. Must be a choice.

The time of Pandemic has been a tough time for a lot of people. And in modern western culture, we really don’t know how to deal with loss, grief, or death. We don’t know how to talk about it or honor it. We euphemize and spout platitudes as we try to avoid making others uncomfortable. We try to sidestep our own lack of understanding about how to be of comfort to those around us who have just lost a loved one. For the wellness of all of us left, we must get better at talking about loss, grief, and death. And in order to help others have tacit permission, we must ourselves become spiritual warriors, willing to walk unarmed like Gandhi, into the Billy Clubs of whatever emotion waits for us.

It is not an easy thing to do, but we can gently learn how to grieve better. It is a practice. And as I grieve now 39 people I knew and loved and called friends, people who were on this planet 18 months ago and are now no longer here, I realize that grief is not a singular thing any more. It must be a practice. Because I don’t have time to grieve each loss individually in the way I could earlier in my life. I must learn how to grieve the losses collectively. Because I also need to keep being devoted and dedicated to the living. I need to keep loving each day and not live in a valley of sadness. I am still figuring this out. But I am on the path. And every time I smell Lilacs, I am brought into awareness of both loss and love. And with gratitude I will seek the Lilacs, and let their transcendent beauty enfold me as I both remember and love forward.

~ Joe Jencks, 6-12-21

April 10th - Joe Jencks – Live-Stream Concert in partnership with Deer Creek Coffeehouse 7:30 PM ET/ 6:30 PM CT/ etc. YouTube Live Link: https://youtu.be/zphHWugXnP8

Dear Friends…

As Spring is happening around me, I am reminded that last year we got 9 inches of snow on April 17^th here in the cornfields. I am reminded that while it seems like Spring is here to stay this year and with it a much-longed-for hope, there is still much sadness and suffering. The spring does not fix all of that. But it sure does help! The life-affirming signs are all around me here in northern Illinois. Flowers, leaves, songbirds, thunderstorms, and longer days. I am so genuinely ready for this season.

This weekend I have a couple of live concerts. Deer Creek Coffeehouse had me scheduled to perform in person a year ago, and we decided at the onset of the pandemic to push it forward a year. And here we are one year later and a trip to Maryland for a concert still seemed ill-advised. SO we’re going to YouTube! PLEASE join us Saturday April 10^th at 7:30 PM ET for a live-stream concert. Links above and below. This concert is open to all, and your voluntary ticket contributions are appreciated. Thanks to Jeff King & Crew at Deer Creek for pulling this together. YouTube Live Link: https://youtu.be/zphHWugXnP8

Tonight, April 9th I will offer a concert for the Unitarian Universalist community of Newark, DE. If you ever go there be sure to pronounce it New-Ark. They are very specific about this point. This one requires a Zoom link. Please see concert listings on www.joejencks.com for more info on how to get that link. Thanks to Nancy Plummer and UUCN for hosting this event.

My Highway Home is switching to a new time. You can tune into Folk Music Notebook at 6:00 PM ET on the Second Sunday of each month to catch MHH. The show will be rebroadcast on the same night at 11:00 PM ET and the following Wednesdays at 12 Noon ET. This week’s episode features an interview with Daniel Boling. 4-11-21 @ 6 PM ET and again at 11 PM ET. Wednesday April 14^th and Noon ET. www.folkmusicnotebook.com

And not to be forgotten, April 9th is Paul Robeson’s Birthday! There are few celebrities who have had such an immense impact on my life and choices personally or professionally. Some years ago in honor of Paul’s Birthday, I was proud to give a concert for the Puffin Foundation in NJ. It inspired me to dig deep into his life and repertoire, and it made me want to know more. Do yourself a favor and read a little on Wikipedia about Paul Robeson. You’ll be glad you did.

Last but not least, please see below some reflections on the Civil Rights movement in an essay I wrote called: In The Footsteps of Giants.

In Gratitude and Song,

~ Joe Jencks (4-9-21)

In The Footsteps of Giants

Copyright 2021, Joe Jencks, Turtle Bear Music

Six years ago, people from all over the world went to Selma, Alabama to be present for the 50^th Anniversary and commemoration of the historic 1965 crossing of the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma. On March 7^th, 1965 a young John Lewis, (now late and beloved Congressman) led a march that was headed toward Montgomery in support of the Voting Rights Act. He was the first across the bridge, and was the first to be beaten and bludgeoned by the law enforcement officers waiting on the other side. It took three attempts for the determined masses to make it all the way to Montgomery, but on March 25^th, the peaceful assembly, then more than 25,000 in number, finally arrived in the Alabama state capitol and showed a nation what democracy looks like.

I grew up in the 70s and 80s. I saw footage of the Civil Rights movement in black and white reels and news clips. It seemed like ancient history to me. As did the first walk on the moon, for that matter. I grew up being told that the Civil Rights Movement was a thing of the past, and that the battle had been won, that equality had come to the land. It was a real shock when I began to realize growing up that this was not true. I owe much of my awareness to one woman, a music teacher and educator and Jazz singer named Dorothy Paige Turner.

Dorothy was my kindergarten and 1^st grade music teacher. She was and remains one of the most courageous women I have ever known. She taught all of us kids at Garrison Elementary School songs from the Civil Rights Movement. And we sang those songs like we believed. We sang those songs and drank in their lyrics of hope, freedom, fairness, justice, and transformation as if it were our birthright to do so. Dorothy took a diverse group of students and helped us see our similarities before anyone taught us to see our differences. And I know she changed my life forever with her pedagogy and those songs.

Later when I was a freshman in high school, Dorothy asked me to be in a new theater company she had founded called The Black Theater Ensemble. I was the only Caucasian member of the company. And that too was a gift. Dorothy continued where she had left off when I was a child and began again to teach my teenage self about the history of racism in this country, about the history of slavery, abolition, human rights, and the work of liberation and Civil Rights. She put me in some of the hardest situations I had ever been in, and stood by me all the way as she forged me into a more aware and awake person. Woke is the term some folks use now.

The thing is, Racism doesn’t end in the abstract. Racism doesn’t end as a result of intellectual constructs and mass rallies, public awareness campaigns, or the quoting of horrifying statistics. Racism ends because we get to know another person, and become friends with that person. When we start to love that person and feel as if they are a part of our tribe, and then all-of-a-sudden the injustice we see hurting them, hurts us too! And we find we cannot stand idly by and watch our friends endure injustice and hatred.

Whether we are Black, White, Latino/Latina, Asian, Indigenous, Indian, Mixed Race/other, we are all franchised into some system of racism. And the system that we are handed is not our fault. But what we do with it, that IS our responsibility. And what Dorothy Paige Turner did in my life was to work for transformation of that system one child at a time, one song at a time, one heart at a time. Dorothy taught us through the music to see the character of the person first and anything else second. And she invited me into a performing ensemble that forever changed my life.

I might not have crossed the bridge in Selma in 2015 if it weren’t for Dorothy’s work 35 or 40 years earlier. I might never have been attracted to the music that now resides at the center of my life had it not been for the courage of a young black music teacher from Arkansas who came north and carried the hope and the love and the courage of the Civil Rights movement with her.

So as I walked across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, a bridge still (disturbingly) named after a Grand Dragon of the KKK, I carried Dorothy and all of the members of the Black Theater Ensemble in my heart. I remembered playing a slave auctioneer and a slave master in those ensemble productions. I remembered crying after rehearsals at how unconscionable it was that these things actually happened. I remembered members of the ensemble surrounding me with love, assuring me that they understood I was only fulfilling a role I had been asked to play, for the sake of a piece of teaching-theater. And I recommitted while walking across that bridge 6 years ago, to doing what I can do in my life to challenge Racism in all of its forms.

The work of “the Civil Rights generation” must continue with us, and with our children and grandchildren. It was not a bloodless revolution, but the blood only ever seemed to flow in one direction. And as we now address the injustices of our contemporary society, I think we have a great deal to learn from our forbearers. “Black and white together” as We Shall Overcome says, along with Latino/Latina, Asian, Indigenous, Indian, Mixed-Race and all other identities, we MUST overcome. We must overcome the callousness of a society that allows any of its children to be seen as disposable. We must overcome the indifference that allows people to see others as less than fully human. We must overcome the hatred that allows unarmed people of color to be shot and killed, or suffocated… with limited or no punishments handed down to the perpetrators of those heinous acts.

We are all a part of a system that was handed to us, but that is not the measure of who we are. What we do with that system is our cultural legacy. And over that week six years ago in Selma, I saw tens of thousands of people committed to changing that system. It was one of the most hopeful things I have ever experienced in my life. I am here to tell you, whatever coverage you may have seen on the news could not have captured the sheer awe inspired by seeing so many people show up and be counted among those who will work for positive change.

In addition to the AMAZING experience of crossing the bridge in Selma along with something like 70 thousand people, I had the unbelievable joy of spending nearly two hours in private conversation with the wise and fiery Rev. Dr. C.T. Vivian. We talked about the past, present, and future of civil rights globally. We spoke of Mohandas Gandhi, Rev. Dr. King, Rev. James Lawson, and other agents of transformation, and Dr. Vivian shared in great detail about the day he was beaten and arrested. The day he told Sherriff Jim Clark, “Sherriff, you can turn your back on me, but you can’t turn your back on FREEDOM!”

We got to hear the wickedly intelligent Rev. William Barber preach in his charismatic and passionate style. And listen to the ideas of a younger activist named Opal Tometi, co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement. And for those who may not have encountered BLM before, certainly the killing of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others in 2020 brought that movement to the forefront. And it brought a new wave of Civil Rights music, theater, poetry and art. How beautiful it was to hear the Youth Poet Laureate of the United States, Amanda Gorman, recite moving and passionate verses at Biden’s Inauguration.

Six years ago, I also traveled to the historic City of St. Jude (now part of Montgomery, AL) where on March 24^th, 1965 the marchers camped out the night before they headed to the capitol in support of the Voting Rights Act. And where a historic concert was held in support of the movement featuring: Harry Belafonte, Sammy Davis Jr., Pete Seeger, Joan Baez, Peter, Paul, & Mary, Tony Bennett, Nina Simone, and others. We sang the hymns and songs of the movement there, and then traveled to Selma to march with thousands upon thousands.

I have listened to and conversed with Bernice Johnson Reagon (The Freedom Singers, Sweet Honey In The Rock) about the movement. I have heard Betty Mae Fikes, Jimmy Collier, and others sing those songs. I have been a student of the Civil Rights movement my whole life thanks to Dorothy Paige Turner. But to walk in the footsteps of giants and feel their beckon call, to hear the echoes Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King’s voice still reverberate in the streets of Selma and Montgomery, I was awe-struck. It was both joyful and solemn. It was a celebration of the distance we have traveled as a society, and it was a sobering acknowledgement that we have so far yet to go. How do we turn this around? How do we love our way through this?

Dr. King said, “The arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice."
Opal Tometi said, “Justice is not an inevitability. We must work for it.”
Both statements are true.

So how do we make a difference? How do we work for change in a system that seems so far beyond our influence? How do we move through guilt, hopelessness, frustration, and into effectiveness? We cannot make progress on this or any other difficult issue by using anger as our fuel. We must LOVE. The Buddha, Jesus, Gandhi, King, and so many others have spoken this truth again and again. I would phrase it this way: Anger may be the spark that lights the fire, but the fuel of change must be LOVE.

One relationship at a time, may we take risks, make mistakes, and fail forward. May we learn from yesterday and today, and apply that knowledge toward a better tomorrow. And may we learn better how to love one another, every day. And through it all… KEEP SINGING. The songs above all else, help us stay connected both to our history and to our humanity. And with both in mind and a song in my heart and on my lips, I find hope for the future.

~ Joe Jencks (4-9-21)

Image: Paul Robeson

March 27th, Joe Jencks offers a concert in partnership with the New Revival Coffeehouse in Stow, MA.
7:30 PM ET/ 6:30 PM CT ~ YouTube Live Link: https://youtu.be/t5TcYwUr6D8

If you have problems with the above links then use: https://www.paypal.me/JoeJencksMusic

Dear Friends in Music,

A belated Happy St. Patrick’s Day to you! Here is a quick mid-month update regarding online concerts, and a few thoughts about Ireland in this year that celebrates 100 years of Irish Independence!

This Friday night March 19th at 8:00 PM ET/ 7:00 PM CT, I will offer a special live-stream concert presented by Old Songs in honor of St. Patrick’s Day and in celebration of Irish and pan-Celtic music, culture, and diverse immigration experiences. I am as always, honored to be working with Old Songs. It is a fabulous organization with a rich history of presenting the very best in traditional and contemporary music rooted in specific cultural reference points. This concert will remain available after the date of the concert. YouTube Live Link: https://youtu.be/QFzhalhERhA

Next weekend March 27th, I will offer a concert in partnership with the New Revival Coffeehouse in Stow, MA.
7:30 PM ET / ~ YouTube Live Link: https://youtu.be/t5TcYwUr6D8

Please see below an excerpt from the 1916 Proclamation of the Irish Republic. To some it may seem merely like flowery rhetoric. But to me, it is a remarkable document. You can find the whole text on Wikipedia. What is most notable to me is that from their inception as a modern nation, the Irish were committed to Civil Liberties for all. Women’s Suffrage is specifically mentioned, along with Children’s Rights. Also noted is a desire for a peaceful government representing ALL Irish people, regardless of religious or political divisions.

As a dual US-Irish Citizen I may read this differently than some on either side of the ocean. But I also remember meeting a man on my first trip to Ireland, who was a boy in Dublin in 1916. I shook hands with someone who was witness to the period and process of Irish independence from 1916 through the war of Independence (1919-1921) and into modern times. In the US, our own independence feels so long ago. In Ireland, it is recent enough that people seem more aware of the significance of sovereign self-determination and democratic nationhood. All challenges notwithstanding, Ireland has travelled a remarkable distance in the last 100 years.

Thank you for your continued support of my online performances and for the many notes and letters of encouragement throughout the pandemic. I would never have guessed a year ago that this would be the primary way in which we would continue to foster community. I am grateful nonetheless for the immense kindness and commitment to community that the Folk universe has shown in the last year. I hope you are well, and stay well. See you soon!

Slainte!

~ Joe Jencks (3-18-21)


* An old "workhouse" in Skibbereen, a relic of the Great Hunger.

The Irish Republic is entitled to, and hereby claims, the allegiance of every Irishman and Irishwoman. The Republic guarantees religious and civil liberty, equal rights and equal opportunities to all its citizens, and declares its resolve to pursue the happiness and prosperity of the whole nation and of all its parts, cherishing all the children of the nation equally, and oblivious of the differences carefully fostered by an alien Government, which have divided a minority from the majority in the past.

Until our arms have brought the opportune moment for the establishment of a permanent National Government, representative of the whole people of Ireland and elected by the suffrages of all her men and women, the Provisional Government, hereby constituted, will administer the civil and military affairs of the Republic in trust for the people.”

* This cross stands in the courtyad of Kilmainham Gaol in Dublin, on the spot where James Connolly was executed.


Note from Joe: This document was likely written primarily by James Connolly. Though it was signed by a select cohort of Irish patriots and independence fighters, it bears Connolly’s style. Scholars still debate this matter. But what is most interesting to me is that James spent a couple of years in the US and Canada, studying the organizing models of the IWW. In that era the Industrial Workers of The World, known in Canada as the OBU or The One Big Union, were extremely successful advocates and activist for worker’s rights and Women’s Suffrage; they opposed child labor and promoted public education, public pensions, and many rights we now take for granted.

Connolly was deeply moved by the commitment to progress that he witnessed in the working class here in North America, alongside well considered organizing models. He brought many of these ideas with him when he returned to Ireland. And though he was executed for his role in the 1916 Easter Uprising, his knowledge and ideas were still woven into the struggle for Irish independence. A struggle of many centuries and countless lives, vindicated 100 years ago in 1921. The Proclamation also bears notable similarities to a document written in 1803 by Robert Emmett, another Irish revolutionary and patriot. Emmet was a protestant, who saw clearly the nature of oppression in Ireland, especially toward the Catholics and working-class people. He gave his life for the cause of sovereignty, in solidarity with ALL Irish in 1803. May we keep learning from each other and continue to work for progress and change as peacefully as possible. ~ JJ

I had a bit of a crash this past week. I was watching an episode of Stargate. It’s a Sci-Fi show I turn to when I need to hop off of the hamster-wheel in my head. In the process of retiring an ensemble cast character from the show, the writers took a double-episode slot and created a scenario wherein Dr. Fraiser who was a physician and surgeon, dies in the line of duty. A powerful tribute and funeral follow in the episode pair. I was weeping on and off throughout. I had the forbearance and mindfulness to turn off the computer after, and just go sit with a candle. I became aware that the funeral within this Sci-Fi show was a full-on stand in for all of the people I have not been able to mourn properly, all of the communal celebrations of life that have not yet happened, as a result of the pandemic. It was an opening into the ways in which I needed to honor those losses in my life.

A went to the studio and grabbed an instrument after I was done crying and just made improvisational music. No agenda. I just let my fingers and heart and soul blend together in extemporaneous expression. All of the complex and mixed emotions came through the instrument. The seeds of a song are there, but as yet lyrically undeveloped. Nonetheless, I remain grateful for the awareness in that moment that I needed to step away from the technology and just go be with the feelings and the melodies and music.

Wherever you are, whatever you are feeling, whatever you are avoiding feeling, it’s OK. There have been many joys in the last year, and occasionally a sense of guilt at experiencing goodness and happiness while so many suffer. A sense of wanting to minimize the goodness, so as not to seem unsympathetic to other’s pain. But we need both. We need to feel the joy and let that wonder in along with the sadness. They go hand in hand, and we honor life by living it well, even in times of adversity.

Kahlil Gibran wrote of Joy and Sorrow in his book, The Prophet:

Then a woman said, Speak to us of Joy and Sorrow,
And he answered:
Your joy is your sorrow unmasked.
And the selfsame well from which your laughter rises was oftentimes filled with your tears.
And how else can it be?
The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain.
Is not the cup that holds your wine the very cup that was burned in the potter’s oven?
And is not the lute that soothes your spirit, the very wood that was hollowed with knives?
When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy.
When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.

Some of you say, Joy is greater than sorrow, and others say, Nay, sorrow is the greater.
But I say unto you, they are inseparable.
Together they come, and when one sits alone with you at your board, remember that the other is asleep upon your bed.
~ Kahlil Gibran

May you find comfort and release in your joys and in your sorrows. And may you know that you honor yourself and others with both emotions.

In Gratitude and Song,

~ Joe Jencks
2-27-21

Upcoming Joe Jencks Live-Stream Concerts:

South Florida Folk Festival 2021 (LiveStream Fest)
Saturday Feb. 13th 2-7 PM ET (Joe's Set at about 4:45 PM ET/ 3:45 PM CT)
YouTube Live Link: https://youtu.be/nsPx9OTqoDM

Emerald Concerts (Hosted by David & Leni Engels)
Joe Jencks - LiveStream Concert
Saturday February 27th at 7:30 PM ET / 6:30 PM CT / etc.
YouTube Live Link: https://youtu.be/JvahYmArxwY

(More upcoming concerts are listed unter the Tour Dates Tab)

If you have problems with the above links then use: https://www.paypal.me/JoeJencksMusic

Dear Friends in Music,

It is so hard to know what to say. Every week, every day, brings news of more dear friends who have passed from Covid or other issues. Anne Feeney, Amoy Levy, Dean Santos, Presente! Sadness and hardship are easy to find these days for many people. And still, yesterday I went for a walk in the woods and heard a few of the more strident spring birds returning. Their songs filled my heart with hope. There was a gentleness in the air and a freshness of energy that suggested that Spring is in transit, even if it is still a ways off. I see the light and feel the hope returning. I will hold onto that.

Tonight, Feb. 6th, I will be offering a Live-Stream concert in partnership with Progressive Voices Concerts in Des Moines, IA. YouTube Live Links can be found in this newsletter and on www.joejencks.com.

Additional upcoming concerts include the South Florida Folk Festival Feb, 13th and 14th (with a GREAT lineup of artists), a virtual co-bill with Rod MacDonald on Feb 21st (sponsored by Sunday Street Concerts/ Charlie Backfish), and wrapping up February with a Live-Stream solo show sponsored by Emerald Concerts on Saturday Feb. 27th (Hollywood, FL – David & Leni Engels).

Please also see below a few treasured memories of my times with Anne Feeney.

May you find hope in unexpected ways and places!

In Gratitude & Song,

~ Joe Jencks (2-6-21)

Remembering Anne Feeney

This last week sadly, we lost Anne Feeney. She was to me and many others a genuine friend. She was a bold leader for worker’s rights, women’s rights, human rights, and a gifted vocalist and songwriter. She was also a lawyer, a mother, and a community leader in many other ways.

Early in my road-career Anne took me under her wing, hosted me for concerts, collaborated with me on presenting co-bills, and passed my name and music on to dozens of presenters in the Folk & Labor communities with kind recommendations. In fact, were it not for Anne Feeney, my 2005 CD, Rise As One might never have come into existence.

Anne and Utah Phillips sort of tag-teamed on me at an event hosted by the Labor Heritage Foundation. They both pressed on me the importance of making an album devoted to workers and worker’s rights. I doubted the significance of my own contributions. So many Folksingers whom I had looked to as mentors and models of how to do this work, had recorded Labor albums. I was skeptical that my contributions to the genre were of any consequence. But Anne pressed onward in her argument. (Never argue with a gifted lawyer turned Folk singer, they are good with words and you will lose!) Her primary point was that my fans and my generation needed new voices for working people. And maybe folks like Pete, Woody, Utah & Ani, Emma’s Revolution, Anne herself and so many more had all been singing songs of the worker. But I also needed to do my part. I would reach new people. I would help some folks who had never encountered any form of worker’s rights advocacy see the stories and the lives of workers more compassionately through my music.

The CD - Rise As One was born of that conversation. And I have sold more copies of that record than any other solo or ensemble album I have ever recorded. Many kudos also go to Charlie Pilzer (Tonal Park) for engineering the LIVE recording and producing the concert that became that CD. And of course I recorded one of Anne’s songs War On The Workers, for that CD.

Another favorite memory of my times with Anne Feeney was in Winnipeg, MB. We were both there for a weekend of concerts and events, celebrating with the MayWorks community. Mitch Podolak and Derek Black worked hard to assemble some really amazing music for most of the month of May. And Anne and I were both privileged to head up from the US to represent. We made some great music together, and that is a cherished memory. But it also happened to be Mother’s Day weekend. Anne had mentioned that is was a long time since she’d had good Sushi. So I did a little research, found a top-notch Sushi place, and took her out for brunch. A small thank you for so many kindnesses.

I know she was sad to be away from her family on that weekend, but she and I talked for a few hours as we slowly ate a wonderful Japanese meal. I always learned a lot when we spoke. And I think I conveyed to her that her nurturing went way beyond her own family. She helped bring so many other musicians and workers find hope and connection. From coast to coast, across continents and oceans, Anne Feeney took on the mantra of Joe Hill and Woody Guthrie. She said her mission was to sing songs to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. Even her friends were not allowed to be comfortable for too long before Anne was nipping at heals, organizing something that needed to be done. There are wonderful Obits to be found in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, The Washington Post, Billboard, and Rolling Stone. You can look all of these up on line and learn more.

I am grateful for knowing Anne. I am grateful for the ways in which so many lives are better for her friendship, guidance, and mentoring. I am grateful for her concrete suggestions when I was stuck, and the random phone calls from the road just checking up on me. I am grateful for our shared connections to Irish culture, heritage, and music; and for the many times I still ask myself, what would Anne do? I named my acoustic bouzouki in her honor back in 2010. Many of us were afraid we were going to lose her then to serious illness. She was given lifetime achievement awards form the Labor Heritage Foundation, from the American Federation of Musicians Local 1000, and from several other organizations. And then she surprised us all and went on for another 11 years. Tenacious and dedicated to the last. I am better for knowing Anne, as are so many people. Anne Feeney, Presente!

~ Joe Jencks (2-6-21)

If you have problems with the above links then use: https://www.paypal.me/JoeJencksMusic

Dear Friends in Music,

I have a small piece of the Berlin Wall. A gift from a friend whose father took him to Berlin to watch the wall come down in 1989. He brought back a bag of crumbled bits of the wall to give out to friends. It sits on my dresser as a daily reminder of the power of the human spirit; the power to triumph over oppressive ideologies and systems, the power to affect positive change. I look at it now and I am keenly aware that I would not have imagined then, seeing the images we saw this week on US TV of the US Capitol under siege by armed citizens, seeking to throw away the very system that the people of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe were aspiring to create in the late 80s and into the 90s.

We are still aspiring ourselves. The pyramid on the back of a one-dollar bill is incomplete because our undertaking - as it says, is as yet incomplete. Each generation, each person must aspire to keep building on this idea of Democracy. A rule of law rather than a rule of might. A rule of justice rather than raw ambition. A rule of equity over injustice. Parallel to the ideas of Tikun Olam that arise out of Jewish mysticism, inviting us to repair the world and heal what has been broken, so too the very ideas upheld in our US Constitution and the Bill of Rights are the work of generations of people offering their best efforts to keep building a more just society, a world made more whole by our ongoing efforts.

Yes, it was a disturbing week. For any that still needed evidence of systemic racism, please note how complicit the system was in allowing a violent and armed group of white people to assail our Capitol. Please note how prepared those same law enforcement agencies were to suppress peaceful protestors of many races and ethnicities just months earlier at Black Lives Matter demonstrations. I heard one of the prominent US Senators say, this is not who we are. Unfortunately it is who we are, and we’ve all seen the evidence of it. But that is not the end of the story. The story is still being written. Each day that story is still being written by you and by me and by our fellow citizens and residents. And I hold a deep believe not just in the present moment, but in our as yet unfinished potential.

"The dogmas of the quiet past, are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise - with the occasion." ~ Abraham Lincoln, December 1st, 1862

I have faith in our potential. I hold that faith because of the kindness I have been shown and have witnessed in 22 years on the road full-time. I hold that faith in our potential, because I have met and had conversations with Rev. C.T Vivian. I hold that faith because I have sung with Bernice Johnson Reagon, Ysaye Barnwell, and Pete Seeger. I hold that faith because I have marched beside Delores Huerta and Baldemar Velasquez, Jon Fromer, Elise Bryant, and so many rank and file workers and members of the People’s movements. I hold that faith because even complete strangers of differing political beliefs have welcomed me into their homes, fed me meals at their tables, welcomed me into their houses of worship, and stopped to help me when I was stranded on the side of the road.

I hold faith and hope in our limitless capacity. This is who we are: as yet unfulfilled potential. I have faith in that potential, and I will keep working to bring it forth to the best of my abilities, in community with you.

In Gratitude & Song,

~ Joe Jencks

1-8-20

or for Firefox users: https://www.paypal.me/JoeJencksMusic

With Hope for a Season of Peace ~ Silent Night

As we approach the holidays, we become slowly inundated with “Christmas” music. Some of it is beautiful and heartfelt. Some of it is terrible, cliché, or robustly innocuous - as if someone had to work really hard to make something that overtly bland. And in fact, they did. Some of it is just about making money for someone, and some of it is so well worn it no longer holds meaning. But then there are those special holiday songs, the ones that get us every time. The songs that are so profound that the song will outdistance the singer every time, no matter how good or bad the delivery is. For me, Silent Night is just such a song.

Written two-hundred and two years ago this Christmas, Silent Night remains a magical piece of music, even for those who do not ascribe any particular meaning to its theological roots. One that invites people’s hearts to open, because of its unadulterated and gentle beauty.

Franz Xaver Gruber took words written by Fr. Joseph Mohr, and penned one of the most beautiful melodies that has emerged in western musical traditions. Gruber was an organist by training, and a music teacher in a town near to where Fr. Mohr was serving at St. Nicholas in Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Austria. The church organ had been damaged by flooding, and Fr. Mohr was eager to have new music for his Christmas Eve Mass. (He was serving St. Nicholas parish after all!) So Mohr took a poem he’d written a few years earlier and brought it to Gruber, asking him to write a Christmas hymn for voice and guitar. Gruber took up the challenge with enthusiasm. From that point forward, the song travelled across Europe and Russia, to the Americas, and by the mid 1840s was known in countless places around the world.

A poet writes words and then seeks to put them to music. A composer almost always starts with a melodic idea and carries that forward to its fullest measure, as an expression of emotion and idea unto itself. In the case of Silent Night, Franz Gruber wrote an inspired melody. And indeed, some of the cadence was dictated by the words. Of course it would be in six-eight time. The poetry in German leans that way already.

Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht,
Alles schläft; einsam wacht
Nur das traute hochheilige Paar.
Holder Knabe im lockigen Haar,
Schlaf in himmlischer Ruh!
Schlaf in himmlischer Ruh!

But without the melody and chord changes Gruber wrote, Fr. Mohr’s words would not have travelled across the world in just a couple decades, in an era even before the telegraph. But Gruber would not have written that precise melody without the cadence and content of the words inspiring its general flow. It was the pairing of music and word that made it truly inspirational. And of course it was meant as a lullaby. It was a song, sung though time to a baby in a manger, a fatigued and likely frightened new mother, and father who was overwhelmed. Mohr, dipping deeply into his faith, wrote words that were both of praise and tenderness. And Gruber, understanding this sentiment, took up the challenge of musically cradling the words of a devout mystical poet, with the same tender care one would hold such a newborn baby.

It is this tenderness that makes Silent Night durable across time and culture. I have Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, and Muslim friends who say that this is the best Christmas song ever written. It is because it reaches across the divide of theology, and reaches into a quintessential human experience: Birth. Joseph Campbell, famed professor of global mythology would say that this song speaks to the “Mono-Myth.” It is part of a deep human archetypal understanding that transcends culture, time, and place. There is universality to the narrative, and in the tenderness it evokes.

There is not a songwriter or composer alive, who does not hope to pen at least one piece like this in their lifetime. Even one piece of music that outlives a composer by a few centuries, is a gift for that musician, and for the rest of us. And it is in that spirit that I am very careful as a songwriter and composer, and equally careful as a song interpreter. I will inevitably put a little spin on any song I sing. I may elaborate ever so slightly on a melody, or play with the rhythm just a touch for emphasis. This is to be expected. But if I am singing a song written by another writer, it is because it moves my soul. And it is precisely how they wrote it, the tension and juxtaposition of melody, verse, and chord changes that draw me in. I am unlikely to change that very much. To do so is to alter what drew me to that specific piece of music in the first place.

I wholeheartedly endorse experimenting with songs. Especially the ones that have become chestnuts... The songs that once had something to say, but are now lost in layers of interpretation and cliché. But a good song, it will keep speaking its truth centuries later. Who am I to tinker with that truth?

There is nuance and wonder on the journey of musical discovery. I set Silent Night to an Electric Bouzouki accompaniment, and I even bring a little digital delay and fuzzy overdrive in for dramatic moments, much the way an organist like Franz Gruber would have used various “stops” on his organ. Gruber was playing in his time, the most technologically advanced mechanical musical instrument that had ever been created. But when it broke, he went to a simple guitar, a brilliant melody, and a gentle six-eight lilting waltz. I have to believe that if he had access to a pedal-board with some bells and whistles (a phrase we get from pipe organs by the way, which do in fact have bells and whistles), Gruber would have employed my pedal board artfully. But he would have written the same kind of melody. Even with modern instruments, that set of words would almost surely have led Gruber to the same emotive place of gentleness, tenderness, awe, and wonder.

I’m not at all sure that people will be singing much of the late 20^th Century pop-Christmas music in 200 years. But I bet on its 400^th anniversary, Silent Night will be just as powerful and tender as it was on candle-lit Christmas Eve in 1818, in a small town in Austria. Or as sung by soldiers in the trenches of WWI during the Christmas Truce of 1914 (Joyeux Noël). A song that can stop a world war, even for a day, is a song that should be revered and respected, just as it is.

Wishing you all Peaceful Holidays!

~ Joe Jencks (12-10-20)

or for Firefox users: https://www.paypal.me/JoeJencksMusic

Dear Friends in Music,

I hope this finds you well as can be. On the great rollercoaster of 2020, we find ourselves managing the ups and downs and juggling many complex mental and emotional responses to the world. Some of us mourn losses close to us, in very personal ways. Some of us are more tied into an awareness of the losses globally, and the daily challenges so many people face right now. In approaching a spirit of gratitude much less a holiday ostensibly dedicated to gratitude, one could feel somehow a little disingenuous. But there remains much for which we can be grateful.

We are part of many communities that each, in unparalleled ways have worked this year to help us remain connected. Many people are daily using technology we did not know existed nine months ago. And we are people who dig deep when the moment calls for it, and do what must be done. Music is for me, essential in remaining centered, true to self, and true to others. Music keeps me connected to authenticity. And it keeps me connected to you, my beloved community of more than 20 years on the road.

Friends, colleagues, DJs, producers and presenters, home-stay hosts, fans and fellow Folkies, lovers of good music, good food, and deep community; we still have each other. Even from a safe distance, we have each other. And for this, I am immeasurably grateful.

Please join me on Saturday, November 21st at 7:00 PM Central (8:00 PM ET/ 6:00 PM MTN/ 5:00 PM Pacific) for a special concert presented in partnership with Fine Line Arts Center in St. Charles, Illinois. I will be broadcasting LIVE from their stage. The concert broadcast is free to the public. Nonetheless, Fine Line has a lot of overhead and works hard to keep the arts in many forms, present in the community. So please do be generous as you are able.

Connect to the conert via their website: https://fineline.org
Or directly via YouTube Live: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMHoT32FOSM&feature=youtu.be

On Wednesday December 2nd at 9:00 PM ET and again of Sunday December 6th at 1:00 PM ET, you can tune into Folk Music Notebook to hear the December edition of my radio show: My Highway Home. Streaming on www.folkmusicnotebook.com.

Also, on Saturday December 5th at 7:30 PM ET/ 6:30 CT / etc., I will offer a broadcast concert in partnership with the good people at Focus Music in the greater Washington, DC area. This will also be broadcast via
YouTube Live: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNMMcrPxiG8

I am grateful for the extraordinary support that the Folk music community and you specifically have shown during this year when the road came to an abrupt halt. There is always a partnership between musician and listener. We pledge to give our very best, night after night. And you pledge to be the fabric of community that holds us up. I am astonished and grateful to see the many ways in which this continues.

Wherever you are, whoever you are with, whatever challenges you face, please know that I am grateful for your presence in the world and in my life. Thank you for supporting my music all these years, for valuing the arts, and for stepping up so much this year in particular.

What are you giving thanks for this year? Feel free to let me know. I am curious.


In Gratitude and Song,

~ Joe Jencks
11/20/20

Cultural Diplomacy:
Building Bridges Through Music
Copyright 2020 ~ Joe Jencks, Turtle Bear Music

I’m on an hour-long national television broadcast in Grenada. On my right – is the Chargé d'Affaires for the US Embassy in Grenada, and to his right is the Minister of Culture for Grenada. In this small country, the Minister of Culture serves sort of like the head of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the head of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) all rolled up into one gig. And he also hosts a nationally broadcast TV show that focuses on the arts in many forms.

I am wearing a nice pinstriped suit, and that is nearly intolerable in the heat and humidity of the Caribbean in July, to say nothing of the television studio lights. Old school. No LEDs here. These things are kicking out some serious Lumens and enough BTUs to cook lunch. I have just finished singing a few American Folk songs from our rich cannon of Civil Rights and Labor music. And I sang one of my own songs about workers. Then it happens. My biggest fear comes true. The Minister of Culture asks a question that I have no idea how to answer without offending someone, somewhere.

He turns to the Chargé d'Affaires, and says, “Mr. Link, Mr. Jencks sings songs that to us sound very patriotic. He sings songs that celebrate the workers, civil rights, and the common people of the United States. But his views are clearly at odds and at times critical of the government of the United States and of your economic disparity. Why would the US bring an artist like Mr. Jencks on a diplomatic tour, as a representative of your nation?”

Mr. Link replies, “That’s an excellent question Minister. I’d like to let Mr. Jencks answer that.”

Now time slows down as my adrenalin spikes. I was not expecting this. I think to myself, as I try not to look like a deer in the headlights, “Thanks amigo. Remind me to kick you in the shins later for dropping that pineapple in my lap.” I thought my job was to sing and “The Chargé” as they call him, would answer all the political questions. Now I am on a national television in a foreign nation, being asked to either answer a question honestly and risk offending my own county, or to varnish the truth, and risk offending the island nation hosting me. Awesome.

I say a prayer. The Shepard’s Prayer. Alan Shepard’s Prayer. What he said while sitting atop a rocket about to go into space. A rocket with over a million individual parts and components, each built by the lowest bidder on a government contract. Alan Shepheard said, “Dear Lord, don’t let me ***k up!”

I said that prayer. And I wondered how I arrived at this point in my journey? What decision did I make for right or wrong that put me in this particular hot-seat? And how do I answer a question like that, and say what needs to be said? Do I even know what needs to be said?

The silence felt conspicuously long. But that is how adrenalin works. It messes with our sense of time. I take one deep breath and release, and I begin.

“First, Minister, let me say again what an honor it is for me to be here today with you and with the people of Grenada. You live in a beautiful country, and I have been deeply touched by the graciousness of the people I have met and the natural splendor I have witnessed. It really is a joy to be here. And thank you for making room in your schedule for me to come and sing some songs for you today.” OK. I bought myself time for another deep breath.

“And to answer your question, yes! I do feel like I am a patriot. I love my country, I love my people, and I deeply respect our current president, President Obama. I sing songs that reflect the lives of the people I meet in my travels while on concert tours. Songs of workers and farmers, songs of celebration and of protest. Songs that honor the idea that Civil Rights and Labor Rights were hard won in the United States. I sing songs that celebrate my people. It is the very heart of the Folk music tradition in my country. And while some people would not call me a patriot, they would have other names for me, I am a patriot. As are the people I sing about.”

“As to your question Minister, about why the US Government would choose someone like me to be a representative of our nation, I would say this: A democracy can only ever be as strong as the rights of her people. Sometimes my opinions and songs are critical of my government or society. Sometimes my ideas are not popular with everyone. But I believe the message that my government is trying offer a young democracy like Grenada by sending a musician like me on a multi-nation diplomatic tour, is that the voice of dissent, the minority opinion must be heard, and not suppressed. A democracy is made stronger by this Civil discourse. And while it is not easy to accomplish, a thriving democracy requires that the rights of all of her people are respected and honored. That all of the voices are heard. Not just the voices that speak a popular opinion, but also the unpopular opinion. When everyone has a right to be heard, a democracy can flourish. I think that is why my government would invite a protest singer to be a Cultural Ambassador, to demonstrate part of what makes a Democracy possible.”

I looked at the Grenadian Minister of Culture, who smiled and thanked me for my words, affirming the value of my ideas. And then he invited me to sing another song. I looked at the US Chargé d'Affaires, who gave me a subtle and kind smile while sticking his thumb up ever so slightly towards the sky. And I went on to sing a few more songs. I had just passed with flying colors, the granddaddy of all Pop-Quizzes in a real-life Civics class, broadcast on national television on foreign soil. I was authentically myself, and authentically American all at once. And for the first time in my life I truly felt like I could honestly claim the identity of patriot.

This particular chapter of my life began with a Folk concert I gave at an outdoor concert series, at mall in Florida in 2006. Not unlike the Folk-on-State series that used to run in Madison. I met a woman there who was a volunteer with the US Diplomatic Corps, and worked with our mission to Albania. She asked me if I might like to travel with the US State Department, and offer concerts in other countries. It sounded like fun to me. I said yes. We traded information and kept in touch. It took a few years and the conversation went cold for a while. Presidential elections, recessions, etc. all had an impact. But then in the fall of 2009, I received a call from a fellow in Texas. He was about to retire from the diplomatic corps, and was tying up loose threads. Apparently, my file had been “on his desk” for a few years, and he liked my music. So he wanted to see if he could set the wheels in motion before he retired, for me to be formally invited to be a Cultural Ambassador for the US State Department.

Then I was called by a man from the US Embassy in Barbados. And after several conversations with people from the embassy and about nine months of planning, I was on my way from Seattle to Miami, and on to Antigua & Barbuda. The first of five island nations in the Caribbean where I would give concerts, offer workshops for school children and presentations in libraries, along with appearances on radio and television. All the while, wearing a suit and tie in the Caribbean, in July. I lost like 10 pounds in 2 weeks, and did a lot of laundry in hotel sinks. I rarely had 2 nights in the same hotel, and I got up as early as 4:30 AM daily. We usually had a 6:00 AM call-time in a hotel lobby. And I usually did not get to sleep before midnight. I was astonishingly sleep deprived by the end of those two weeks. And the frogs… these tiny little things called Coqui are so unimaginably loud as they sing and vocalize all night long. But they also groove, with an undulating rhythm that feels like the very underpinning of Caribbean music. Even sleep deprived, my heart was full.

In Antigua and Barbuda, I offered a command performance for the Queen’s Regent. She was a woman of profound character and poise. A septuagenarian who was herself quite Regal in demeanor. I was schooled on protocol, not to approach unless invited, not to turn my back on her within a certain distance, to speak only when spoken to, etc. The sound tech at the theater in which I was performing, was not very well versed in the equipment. But he was someone’s son, or nephew, or cousin. My cab driver on the other hand had a degree in Audio Engineering from Columbia in NYC. As he was driving me back to my hotel in between sound check and the concert, I said, “Who you know here in Antigua and Barbuda is more important than what you know, eh?” He smiled uncomfortably and nodded his head.

I ended up using a single microphone, plugged into one bass amp. They never got the theater sound online. But it was an amazing performance anyway. I was swinging for the fences, and it turned out to be a marvelous show. When I got to songs like Wade In The Water, We Shall Overcome, and Eyes on The Prize, the Queen’s Regent started clapping her hands and singing along. And smiling in a way that was somehow brighter than the stage lights. Her honor guard looked at her and looked at me and looked back at her. He had likely NEVER seen her let loose in public like that. After the performance, I was beckoned to approach. She shook my hand and thanked me. She was positively effusive. Her parents had been connected to the Harlem Renaissance, and she herself had been sent to NYC if memory serves, for university during the ‘60s. She had marched and protested in the US during the Civil Rights movement. I had the extraordinary privilege of singing these songs for someone who had “been there.” Dropping all usual protocol when we parted, she embraced me gently, and kissed my cheek. I thought her honor guard was going to faint.

Next, we flew to the island of Dominica, after a brief stop in St. Kitts & Nevis. Dominica remains the most natural and perhaps the least “settled” of the Caribbean Island nations. And it is the last refuge of the Carib people, the indigenous people who thrived in the islands before Columbus. And I must say, it is truly one of the most beautiful places I have ever been in my life. The whole island is connected to Eco-Tourism now, and they work hard to preserve their natural splendor. If I ever wanted to take a trip back to the Caribbean, I would go there. Mountains that rise out of the ocean, jungles and flowers and birds, waterfalls everywhere, and amazing food. And as gracious a reception as I have received anywhere. People rightfully proud of their country, and eager to share its wonders with visitors.

Then we were off to Barbados, where I sang for many children and offered several community concerts, and had my one scheduled night off. I wanted to wander all over the island. But I stayed in the small resort I was hosted in, went for a walk on the beach, went for a swim in the pool, had dinner, and was asleep by 8:30 PM. Those of you who know me will understand the level of exhaustion that this represents. I don’t usually see a pillow before 2:00 AM. 8:30 PM bedtime is a sign of pure, flat-out, steam-rolled exhaustion. Anyone who says that employees of the US State Department don’t earn their salary, has no idea how hard these people work. I have never felt more pride as a citizen of the United States, than when I was working with so many good people in the Caribbean, each taking their efforts so seriously, and with such gentle, diligent, and profound care.

The next day there were a couple of short concerts and interviews, and then an evening flight to Grenada. I was dropped off by the Embassy staff, and waited for my flight. It never came. I was alone, in a tiny inter-island airport, not the bigger national airport in Barbados. I had no cell phone. I called my contact at the embassy from the desk in the airport, and he was not home. He and his staff were already onto other places, other duties. The airport said my flight would not arrive until the morning. They rescheduled me on the new flight, after some serious negotiating, and then told me I had to leave the airport. I had no phone, no wheels, and a fair amount of stuff to carry. More haggling, and they called a cab for me.

FYI - It’s not easy to get a cab in rural Barbados, after dark. I explained my situation to the cabbie. And this guy spoke a creole tongue that was only part English. But he got me to a tiny hotel, and between the owners – a lovely Barbadian couple in their late sixties, and myself – the cabbie came to understand that I needed to be picked up again at 6:15 AM. I asked the couple if there were any restaurants nearby where I could get some dinner. They laughed charitably and said, “No.” The woman looked at me for a moment, then looked at my bright red, battered and stickered Calton guitar case, and then looked back at me and said, “I will feed you.” I asked if I could pay her for the meal. She said, “No. But you can sing for me while I cook!”

I sat on the back stoop outside of her small kitchen as she prepared chicken, rice, black-eyed peas, and some vegetables. I sang and we talked about life in Barbados, life in the US, history, culture, music, family, etc. They don’t get a lot of international visitors in the area, unless they are Barbadians who are coming back home for a visit. The motel was of cinder-block construction, and had only six small rooms – all in a row. One elongated rectangle. The proprietors had a small house next to the motel. They don’t normally serve food to guests. I knew this was a once in a lifetime moment. I was in a different country, with no chaperone, seeing the real Barbados. Not the tourist locations and the places of government and international commerce. I was sitting on the stoop of an older couple who had spent most of their lives on this island, and they were delighted for music and stories from somewhere else.

The meal was outrageously good. The hospitality and kindness, welcome beyond measure. And the connection sans external examination, was real and human and profound. I was on a concert tour representing my nation. On guard always, careful to say the right thing or to avoid saying the wrong thing. And finally, I just had a night with normal people living normal lives. All by accident of fate, and all miraculously beautiful and serendipitous. It’s why I tour. It is those moments that redeem the travel, a life spent in motion as a peripatetic bard. It is those moments that I live for, cherish, and adore. When my father questioned if being a musician was a wise calling to pursue, my mother always said “A good musician will never go hungry. They can always sing for their supper.” And here I was, stranded in Barbados for a night, singing for my supper, literally.

I think that evening of being so unguarded with the lovely couple in Barbados, primed the pump for what happened two days later on the national broadcast, with the Minister of Culture in Grenada. I realized that I could be a conscientious representative of my nation and be a patriot, and be myself all at once. That awareness had been rising in me for days. But on a back stoop in rural Barbados, it coalesced into tangible form. And two days later it emerged on a television broadcast as a personal doctrine. For all of our faults, for all of our struggles as a nation, we are still one of the great nations that have existed in human history. And we are great not because of our government, or our military, or Wall Street. We are not great because we have Hollywood and the Empire State Building. We are not great because of the Grand Canyon or the Rocky Mountains, or the Grand Old Opry. We are great because we have the capacity to be generous, and because we continue to pursue the experiment of Democracy with due diligence and purpose. And we can be greater still when we do so with graciousness.

It has not been easy for me to claim being a patriot. But when we can separate patriotism from nationalism, when we can be brilliant without diminishing the light of another nation, when we can elevate others with dignity and camaraderie amongst nations, we demonstrate what Democracy can look like. And music has the power to be a passport to a place of understanding and respect. As we use music to humanize abstractions, we also build bridges. We help heal wounds when we celebrate individual acts of bravery, kindness, service, and solidarity. We lend dimension to what divisive purpose tries to tear asunder. Music heals. My beloved and late friend James Durst said that all the time. He put it on a tee-shirt. Music heals.

There is much healing needed, in many places right now. There is much work to do, and many injustices to address. But once one leaves the US, we are no longer Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, Greens, or any other party members. WE are “Americans.” And the world judges us and hold us accountable as Americans. Whether we acquiesce or not, we become representatives of an entire nation once we leave home soil. And so we should be patriots, on our own terms. No one here has a right to define a singular form of patriotism. But we should still claim being patriots, especially as we sing about the workers and wanderers, the Civil Rights movements, and the beauty of this land and her people; people who now need to be reminded of their commonality, more than any time in my life. Patriotism is not inconsistent with a spirit of protest or with dissenting opinions. Patriotism in fact requires the voice of dissent, the minority opinion. I learned that in a new way while singing about the beauty and resiliency of my country and her people, while on tour in the Caribbean. I was to my great honor to be called a Cultural Ambassador for two weeks. But I will carry that identity and purpose with me as long as I live.

:-)

~ Joe Jencks, 11-5-20

or for Firefox users: https://www.paypal.me/JoeJencksMusic

Dear Friends in Music,

Please note below - links to my next few Online Concerts. As per usual - all of the concerts are provided with no admission required, and all donations are grately appreciated, but never expected. Please also check out an essay I wrote recently about my time in the Caribbean with the US State Department as a "Cultrual Ambassador." I learned some valuable lessons that seem apropos of our times. You can also hear some of these stories on the next episode of My Highway Home - broadcast at 1:00 PM ET / 10:00 AM Pacific - on Sunday, Nov. 8th on: www.folkmusicnotebook.com. But for now, enjoy the read!

Please also check out the Tour Dates page of this site for several more upcoming broadcasts, including concerts for Fine Line Arts (Nov. 21st), Focus Music (Dec. 5th), The 8th Step - Roots & Wings Concert (Dec. 12th), and Joe Jencks ~ A Midwinter's Night ~ Holiday Concert Special on December 19th.

Stay Safe & Well... And YES, that is a picture of me in 1976 at the bottom of the page. :-)

~ Joe

November 6th ~ Joe Jencks Live-Stream Concert in Partnership with the Americana Community Music Association 7 PM ET
Concert Link: https://youtu.be/F4qaIH4adf4

November 8th ~ Joe Jencks Live-Stream Concert in Partnership with Isis Music Hall & Mountain Sprit Concerts 7 PM ET
Concert Link: https://youtu.be/FhJfcYP2gVM



Cultural Diplomacy:
Building Bridges Through Music
Copyright 2020 ~ Joe Jencks, Turtle Bear Music

I’m on an hour-long national television broadcast in Grenada. On my right – is the Chargé d'Affaires for the US Embassy in Grenada, and to his right is the Minister of Culture for Grenada. In this small country, the Minister of Culture serves sort of like the head of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the head of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) all rolled up into one gig. And he also hosts a nationally broadcast TV show that focuses on the arts in many forms.

I am wearing a nice pinstriped suit, and that is nearly intolerable in the heat and humidity of the Caribbean in July, to say nothing of the television studio lights. Old school. No LEDs here. These things are kicking out some serious Lumens and enough BTUs to cook lunch. I have just finished singing a few American Folk songs from our rich cannon of Civil Rights and Labor music. And I sang one of my own songs about workers. Then it happens. My biggest fear comes true. The Minister of Culture asks a question that I have no idea how to answer without offending someone, somewhere.

He turns to the Chargé d'Affaires, and says, “Mr. Link, Mr. Jencks sings songs that to us sound very patriotic. He sings songs that celebrate the workers, civil rights, and the common people of the United States. But his views are clearly at odds and at times critical of the government of the United States and of your economic disparity. Why would the US bring an artist like Mr. Jencks on a diplomatic tour, as a representative of your nation?”

Mr. Link replies, “That’s an excellent question Minister. I’d like to let Mr. Jencks answer that.”

Now time slows down as my adrenalin spikes. I was not expecting this. I think to myself, as I try not to look like a deer in the headlights, “Thanks amigo. Remind me to kick you in the shins later for dropping that pineapple in my lap.” I thought my job was to sing and “The Chargé” as they call him, would answer all the political questions. Now I am on a national television in a foreign nation, being asked to either answer a question honestly and risk offending my own county, or to varnish the truth, and risk offending the island nation hosting me. Awesome.

I say a prayer. The Shepard’s Prayer. Alan Shepard’s Prayer. What he said while sitting atop a rocket about to go into space. A rocket with over a million individual parts and components, each built by the lowest bidder on a government contract. Alan Shepheard said, “Dear Lord, don’t let me ***k up!”

I said that prayer. And I wondered how I arrived at this point in my journey? What decision did I make for right or wrong that put me in this particular hot-seat? And how do I answer a question like that, and say what needs to be said? Do I even know what needs to be said?

The silence felt conspicuously long. But that is how adrenalin works. It messes with our sense of time. I take one deep breath and release, and I begin.

“First, Minister, let me say again what an honor it is for me to be here today with you and with the people of Grenada. You live in a beautiful country, and I have been deeply touched by the graciousness of the people I have met and the natural splendor I have witnessed. It really is a joy to be here. And thank you for making room in your schedule for me to come and sing some songs for you today.” OK. I bought myself time for another deep breath.

“And to answer your question, yes! I do feel like I am a patriot. I love my country, I love my people, and I deeply respect our current president, President Obama. I sing songs that reflect the lives of the people I meet in my travels while on concert tours. Songs of workers and farmers, songs of celebration and of protest. Songs that honor the idea that Civil Rights and Labor Rights were hard won in the United States. I sing songs that celebrate my people. It is the very heart of the Folk music tradition in my country. And while some people would not call me a patriot, they would have other names for me, I am a patriot. As are the people I sing about.”

“As to your question Minister, about why the US Government would choose someone like me to be a representative of our nation, I would say this: A democracy can only ever be as strong as the rights of her people. Sometimes my opinions and songs are critical of my government or society. Sometimes my ideas are not popular with everyone. But I believe the message that my government is trying offer a young democracy like Grenada by sending a musician like me on a multi-nation diplomatic tour, is that the voice of dissent, the minority opinion must be heard, and not suppressed. A democracy is made stronger by this Civil discourse. And while it is not easy to accomplish, a thriving democracy requires that the rights of all of her people are respected and honored. That all of the voices are heard. Not just the voices that speak a popular opinion, but also the unpopular opinion. When everyone has a right to be heard, a democracy can flourish. I think that is why my government would invite a protest singer to be a Cultural Ambassador, to demonstrate part of what makes a Democracy possible.”

I looked at the Grenadian Minister of Culture, who smiled and thanked me for my words, affirming the value of my ideas. And then he invited me to sing another song. I looked at the US Chargé d'Affaires, who gave me a subtle and kind smile while sticking his thumb up ever so slightly towards the sky. And I went on to sing a few more songs. I had just passed with flying colors, the granddaddy of all Pop-Quizzes in a real-life Civics class, broadcast on national television on foreign soil. I was authentically myself, and authentically American all at once. And for the first time in my life I truly felt like I could honestly claim the identity of patriot.

This particular chapter of my life began with a Folk concert I gave at an outdoor concert series, at mall in Florida in 2006. Not unlike the Folk-on-State series that used to run in Madison. I met a woman there who was a volunteer with the US Diplomatic Corps, and worked with our mission to Albania. She asked me if I might like to travel with the US State Department, and offer concerts in other countries. It sounded like fun to me. I said yes. We traded information and kept in touch. It took a few years and the conversation went cold for a while. Presidential elections, recessions, etc. all had an impact. But then in the fall of 2009, I received a call from a fellow in Texas. He was about to retire from the diplomatic corps, and was tying up loose threads. Apparently, my file had been “on his desk” for a few years, and he liked my music. So he wanted to see if he could set the wheels in motion before he retired, for me to be formally invited to be a Cultural Ambassador for the US State Department.

Then I was called by a man from the US Embassy in Barbados. And after several conversations with people from the embassy and about nine months of planning, I was on my way from Seattle to Miami, and on to Antigua & Barbuda. The first of five island nations in the Caribbean where I would give concerts, offer workshops for school children and presentations in libraries, along with appearances on radio and television. All the while, wearing a suit and tie in the Caribbean, in July. I lost like 10 pounds in 2 weeks, and did a lot of laundry in hotel sinks. I rarely had 2 nights in the same hotel, and I got up as early as 4:30 AM daily. We usually had a 6:00 AM call-time in a hotel lobby. And I usually did not get to sleep before midnight. I was astonishingly sleep deprived by the end of those two weeks. And the frogs… these tiny little things called Coqui are so unimaginably loud as they sing and vocalize all night long. But they also groove, with an undulating rhythm that feels like the very underpinning of Caribbean music. Even sleep deprived, my heart was full.

In Antigua and Barbuda, I offered a command performance for the Queen’s Regent. She was a woman of profound character and poise. A septuagenarian who was herself quite Regal in demeanor. I was schooled on protocol, not to approach unless invited, not to turn my back on her within a certain distance, to speak only when spoken to, etc. The sound tech at the theater in which I was performing, was not very well versed in the equipment. But he was someone’s son, or nephew, or cousin. My cab driver on the other hand had a degree in Audio Engineering from Columbia in NYC. As he was driving me back to my hotel in between sound check and the concert, I said, “Who you know here in Antigua and Barbuda is more important than what you know, eh?” He smiled uncomfortably and nodded his head.

I ended up using a single microphone, plugged into one bass amp. They never got the theater sound online. But it was an amazing performance anyway. I was swinging for the fences, and it turned out to be a marvelous show. When I got to songs like Wade In The Water, We Shall Overcome, and Eyes on The Prize, the Queen’s Regent started clapping her hands and singing along. And smiling in a way that was somehow brighter than the stage lights. Her honor guard looked at her and looked at me and looked back at her. He had likely NEVER seen her let loose in public like that. After the performance, I was beckoned to approach. She shook my hand and thanked me. She was positively effusive. Her parents had been connected to the Harlem Renaissance, and she herself had been sent to NYC if memory serves, for university during the ‘60s. She had marched and protested in the US during the Civil Rights movement. I had the extraordinary privilege of singing these songs for someone who had “been there.” Dropping all usual protocol when we parted, she embraced me gently, and kissed my cheek. I thought her honor guard was going to faint.

Next, we flew to the island of Dominica, after a brief stop in St. Kitts & Nevis. Dominica remains the most natural and perhaps the least “settled” of the Caribbean Island nations. And it is the last refuge of the Carib people, the indigenous people who thrived in the islands before Columbus. And I must say, it is truly one of the most beautiful places I have ever been in my life. The whole island is connected to Eco-Tourism now, and they work hard to preserve their natural splendor. If I ever wanted to take a trip back to the Caribbean, I would go there. Mountains that rise out of the ocean, jungles and flowers and birds, waterfalls everywhere, and amazing food. And as gracious a reception as I have received anywhere. People rightfully proud of their country, and eager to share its wonders with visitors.

Then we were off to Barbados, where I sang for many children and offered several community concerts, and had my one scheduled night off. I wanted to wander all over the island. But I stayed in the small resort I was hosted in, went for a walk on the beach, went for a swim in the pool, had dinner, and was asleep by 8:30 PM. Those of you who know me will understand the level of exhaustion that this represents. I don’t usually see a pillow before 2:00 AM. 8:30 PM bedtime is a sign of pure, flat-out, steam-rolled exhaustion. Anyone who says that employees of the US State Department don’t earn their salary, has no idea how hard these people work. I have never felt more pride as a citizen of the United States, than when I was working with so many good people in the Caribbean, each taking their efforts so seriously, and with such gentle, diligent, and profound care.

The next day there were a couple of short concerts and interviews, and then an evening flight to Grenada. I was dropped off by the Embassy staff, and waited for my flight. It never came. I was alone, in a tiny inter-island airport, not the bigger national airport in Barbados. I had no cell phone. I called my contact at the embassy from the desk in the airport, and he was not home. He and his staff were already onto other places, other duties. The airport said my flight would not arrive until the morning. They rescheduled me on the new flight, after some serious negotiating, and then told me I had to leave the airport. I had no phone, no wheels, and a fair amount of stuff to carry. More haggling, and they called a cab for me.

FYI - It’s not easy to get a cab in rural Barbados, after dark. I explained my situation to the cabbie. And this guy spoke a creole tongue that was only part English. But he got me to a tiny hotel, and between the owners – a lovely Barbadian couple in their late sixties, and myself – the cabbie came to understand that I needed to be picked up again at 6:15 AM. I asked the couple if there were any restaurants nearby where I could get some dinner. They laughed charitably and said, “No.” The woman looked at me for a moment, then looked at my bright red, battered and stickered Calton guitar case, and then looked back at me and said, “I will feed you.” I asked if I could pay her for the meal. She said, “No. But you can sing for me while I cook!”

I sat on the back stoop outside of her small kitchen as she prepared chicken, rice, black-eyed peas, and some vegetables. I sang and we talked about life in Barbados, life in the US, history, culture, music, family, etc. They don’t get a lot of international visitors in the area, unless they are Barbadians who are coming back home for a visit. The motel was of cinder-block construction, and had only six small rooms – all in a row. One elongated rectangle. The proprietors had a small house next to the motel. They don’t normally serve food to guests. I knew this was a once in a lifetime moment. I was in a different country, with no chaperone, seeing the real Barbados. Not the tourist locations and the places of government and international commerce. I was sitting on the stoop of an older couple who had spent most of their lives on this island, and they were delighted for music and stories from somewhere else.

The meal was outrageously good. The hospitality and kindness, welcome beyond measure. And the connection sans external examination, was real and human and profound. I was on a concert tour representing my nation. On guard always, careful to say the right thing or to avoid saying the wrong thing. And finally, I just had a night with normal people living normal lives. All by accident of fate, and all miraculously beautiful and serendipitous. It’s why I tour. It is those moments that redeem the travel, a life spent in motion as a peripatetic bard. It is those moments that I live for, cherish, and adore. When my father questioned if being a musician was a wise calling to pursue, my mother always said “A good musician will never go hungry. They can always sing for their supper.” And here I was, stranded in Barbados for a night, singing for my supper, literally.

I think that evening of being so unguarded with the lovely couple in Barbados, primed the pump for what happened two days later on the national broadcast, with the Minister of Culture in Grenada. I realized that I could be a conscientious representative of my nation and be a patriot, and be myself all at once. That awareness had been rising in me for days. But on a back stoop in rural Barbados, it coalesced into tangible form. And two days later it emerged on a television broadcast as a personal doctrine. For all of our faults, for all of our struggles as a nation, we are still one of the great nations that have existed in human history. And we are great not because of our government, or our military, or Wall Street. We are not great because we have Hollywood and the Empire State Building. We are not great because of the Grand Canyon or the Rocky Mountains, or the Grand Old Opry. We are great because we have the capacity to be generous, and because we continue to pursue the experiment of Democracy with due diligence and purpose. And we can be greater still when we do so with graciousness.

It has not been easy for me to claim being a patriot. But when we can separate patriotism from nationalism, when we can be brilliant without diminishing the light of another nation, when we can elevate others with dignity and camaraderie amongst nations, we demonstrate what Democracy can look like. And music has the power to be a passport to a place of understanding and respect. As we use music to humanize abstractions, we also build bridges. We help heal wounds when we celebrate individual acts of bravery, kindness, service, and solidarity. We lend dimension to what divisive purpose tries to tear asunder. Music heals. My beloved and late friend James Durst said that all the time. He put it on a tee-shirt. Music heals.

There is much healing needed, in many places right now. There is much work to do, and many injustices to address. But once one leaves the US, we are no longer Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, Greens, or any other party members. WE are “Americans.” And the world judges us and hold us accountable as Americans. Whether we acquiesce or not, we become representatives of an entire nation once we leave home soil. And so we should be patriots, on our own terms. No one here has a right to define a singular form of patriotism. But we should still claim being patriots, especially as we sing about the workers and wanderers, the Civil Rights movements, and the beauty of this land and her people; people who now need to be reminded of their commonality, more than any time in my life. Patriotism is not inconsistent with a spirit of protest or with dissenting opinions. Patriotism in fact requires the voice of dissent, the minority opinion. I learned that in a new way while singing about the beauty and resiliency of my country and her people, while on tour in the Caribbean. I was to my great honor to be called a Cultural Ambassador for two weeks. But I will carry that identity and purpose with me as long as I live.

:-)

~ Joe Jencks, 11-5-20

or for Firefox users: https://www.paypal.me/JoeJencksMusic

Dear Friends in Music,

First and foremost, I want to thank all of you for the unbelievably gracious support over the last seven months. You have been showing up to my online broadcasts and offering the generosity of your time and financial support in ways that have allowed me to keep being a working musician, giving what I have to give. THANK YOU! From broadcasts via Caffe Lena and The Ark, to online festivals and many co-presented concerts via my own YouTube channel in partnership with presenters from across North America, you have been upholding your end of the social contract between artist and society.

We as creators and performers promise to give you our best. You in return, keep showing up and valuing what we do and what we give. It has always been a sacred covenant and commitment between artist and community that we will each give our best to each other. And you all continue to honor that ideal with such graciousness. I am incredibly grateful.

Conventional wisdom says never send a newsletter on the weekend, no one will read it. I think this is definitely a year when conventional wisdom is sort of out the door. For better or worse, we are all continuing to adapt our lives and our routines to meet the zeitgeist. It’s a lot of adaptation all at once, and over a prolonged period of time. Congratulations on continuing to navigate the ever-shifting paradigms. For those who have experienced direct losses recently, my heart is with you. There have been too many losses and not enough time together to grieve in community. I miss hugs. Consider one of them yours.

For those who are digging in and standing up for civil rights, human rights, voting rights, thank you. For those volunteering to help out at food pantries and soup kitchens, shelters and in so many other ways, thank you. For those volunteering to be poll workers and monitors, standard-bearers of our democracy, thank you. For those continuing to do the work of parenting and elder care, connecting the generations and shaping the future, thank you. To those of you in education, thank you! To our healthcare workers at every level, thank you! I find hope in all of these things, and I thank you for showing up in this time and in so many ways.

Pete Seeger wrote in his song, My Rainbow Race:

One blue sky above us
One ocean lapping all our shore
One earth so green and round
Who could ask for more
And because I love you
I'll give it one more try
To show my rainbow race
It's too soon to die.

I have been thinking on these words. I always wondered about the sense of melancholy in the music, and its juxtaposition against these hopeful words. I think I understand now. Pete felt overwhelmed at times too. And this song, it was a personal meditation and mantra to remind himself of his own commitment to keep his oars in the water and the boat pointed in a good direction. I find it a source of strength presently. What brings you joy and hope right now? I am curious. And I will gladly write back if you feel like sharing an answer. Hope is fuel. Hope is power. Hope is life. What is life-affirming to you right now?

Music Heals. James Durst said that, and printed it on a tee-shirt. I wear it with pride and joy. And doing so reminds me that it is not a platitude. It is truth. Music heals.

To that end. There are a few opportunities to see me live this month online and more in November and December.

Sunday, October 4^th at 5:00 PM ET/4:00 CT / etc. I will be offering a live-stream concert in partnership with WorldWind Concerts in NJ. My friend Madhumita Chakrabartti is continuing to bring many forms of goodness into the world including hosting music. Tune in LIVE via the Joe Jencks Music Official YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/e1M0nSY0zAM

Saturday, October 17^th at 7:30 PM ET/ 6:30 CT/ etc. I will be offering a concert in partnership with one of the truly great and longstanding coffeehouses in New England, The Linden Tree. Liz Freeman and her crew have been working hard to keep the musicians and the community connected. Tune in LIVE via the Joe Jencks Music Official YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/HcBcFI00DXs

Thank you for weaving your life with mine in the beautiful tapestry of community. I can feel it holding us all up. And that gives me hope.


In Gratitude & Song,

~ Joe Jencks, 10-3-20


PS. Please check the www.joejencks.com Tour Dates page regularly as additional Live-Stream concerts, services and other events will be posted. November 6th, Americana Community Music Association (FL). November 8th, Isis Music Hall (NC). November 21st, Fine Line Concerts (IL). December 5th, Focus Music (DC region). All accessible via Live-Stream. More to come.

Also, you can tune next Wednesday (October 7th at 9:00 PM ET) or Sunday (October 11th at 1:00 PM ET) for the next episode of my monthly radio show, My Highway Home on Folk Music Notebook: www.folkmusicnotebook.com

Dear Friends,

I hope that your Labor Day weekend was a chance to rest, and also a chance to enjoy the company of community in some way. I was hiking in the Adirondack Mountains for much of the weekend and was deeply restored by being in the presence of nature’s grandeur. So thoroughly did I enjoy time away from the computer and out in the woods, that I will be unplugging for much of the rest of September.

I have one concert this weekend and my next broadcast will be the first weekend in October. More information is available at: www.joejencks.com

This Friday, September 11^th at 7:30 PM, I am thrilled to be presenting a concert in partnership with 6 On The Square in Oxford, NY. 6OTS has been a stalwart presenting partner for me, for more than a decade. Nancy Morey and Crew do an amazing job hosting concerts in person – and have moved to doing so in the virtual universe as well. This will be a rare ticketed event for me in the digital paradigm, but 6OTS has limited capacity even online. So please go to their website and get your ticket and link – and help support this beautiful and essential thread in the tapestry of Folk.
https://www.6onthesquare.org

Please also see below an essay I wrote about the history of Labor Day in the US and Canada, and the fight for the Eight Hour Workday. Some fascinating stuff. I had fun researching and writing this one. Enjoy!


In Gratitude & Song,

~ Joe Jencks

PS - The project I was working on this summer for the American Folklife Center at The Library of Congress is finished and available online: https://www.loc.gov/concerts/folklife/joe-jencks.html

Why We Sing Labor Songs
Copyright ~ 2020 Joe Jencks, Turtle Bear Music

Labor Day is an intriguing holiday. It is inextricably tied to music, and yet we do not sing Labor carols, Labor hymns, Labor anthems or just plain Labor songs as a regular part of our society’s practice around celebrating this holiday. In fact, we don’t really celebrate this holiday much at all except for taking a three-day weekend. And ironically, many Working-Class people especially in the service sector, end up working overtime on a weekend that was designated as an homage to workers. Why is this? It’s not like there are no Labor songs to sing, there are thousands. So why don’t we give Labor Day gifts? Labor Day greeting cards? Why can’t I go into Target and buy worker-themed wrapping paper for all of the Labor Day gifts I give out each year? Why no Labor Day gift market, like a Crist Kindle Markt honoring workers? I promise I will get around to the musical part of this narrative, but bear with me while I delve into a little bit of backstory.

In October 1884, The Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions of The United States and Canada (FOTLU) decided that May 1st, 1886 was the date by which the standard 8-hour workday should be implemented. That organization became the American Federation of Labor a.k.a. the AFL. And later still joined with the Congress of Industrial Organizations to form the AFL-CIO.

But back in 1884, there was a growing interest in improving the lives of workers. An increase in industrialization was taking a toll on worker’s health and safety, and working conditions were tragically poor in many places globally. As part of a larger global effort of working people, the FOTLU started to organize throughout North America in an effort to create a better situation for workers everywhere, in all trades and industries. May 1st 1886 was the designated day for international action. And in Chicago, various sources report that over 40,000 workers went on strike, marched in solidarity, and sang songs like the Labor hymn, Hold The Fort.

Hold the fort for we are coming
Unionists be strong
Side by side we battle onward
Victory will come

We meet today in freedom's cause
And raise our voices high;
We'll join our hands in union strong
To battle or to die.

Look, my comrades, see the union
Banners waving high.
Reinforcements now appearing,
Victory is nigh.

See our numbers still increasing;
Hear the bugle blow.
By our union we shall triumph
Over every foe.

Fierce and long the battle rages
But we will not fear.
Help will come whene'er it's needed.
Cheer, my comrades, cheer.

In their book Songs of Work & Freedom, Edith Fowke & Joe Glazer report that this song’s origin is in the US Civil War. Other sources say it was specifically written as an inspirational hymn in 1870 by Phillip Paul Bliss, a composer and evangelist who was inspired by the story of how Union Brigadier General, John M. Corse held his garrison at Allatoona Pass in Georgia, after receiving word form General Sherman to, “Hold the fort!” Mr. Bliss was moved by the story and saw corollaries in his own spiritual beliefs that he interpreted as “signs” telling him to “Hold the Fort” for his faith. Fascinating to me is that Mr. Bliss heard this story as told by Major Daniel Webster Whittle at a lecture given in Rockford, Illinois (my childhood home).

Regardless, in the 1880s the Knights of Labor was a progressive worker’s fraternal order that had over 700,000 members in the US alone, and they adopted the above-mentioned Labor-oriented version of the hymn. The Knights of Labor were radical in their day for wanting to organize across lines of color, race, ethnicity, and gender. Not unlike the later Industrial Workers of the World, they hoped to see One Big Union emerge from a more partitioned movement of the day. Their goal was for all workers to have the right to bargain collectively for better treatment, wages, and working conditions. They were singers, too!

In 1882, the Central Labor Union (CLU) of New York and its Secretary, Matthew Maguire put forth an idea that we should have an annual national day of celebration for workers on the first Monday of September. On September 5th of that year, while the Knights of Labor held a General Assembly in New York, the CLU organized a large and peaceful public parade as a demonstration for worker’s rights. This is important to note as it set up a precedent for opposing ideas about when we should celebrate Labor Day.

But in 1886, the various Labor Movements across North America were poised for a General Strike on May 1st, and Chicago was the epicenter of the movement in the US. Workers had participated in well-organized events in many parts of the city on May 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. But on May 4th at Haymarket Square, things got ugly. It is asserted that one of the workers threw a pipe bomb at the police. But a corroborating preponderance of evidence in historic records suggest that it was one of the police themselves or possibly a private security guard like a Pinkerton, who instigated the violence. And then they opened fire on a crowd of protesters, ostensibly in retaliation. Sounds a little like Portland, Oregon… only just last month.

In the wake of The Haymarket Massacre as it came to be known, May 1st was henceforth declared International Workers Memorial Day. And globally, workers have celebrated May 1^st as International Worker’s Day/ Labor Day ever since. It is a national holiday in many countries. And in spite of widespread advocacy to make May 1st the official US Labor Day, President Grover Cleveland was concerned that any acknowledgement of May 1st would only lend support to radicals and “unsavory elements” of society. As such, he pushed hard for the first Monday in September to be the US Labor Day, and declared it a national holiday in 1894. But his proclamation only affected Federal workers. It was not until The Great Depression of the 1930s, a time when the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) led repeated strikes and calls for solidarity, that all 50 states recognized Labor Day as a truly national holiday. President Cleveland also put substantive pressure on Canada, which had been celebrating a May 1st Labor Day, to honor the September Labor Day. A footnote, Oregon State was the first to officially recognize a September Labor Day in 1887, as a statewide holiday. And it was not until 1916 that the 8-hour workday was adopted in the US.

Preceding the Colliery songs of the Welsh, Irish, and Scottish miners who emigrated to the American continent well before the US Revolution, we have had work songs, whaling songs and sea songs, songs of the spinning wheel and loom, field songs and other traditions that firmly anchor the Labor Movement to the arts in North American culture. And we know that the displaced indigenous peoples of North America also had work songs of their own. It is a centuries old tradition here, and likely even older in other parts of the world. It is my honor both as an interpreter of Folk traditions and as a modern songwriter, to dedicate some portion of nearly every concert I give to these songs, and the rich human legacy they represent.

In early 2019, I received a marvelous phone call from my friends Derek Black and Mitch Podolak in Winnipeg. In 1919, Winnipeg was the location of the most successful general strike in the history of North America. Workers seized the city for weeks, and more workers all over Canada, the US, and parts of Europe went out on strike as an act of Solidarity. Organizing tactics from Winnipeg were employed in Ireland during their war of independence, 1919-1921. The Winnipeg General Strike is perhaps the most important Labor event that most people have never heard of.

Mitch invited me to come to Winnipeg and sing, as he had many times before. But this event was to be extra special. Hosted by the May Works Festival, it was to be a huge celebration of the 100^th anniversary of the Winnipeg General Strike. The day would start with a march of thousands, leading into a music festival at a park across the street from the provincial capital building. And I was one of only two US artist asked to travel to Winnipeg to perform in that festival. I told Mitch that I would write a new song just for the occasion. And I was honored to do so. I love Winnipeg. If you ever get a chance to go to the Ukrainian Labor Temple there, by all means do so. It is an under-appreciated city to be sure. And I think the reasons why it is not celebrated more are tied to the same reasons why we don’t sing Labor carols widely on Labor Day.

We are collectively (though not necessarily individually) ashamed of our Working-Class heritage. There is such a profoundly consistent message in our society that we should all aspire to “escape” work and reach for a “country club” lifestyle. I was not made aware of the idea that I could be proud of being Working Class until I met my friend Phil Amadon who inspired my composition, Song of The Rails among others. And then later in my 20s I learned about the Labor Heritage Foundation and The Great Labor Arts Exchange, founded by a community of artists dedicated to celebrating the trades including Labor’s Troubadour, Joe Glazer. In attending this conference several years in a row, I found immense pride, joy, catharsis, and hope. I realized I could be proud of being a worker. Even if I was successful in life and finance, I did not need to leave Solidarity behind. The people who have lifted me up, the good working people who raised me, they are still my people. Always will be.

And so, I sing Labor hymns. I write Labor songs. I give people Labor greeting cards, and many years I give presents on May 1st or on Labor Day. I am by no means alone. Many of my colleagues and fellow musicians care deeply about our proud working past and want to advocate and organize for a more hopeful future for those who follow in our footsteps. I am a proud member of the American Federation of Musicians of The United States and Canada – AFM Local 1000. I am always happy to talk with people about workers, labor history, about the songs, and most importantly about the actual dimensional people the songs are written about. It is because of centuries of Labor songs that we have insight into the history of many trades, as well as the very existence and partial narrative of people whose stories are not otherwise written down in history books. Songs preserve Working Class culture and have done so for centuries. It is an honorable musical tradition. And one we can all carry forward in some way.

So, here is what I wrote for Mitch Podolak and Derek Black, and the workers of Winnipeg past and present. For those of you familiar with the Industrial Workers of The World a.k.a. The Wobblies’ songbook – Songs to Fan The Flames of Discontent, you will note several “Easter Eggs” in this piece. Happy hunting.

Winnipeg 1919

Copyright ~ 2019 Joe Jencks, Turtle Bear Music, ASCAP

The year was 1919 and all around the world

People started marching with their victory flags unfurled

We’ve shed our blood on battle fields and slaved in deep dark mines

We rally to the banner, bread and roses it’s our time

Chorus

Come gather Fellow Workers and raise your voices strong

We rise today in Winnipeg to sing our victory song

In Europe and in Canada, across the USA

We cry out for justice and for fair and equal pay

All sisters and brothers and all races here unite

We strive for One Big Union and defend our common rights

From Halifax and Thunder Bay, to the Fraser River’s shore

Seattle, San Francisco, and Chicago hear us roar

From Boston on to Dublin town, are heard the people’s cries

No more to drudge and idler, when the workers organize

Though some of us were born of means and others not a dime

We spend our lives in service to a cause we hold sublime

All laborers in commonwealth, now let our voices say

That one way or another we will bring the greater day

So here’s to Big Bill Haywood, Mother Jones, and Eugene Debs

Along with Emma Goldman and Joe Hill and all the Reds

And all those Fellow Travelers who beckon to the call

An injury to one of us, is an injury to all

We may not win our struggle here, but sure as hell we’ll try

For the future of our children we are steadfast by and by

It’s only when our minds are joined with muscle we can stand

And bring to birth a new world, arm and arm and hand in hand

And so I say to you, Happy Labor Day! (Even if it is past Labor Day when you read this.) Celebrate the work you do in the world, and celebrate the work of others. Let us sing forth a value through our music that says we have the right to be proud of the labor of our hands and the labors of our ancestors. Let us learn, write, celebrate, and sing songs that help us find hope and joy in how we spend our days. My friend Phil Amadon said to me once, “If you cannot be proud of the work you are doing, either you need to do the work differently, or you need to do different work!”

Solidarity Forever
Ralph Chaplin 1915

It is we who plowed the prairies, built the cities where they trade

Dug the mines and built the workshops, endless miles of railroad laid

Now we stand outcast and starving midst the wonders we have made

But the Union makes us strong

Solidarity Forever, Solidarity Forever, Solidarity Forever,

For the Union makes us strong

In our hands is placed a power greater than their horded gold

Greater than the might of armies magnified a thousand-fold

We can bring to birth a new world from the ashes of the old

When the Union makes us strong

The “union” that this anthem of the Labor movement is talking about is not a specific trade union. Rather it celebrates the Union of Workers internationally, collectively; and the power of collaborative and collective effort. I remain proud of the cultural work I do, and I am inspired by the many people I encounter who are diligently doing their work, especially now during the era of Covid-19. I go out of my way to thank workers in grocery and drug stores and in other essential services. I hope you do as well. I hope that you are proud of how you spend your time, talent, and days. And I wish for you to be comforted in the knowledge that you are part of a community of workers who claim you, even if you don’t claim them. You are a worker. In some way, at some time in your life, you have been a worker. You have earned a wage in exchange for your labors, talents, and ideas; and you have done so to the best of your ability. Celebrate that!

In Solidarity & Song,

~ Joe Jencks

8-21-20

For more information on the Labor Heritage Foundation or The Great Labor Arts Exchange, please visit:

www.laborheritage.org

Dear Friends,

Greetings from the cornfields of Illinois. The time of harvest is near, and I hope that somewhere in your life, there is a source of abundance that brings you joy. My dear departed friend and songwriter extraordinaire James Durst one printed a T-Shirt that said simply, beautifully, Music Heals. AMEN. And music is also an abundant harvest.

As such, I am excited to let you know about 3 upcoming musical events in the Joe Jencks universe:

First – 8:00 PM ET - this Saturday night August 29th, I will be performing live from the historic and beautiful Caffe Lena, in Saratoga Springs, NY. Many thanks to Sarah Craig, Carolyn Shapiro, Reese Fulmar and the whole crew at Caffe Lena. Please be generous and help keep this amazing Folk concert hall in good stead. In keeping with safety protocols, it will be a broadcast only event. But you can listen live and watch from the comfort of home via YouTube: https://youtu.be/pYcoQ9oD7T0

Second, I will be offering an actual in-person live performance for Acoustic Brew in State College, PA on Sunday August 30th, at 6:00 PM ET. This is a rescheduled event from March, and will be a socially-distanced outdoor concert in a town park. Bring your own mask, please. Many thanks to Holly Foy, Jim Colbert, Mel DeYoung and so many others for working to bring this event together. https://acousticbrew.org

Third – On Wednesday September 2nd, the program I have been researching and recording for The American Folklife Center at The Library of Congress will broadcast at 12:30 PM ET/ 11:30 AM CT. I have been deep down the rabbit hole this summer with a grant funded project of researching and resurrecting songs from within the John A. Lomax & Ruby Terrill Lomax collections at the Folk Archives. I am delighted to finally share this with all of you. The concert features songs originally recorded at the Raiford Prison (Raiford, FL) in 1939. As is the case now, there were a disproportionate number of African Americans incarcerated in this country in 1939, especially in the south. The Lomax Family worked hard to document the music of this unique culture, and in so doing shined light on a tremendous injustice. It has been my honor and joy to bring some lost songs and older versions of songs, back into circulation with the support of The American Folklife Center. My dear friend and colleague Si Kahn will have a presentation of work songs from the archives at 12:00 Noon ET on the same day. Many thanks to Thea Austen, Stephen Winick, Jennifer Cutting, and Todd Harvey, curator of the Lomax Collection for their support. And also to Elise Bryant at the Labor Heritage Foundation. (ARCHIVE LINK for this concert: https://www.loc.gov/concerts/folklife/joe-jencks.html)

I have also posted a new essay on www.joejencks.com about why we celebrate Labor Day, and the importance of Labor & Work songs. 8 hours for work, 8 hours for rest, 8 hours to do as we feel best. Please check it out here: https://www.joejencks.com/news/f/News/2948

Additional concert and broadcast information for the fall of 2020 can be found under Tour Dates at www.joejencks.com. Please check back regularly as scheduling changes are the new normal. All plans are provisional. Very Zen.

Please be well, and stay well.

In Gratitude & Song,

~ Joe Jencks
8-25-20

Dear Friends in Music,

August is here. Wow. How did that happen?

I find my relationship with time is even more malleable than usual. And I know I am not alone in this experience. I also find I am having different sorts of dreams. Mostly they all seem to involve being in gatherings of people in one form or another. With family, with friends, or with our music community, all of my dreams seem to involve being with people. And in the dreams, it is good to be with people and strangely awkward at the same time.

For those who continue to be affected by the pandemic, hurricanes, evictions, loss of income, loss of insurance, and for some a loss of their sense of purpose, I offer my sincere hope that you will know that you are not alone. Even when it feels that way. We still have each other. That is how our ancestors survived many trials and tribulations.

Holly Near wrote a song several years ago that moves me deeply, and I find myself humming it as a mantra and a personal prayer lately.

I Am Willing – by Holly Near

I am open and I am willing
To be hopeless would seem so strange
It dishonors those who go before us
So lift me up to the light of change

There is hurting in my family
There is sorrow in my town
There is panic in the nation
There is wailing the whole world round

May the children see more clearly
May the elders be more wise
May the winds of change caress us
Even though it burns our eyes

Give me a mighty oak to hold my confusion
Give me a desert to hold my fears
Give me a sunset to hold my wonder
Give me an ocean to hold my tears

In that spirit or perseverance, have several events this month that I invite you to tune into and in which I hope you will find solace.

Wednesday August 5^th (tonight) My Highway Home, an All Vinyl Flashback will broadcast on Folk Music Notebook
9:00 PM ET/ 8:00 PM CT / 6:00 PM Pacific www.FolkMusicNotebook.com
Rebroadcast at 2:00 AM ET on August 6th and at 1:00 PM / 10:00 AM Pacific on Sunday August 9th.

Thursday, August 6th at 7:00 PM CT - Sessions from Studio A
I will be on WNIJ, the DeKalb NPR station. Sessions from Studio A with host Spencer Tritt. Join us via 89.5 FM FM radio or the web for a full hour of performance and in-depth conversation. Rebroadcast on Sunday August 9th at 12 Noon CT www.northernpublicradio.org/topic/sessions-studio

On Saturday August 8th at 3:00 PM ET / 2:00 PM CT I will be offering a LIVE Stream set for the Goderich Celtic Roots Festival. Since we can’t all gather in person in Goderich, ON this will be a virtual festival. And my set is the only Live set of the weekend. Tune in via the Goderich Festival Website: https://www.celticfestival.ca

Last but not least, on Saturday August 29th, I will be returning to Caffe Lena in Saratoga Springs, NY for another Live broadcast from their marvelous stage. That will be available via YouTube. Stay tuned to my website and the Caffe Lena website for more info.

Stay Safe and Keep In Touch!

In Gratitude and Song,

~ Joe

8-5-20

Also... Please see below an essay I wrote about John Lomax, and the lineage of a song I recently added to my repertoire from the Archives of American Folksong at The Library of Congress.

The Lineage of a Song - John A. Lomax & The Archives of American Folksong
Copyright 2020 Joe Jencks, Turtle Bear Music

I have on several occasions been asked to be a part of the Library of Congress, Folk Archives Challenge at the Folk Alliance International Conference. It’s always an honor and a good time. It is fun, relaxed, musically interesting and always educational. Musicians from all over the US and a few from other countries dive into the L.O.C. Folk Archives and resurrect some song that has fallen by the wayside. Or they render a new version of an old chestnut, and in so doing help us hear an old song in a new way. I always enjoy the concert that is assembled from musicians who have chosen to participate. It never fails to enlighten and delight.

I have to admit in all honesty that at least once, I trolled the archives for songs I already knew, and picked one of them. Based on looking at people’s albums/ song titles and comparing that to what was performed in concerts at the conference, I am clearly not the only one who has taken the road more traveled now and then.

But this year, this year I dove deep. I looked through dozens of songs and went deep down the rabbit hole of songs relating to work and chain gangs in the south, and prison yard songs. And the song I emerged with was, “Take Dis Hammer.” I am glad I did not know that it was a song well known in Blues and Bluegrass circles. If so, I might have stopped there with a rendition offered by Lead Belly or Odetta, or Flatt & Scruggs. Or one of a dozen other versions done by blues artists over the last 80 years. But because I found it in the archives of The American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress and in a Lomax field recording first, that was what I listened to.

I was moved by the voices I heard in those old John Lomax recordings, from a prison yard in Florida in 1939. He captured something powerful. As I listened, I imagined things that had not yet transpired when these songs were recorded. Nelson Mandela on a chain gang in a prison yard on Robben Island, in South Africa. Mohandas Gandhi and the peak of the Satyagraha movement, Martin Luther King Jr. and the marches, rallies and movements for Civil Rights yet to emerge. Black Lives Matter, and so much more.

John A. Lomax was a pioneering and visionary musicologist. Much of what we know about American Folk music from various eras before recording technology was accessible to most people, is because of John Lomax, his wives Bess & Ruby and his sons John Lomax Jr., Alan Lomax and daughter Bess Lomax. They transcribed by hand, and made field recordings of countless songs in a multitude of genres, preserving the musical styles that were endemic to certain regions or trades, or cultural sub-sets. And the Library of Congress Folk Archives are a true treasure trove of the extraordinary, including but by no means limited to the Lomax Collections.

John A. Lomax co-founded the Texas Folklore Society at the University of Texas in Austin in about 1908. The date is disputed, but in 1909, he nominated co-founder Professor Leonidas Payne to be President of the society. John A Lomax went on to help found Folklore Societies across the United States. His direct mentor at Harvard (which was at the time the center of American Folklore Studies, a field of study considered a subset of English Literature) was George Lyman Kittredge. Kittredge was a scholar of Shakespearean Literature and of Chaucer. He had inherited the position of Professor of English Literature from none other than Francis James Child. Child is known for his 8-volume lifetime work: Popular Ballads of England and Scotland. The work was unfinished at the time of Child’s passing, and Kittredge finished the work as well as continuing to teach several of the courses Child had taught. Lomax had a fine pedigree in sound research methods, and was likely the first to transcend the idea of American Folklore as a subset of English Literature and thus is appreciated in many circles as the progenitor of a new discipline: American Folklore a.k.a. American Ethnomusicology.

In 1910, Lomax published: Cowboy Songs and Other Frontier Ballads, with a forward by none other than the recently retired President of the United States and aficionado of the American West, Theodore Roosevelt. It was quite a feather in the cap of a relatively young Lomax. But his truest musical love were songs that rose out of African American culture. And he was soon to find his way into the pursuit of many more forms of American Folklore. Lomax was the first to present papers to the Modern Language Association about American Literature in the form of uniquely American Ballads and Songs. He took to the lecture circuit while continuing to teach, publish, and make field recordings eventually with the help of his sons Alan and John Jr., and daughter Bess. Spanning several decades, John Lomax contributed over ten-thousand recordings to the Archive of American Folksong, at the Library of Congress.

At first the recordings were in the form of transcriptions and transliterations of the oral traditions he encountered. Old school. Lomax wrote them down. But as recording technologies improved and became more portable, Lomax was always on the leading edge of the latest capacity to record. In 1917, he was let go from his university position in Texas, over broader political battles within the institution, and was forced to take a job in the banking industry for several years in Chicago. But he became life-long friends with poet Carl Sandburg while he was there, and is referenced many times in Sandburg’s book Songbag (1927). In 1925, Lomax moved back to Texas to work for a larger bank there, but obviously being in banking became disastrous in the fall of 1929. In 1931, his beloved wife Bess Lomax died at age 50, and Lomax also lost his job when the bank for which he worked, failed as a result of The Great Depression.

In 1933, John A. Lomax got a grant from the American Society of Learned Studies and acquired a state-of-the-art phonograph, an uncoated aluminum disc recorder. At 315 pounds, he and Alan mounted it in the trunk of the family Ford sedan, and went off adventuring. John was finally able to pursue the archiving the musical and narrative memory of a quickly passing generation of African Americans. Many of his subjects were in prisons, but that was by no means the sum of his contact with the African American community. He did however recognize that Jim Crow and other racist practices had created a situation where a disproportionate number of African American men were imprisoned. And because many had been there for a long time, they had not been influenced by radio and recordings. The oral traditions were still alive in the prisons of the south in particular, and in ways that they were no longer present in other parts of the country.

It was in one such prison that Lomax met Lead Belly. And while many have accused John Lomax of somehow misappropriating ideas from Lead Belly, history from many angles suggests that Lomax was a staunch advocate for Lead Belly. Lomax advocated earnestly for Lead Belly’s release from prison, and while causality is hard to trace, Lead Belly was in fact released in August of 1934. The Lomax Family helped Lead Belly get work singing African American songs throughout the North Eastern US, and with the advice of legendary Western singer Tex Ritter, also helped Lead Belly get his first recording contract. John Lomax and Lead Belly had a falling out over the managing of finances in 1935, and never spoke to one another again. Alan Lomax however, remained a stalwart friend and an advocate of Lead Belly’s for the next 15 years, until Lead Belly’s death in 1949.

Though it is not clearly documented, it is very likely that Lead Belly himself learned Take Dis Hammer from the Lomax field recordings. He however only sang a few of the traditional verses, and invented his own version. He was prone to personalize many of the songs he sang and recorded, and was known to embellish on the historic record from time to time if it made a good story. In short, he was a Folksinger and Bluesman in good standing.

My version of Take Dis Hammer was derived mostly from the field recordings made by John, Alan, and Ruby Terrill Lomax, John’s second wife. There was no available transcription of the original field recordings which were made in 1939 at the Florida State Prison known as Raiford Penitentiary. These recordings were part of a series from the Southern States Recording Trip. So I listened, and listened, and listened again, at least 100 times. And I still could not discern certain words and phrases.

So, I spoke with Jennifer Cutting and Dr. Stephen Winick (with whom I am occasionally confused in public gatherings and always take it as a compliment) at The American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. I explained the problem in trying to resurrect the original recorded version. They responded kindly that I should consider recovering as many of the original words as possible, and use my knowledge of the idiom, the period, and my capacity as a songwriter to fill in the gaps. So, I did. I also included a re-write of a verse that I traced to one of the Flatt & Scruggs recordings, and as a proper homage, I included a slight adaptation of one of Lead Belly’s verses. But the last verse was largely unintelligible. As such, I lifted what I could and made up the rest with knowledge of the context. Words I wrote to infill for inaudible words, or just invented to fit the context are italicized and in bold.

I will note that the Flatt & Scruggs influenced verse about the shackles, does not appear in any of the Lomax field recordings. But I liked it. And since it seemed like everyone else had just invented it – I invented a version that I felt was more in keeping with the original Prison Yard recordings both in cadence and language. And that is the lineage of one rendition of a Folk Song.

Thank Dis Hammer / Take This Hammer

Take this hammer, hammer and give it to the captain
Take this hammer, hammer and give it to the captain
Won’t you Take this hammer, and give it to the captain
(Won’t you) Tell him I’m gone, Lord tell him I’m gone

And if he asks you, asks you was I running
And if he asks you, asks you was I running
And if he asks you, asks you was I running
Tell ‘m I was flyin’, Lord I was flyin’

Captain, captain this ole hammer too heavy
Captain, captain this ole hammer too heavy
Captain, captain this ole hammer too heavy
For the likes of man, for the likes of man

Must be the hammer, hammer that killed John Henry
Must be the hammer, hammer that killed John Henry
Must be the hammer, hammer that killed John Henry
But it won’t kill me, no it won’t kill me

This ole hammer, hammer shines like silver
This ole hammer, hammer shines like silver
This ole hammer, hammer shines like silver
But it rings like gold, lord it rings like gold

Flatt & Scruggs Bluegrass Verse
I don’t want, your old darn shackles
I don’t want, your old darn shackles
I don’t want, your old darn shackles
‘Cause it hurts my leg, ‘cause it hurts my leg

Odetta Verse
I don’t want your cold iron shackles
I don’t want your cold iron shackles
I don’t want your cold iron shackles
Around my leg boys. Around my leg.

Joe Jencks Adaptation – more in keeping with the original Prison Yard cadence and language
Don’t you make me wear, wear these old cold shackles
Don’t you make me wear, wear these old cold shackles
Don’t you make me wear, wear these old cold shackles
‘Cause they wound my soul, Lord they wound my soul

Lead Belly Verse… JJ Adaptation to meet cadence of Prison Yard
Twenty-five miles, alone in Mississippi
Twenty-five miles, alone in Mississippi
Twenty-five miles, alone in Mississippi
Tell him I’m gone, oh Lord tell him I’m gone

Joe Jencks Verse – best guess based on cadence and audibility of
Lord I’m coming, to that Jordan water
Lord I’m coming, to that Jordan water
Lord I’m coming, to that Jordan water
Don’t you let me drown, Lord don’t let me drown

As a result of my work with this song, I was awarded a small grant to continue my research into the Library of Congress Folk Archives. And I will record a “tiny-desk” type concert for the Library of Congress Folk Archives this summer that will be released through the Library of Congress on Wednesday September 2nd, and remain part of the L.O.C. Archives in perpetuity. The focus of my work on this project will continue in the vein of prison and work songs from the Lomax Recordings. We will have a watch party at 12:30 PM ET / 11:30 AM CT on Wednesday September 2^nd. Si Kahn will offer a set at Noon ET/ 11:00 AM CT on the same day. Stay tuned to www.joejencks.com for more details. And do yourself a favor, troll around the Library of Congress Folk Archives and the Archive of American Folksong. But be forewarned, you will definitely get delightfully lost.

~ Joe Jencks
7-21-20

Dear Friends in Music,

I hope that this finds you navigating the shoals of modern life with grace and forbearance. We do indeed live in interesting times. With so much going on in the world, it is sometimes hard to feel like it’s important to keep celebrating the simple, day-to-day events. The small victories seem inconsequential when held up to the mirror of global events. But indeed, we need to keep doing what we can to honor the growth we each experience, the birthdays, the evolution of our selves even as we tac a course through what seem like uncharted and perilous waters. And as always, music helps us find solace, connection, and community. Music continues to give voice to our deepest sorrows and most earnest joys.

Bertolt Brecht said once that art is not a mirror held up to reality, but a hammer with which to shape it. I believe that many actions and efforts that might not be traditionally considered art are even still, small hammers held up to reality shaping it as we go, incrementally shifting our own experience of the world for the better. And while it is perhaps hubris for any of us to presume that anything we do can change the world or reshape reality, my lived experience says that every one of us has the capacity to make a difference in some way. We may not be able to change the world per se, but we do have some control over our experience of the world. Our choices, actions, kindness, commitment to community, commitment to wellness in its many embodiments, all of these things change our own experience of the world and allow us to shape it in some small way.

So, I keep singing. I keep writing, I keep creating and making art in many forms. I do not know the impact nor can I truly measure the affect. But I know it helps me feel better, and I receive notes, cards, emails and texts that tell me it helps others feel better too.

Friday, July 24th, at 8:00 PM ET, I will be performing LIVE from The Ark in Ann Arbor, MI. This will be the FIRST EVER Live Broadcast that The Ark has hosted from their own stage. I am honored to help initiate this new phase of engagement for The Ark, truly one of the finest music halls anywhere in the country. This will be a broadcast performance only with a few staff in attendance, but accessible to all via the Internet. Please tune in, link in, join in via YouTube or Face Book. Links will be available through www.theark.org

Or... View via Joe Jencks Music Official YouTube Channel:
https://youtu.be/n8UYB-pdCfs
View via The Ark YouTube Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1R1i5OhGnEo
To view via Face Book Live - Link through The Ark's website.

I will have more Live-Stream events into August, including a live remote broadcast as part of a virtual version of the Goderich Celtic Roots Festival in Goderich, Ontario Canada. And a return to Caffe Lena in Saratoga Springs August 29th, for a Live Broadcast. But for now, please tune in on Friday, July 24^th for a Joe Jencks concert LIVE at The Ark.

In Gratitude & Song,

~ Joe Jencks

7-23-20

PS – Please see below an essay I wrote about John Lomax, and the lineage of a song I recently added to my repertoire from the Archives of American Folksong at The Library of Congress.

The Lineage of a Song - John A. Lomax & The Archives of American Folksong
Copyright 2020 Joe Jencks, Turtle Bear Music

I have on several occasions been asked to be a part of the Library of Congress, Folk Archives Challenge at the Folk Alliance International Conference. It’s always an honor and a good time. It is fun, relaxed, musically interesting and always educational. Musicians from all over the US and a few from other countries dive into the L.O.C. Folk Archives and resurrect some song that has fallen by the wayside. Or they render a new version of an old chestnut, and in so doing help us hear an old song in a new way. I always enjoy the concert that is assembled from musicians who have chosen to participate. It never fails to enlighten and delight.

I have to admit in all honesty that at least once, I trolled the archives for songs I already knew, and picked one of them. Based on looking at people’s albums/ song titles and comparing that to what was performed in concerts at the conference, I am clearly not the only one who has taken the road more traveled now and then.

But this year, this year I dove deep. I looked through dozens of songs and went deep down the rabbit hole of songs relating to work and chain gangs in the south, and prison yard songs. And the song I emerged with was, “Take Dis Hammer.” I am glad I did not know that it was a song well known in Blues and Bluegrass circles. If so, I might have stopped there with a rendition offered by Lead Belly or Odetta, or Flatt & Scruggs. Or one of a dozen other versions done by blues artists over the last 80 years. But because I found it in the archives of The American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress and in a Lomax field recording first, that was what I listened to.

I was moved by the voices I heard in those old John Lomax recordings, from a prison yard in Florida in 1939. He captured something powerful. As I listened, I imagined things that had not yet transpired when these songs were recorded. Nelson Mandela on a chain gang in a prison yard on Robben Island, in South Africa. Mohandas Gandhi and the peak of the Satyagraha movement, Martin Luther King Jr. and the marches, rallies and movements for Civil Rights yet to emerge. Black Lives Matter, and so much more.

John A. Lomax was a pioneering and visionary musicologist. Much of what we know about American Folk music from various eras before recording technology was accessible to most people, is because of John Lomax, his wives Bess & Ruby and his sons John Lomax Jr., Alan Lomax and daughter Bess Lomax. They transcribed by hand, and made field recordings of countless songs in a multitude of genres, preserving the musical styles that were endemic to certain regions or trades, or cultural sub-sets. And the Library of Congress Folk Archives are a true treasure trove of the extraordinary, including but by no means limited to the Lomax Collections.

John A. Lomax co-founded the Texas Folklore Society at the University of Texas in Austin in about 1908. The date is disputed, but in 1909, he nominated co-founder Professor Leonidas Payne to be President of the society. John A Lomax went on to help found Folklore Societies across the United States. His direct mentor at Harvard (which was at the time the center of American Folklore Studies, a field of study considered a subset of English Literature) was George Lyman Kittredge. Kittredge was a scholar of Shakespearean Literature and of Chaucer. He had inherited the position of Professor of English Literature from none other than Francis James Child. Child is known for his 8-volume lifetime work: Popular Ballads of England and Scotland. The work was unfinished at the time of Child’s passing, and Kittredge finished the work as well as continuing to teach several of the courses Child had taught. Lomax had a fine pedigree in sound research methods, and was likely the first to transcend the idea of American Folklore as a subset of English Literature and thus is appreciated in many circles as the progenitor of a new discipline: American Folklore a.k.a. American Ethnomusicology.

In 1910, Lomax published: Cowboy Songs and Other Frontier Ballads, with a forward by none other than the recently retired President of the United States and aficionado of the American West, Theodore Roosevelt. It was quite a feather in the cap of a relatively young Lomax. But his truest musical love were songs that rose out of African American culture. And he was soon to find his way into the pursuit of many more forms of American Folklore. Lomax was the first to present papers to the Modern Language Association about American Literature in the form of uniquely American Ballads and Songs. He took to the lecture circuit while continuing to teach, publish, and make field recordings eventually with the help of his sons Alan and John Jr., and daughter Bess. Spanning several decades, John Lomax contributed over ten-thousand recordings to the Archive of American Folksong, at the Library of Congress.

At first the recordings were in the form of transcriptions and transliterations of the oral traditions he encountered. Old school. Lomax wrote them down. But as recording technologies improved and became more portable, Lomax was always on the leading edge of the latest capacity to record. In 1917, he was let go from his university position in Texas, over broader political battles within the institution, and was forced to take a job in the banking industry for several years in Chicago. But he became life-long friends with poet Carl Sandburg while he was there, and is referenced many times in Sandburg’s book Songbag (1927). In 1925, Lomax moved back to Texas to work for a larger bank there, but obviously being in banking became disastrous in the fall of 1929. In 1931, his beloved wife Bess Lomax died at age 50, and Lomax also lost his job when the bank for which he worked, failed as a result of The Great Depression.

In 1933, John A. Lomax got a grant from the American Society of Learned Studies and acquired a state-of-the-art phonograph, an uncoated aluminum disc recorder. At 315 pounds, he and Alan mounted it in the trunk of the family Ford sedan, and went off adventuring. John was finally able to pursue the archiving the musical and narrative memory of a quickly passing generation of African Americans. Many of his subjects were in prisons, but that was by no means the sum of his contact with the African American community. He did however recognize that Jim Crow and other racist practices had created a situation where a disproportionate number of African American men were imprisoned. And because many had been there for a long time, they had not been influenced by radio and recordings. The oral traditions were still alive in the prisons of the south in particular, and in ways that they were no longer present in other parts of the country.

It was in one such prison that Lomax met Lead Belly. And while many have accused John Lomax of somehow misappropriating ideas from Lead Belly, history from many angles suggests that Lomax was a staunch advocate for Lead Belly. Lomax advocated earnestly for Lead Belly’s release from prison, and while causality is hard to trace, Lead Belly was in fact released in August of 1934. The Lomax Family helped Lead Belly get work singing African American songs throughout the North Eastern US, and with the advice of legendary Western singer Tex Ritter, also helped Lead Belly get his first recording contract. John Lomax and Lead Belly had a falling out over the managing of finances in 1935, and never spoke to one another again. Alan Lomax however, remained a stalwart friend and an advocate of Lead Belly’s for the next 15 years, until Lead Belly’s death in 1949.

Though it is not clearly documented, it is very likely that Lead Belly himself learned Take Dis Hammer from the Lomax field recordings. He however only sang a few of the traditional verses, and invented his own version. He was prone to personalize many of the songs he sang and recorded, and was known to embellish on the historic record from time to time if it made a good story. In short, he was a Folksinger and Bluesman in good standing.

My version of Take Dis Hammer was derived mostly from the field recordings made by John, Alan, and Ruby Terrill Lomax, John’s second wife. There was no available transcription of the original field recordings which were made in 1939 at the Florida State Prison known as Raiford Penitentiary. These recordings were part of a series from the Southern States Recording Trip. So I listened, and listened, and listened again, at least 100 times. And I still could not discern certain words and phrases.

So, I spoke with Jennifer Cutting and Dr. Stephen Winick (with whom I am occasionally confused in public gatherings and always take it as a compliment) at The American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. I explained the problem in trying to resurrect the original recorded version. They responded kindly that I should consider recovering as many of the original words as possible, and use my knowledge of the idiom, the period, and my capacity as a songwriter to fill in the gaps. So, I did. I also included a re-write of a verse that I traced to one of the Flatt & Scruggs recordings, and as a proper homage, I included a slight adaptation of one of Lead Belly’s verses. But the last verse was largely unintelligible. As such, I lifted what I could and made up the rest with knowledge of the context. Words I wrote to infill for inaudible words, or just invented to fit the context are italicized and in bold.

I will note that the Flatt & Scruggs influenced verse about the shackles, does not appear in any of the Lomax field recordings. But I liked it. And since it seemed like everyone else had just invented it – I invented a version that I felt was more in keeping with the original Prison Yard recordings both in cadence and language. And that is the lineage of one rendition of a Folk Song.

Thank Dis Hammer / Take This Hammer

Take this hammer, hammer and give it to the captain
Take this hammer, hammer and give it to the captain
Won’t you Take this hammer, and give it to the captain
(Won’t you) Tell him I’m gone, Lord tell him I’m gone

And if he asks you, asks you was I running
And if he asks you, asks you was I running
And if he asks you, asks you was I running
Tell ‘m I was flyin’, Lord I was flyin’

Captain, captain this ole hammer too heavy
Captain, captain this ole hammer too heavy
Captain, captain this ole hammer too heavy
For the likes of man, for the likes of man

Must be the hammer, hammer that killed John Henry
Must be the hammer, hammer that killed John Henry
Must be the hammer, hammer that killed John Henry
But it won’t kill me, no it won’t kill me

This ole hammer, hammer shines like silver
This ole hammer, hammer shines like silver
This ole hammer, hammer shines like silver
But it rings like gold, lord it rings like gold

Flatt & Scruggs Bluegrass Verse
I don’t want, your old darn shackles
I don’t want, your old darn shackles
I don’t want, your old darn shackles
‘Cause it hurts my leg, ‘cause it hurts my leg

Odetta Verse
I don’t want your cold iron shackles
I don’t want your cold iron shackles
I don’t want your cold iron shackles
Around my leg boys. Around my leg.

Joe Jencks Adaptation – more in keeping with the original Prison Yard cadence and language
Don’t you make me wear, wear these old cold shackles
Don’t you make me wear, wear these old cold shackles
Don’t you make me wear, wear these old cold shackles
‘Cause they wound my soul, Lord they wound my soul

Lead Belly Verse… JJ Adaptation to meet cadence of Prison Yard
Twenty-five miles, alone in Mississippi
Twenty-five miles, alone in Mississippi
Twenty-five miles, alone in Mississippi
Tell him I’m gone, oh Lord tell him I’m gone

Joe Jencks Verse – best guess based on cadence and audibility of
Lord I’m coming, to that Jordan water
Lord I’m coming, to that Jordan water
Lord I’m coming, to that Jordan water
Don’t you let me drown, Lord don’t let me drown

As a result of my work with this song, I was awarded a small grant to continue my research into the Library of Congress Folk Archives. And I will record a “tiny-desk” type concert for the Library of Congress Folk Archives this summer that will be released through the Library of Congress on Wednesday September 2nd, and remain part of the L.O.C. Archives in perpetuity. The focus of my work on this project will continue in the vein of prison and work songs from the Lomax Recordings. We will have a watch party at 12:30 PM ET / 11:30 AM CT on Wednesday September 2^nd. Si Kahn will offer a set at Noon ET/ 11:00 AM CT on the same day. Stay tuned to www.joejencks.com for more details. And do yourself a favor, troll around the Library of Congress Folk Archives and the Archive of American Folksong. But be forewarned, you will definitely get delightfully lost.

~ Joe Jencks
7-21-20

Dear Friends,

As we all strive to make sense of the world around us, I am reminded of how deeply we need community. We have adapted and shifted. We have learned to make and wear masks. We have learned social distancing, and we have learned both how to create and to enjoy music in new ways. We have also learned how to be agents of positive change in new ways. We are adaptive creatures, and I have faith that this marvelous music community that is our common thread, will continue to roll with whatever comes next. It’s how we do.

I was privileged to go on a retreat a few years back at The Highlander Center in Tennessee, one of the true birthplaces of the modern Civil Rights Movement. While there I had an amazing conversation with Bernice Johnson Reagon, one of the original Freedom Singers and founder of Sweet Honey In The Rock. She said, “In community a song is not just sung, it is raised up! A song leader needs to understand the difference between singing for themselves and singing for the community. A song leader cannot lift a song and the weight of its meaning and intentions alone, they lead a community in raising up a song, together.”

Whatever our song, may we learn better how to raise it up together, to heal what is broken and build a more hopeful future for all of us. Racism, bigotry, and anti-Semitism are problems that belong to all of us. And healing the wounds of these deep hurts can and should be the work of us all.

To that end, I am offering a free concert in partnership with The Garden Stage on Long Island. Friday June 26th at 8:00 PM ET/ 7:00 PM CT/ 6:00 PM MT/ 5:00 PM Pacific

Joe Jencks in Concert: Fan Favorites & Requests.
Have a FAV Joe Jencks song? Send me a note before 2:00 PM on Friday and I’ll try to work it in. Live Link: https://youtu.be/7cQ7kxDhObc

Fish Painting - Acrylic on River Rock - by Kate Blain, 2020

On Saturday June 27th, I will be appearing on Folk Music Notebook as one of the performers in a virtual Old Songs Festival. The festival will run on FMN Friday, Saturday and Sunday. www.folkmusicnotebook.com

Saturday June 27th, will also see me offer a guest set in a virtual concert hosted by the Getting’ Higher Choir, in Victoria, BC. This is a fundraiser for The Caia Connection – a community foundation in Mozambique. Other guest artists include Shari Ulrich, and Ann Mortifee.
http://www.gettinhigherchoir.ca
https://www.caiaconnection.org

Wednesday July 1^st – I will be the first artist in a new series hosted by the Woodstock Folk Festival in Woodstock, IL. Woodstock Wednesdays. Check their website for more details: https://woodstockfolkfestival.org

Last but not least, also on Wednesday July 1st and again on Sunday July 5th a special Fourth of July episode of my monthly radio show will broadcast on Folk Music Notebook.

My Highway Home, episode 2.6: We The People ?
Wednesday July 1st at 9:00 PM ET / 6:00 PM Pacific
Sunday July 5th at 1:00 PM ET/ 10:00 AM Pacific
www.folkmusicnotebook.com

Most of us have been watching, listening, considering. Some of us have been marching, demonstrating, protesting, giving what we know how to give. Some of us have been donating food, medical supplies, time, and attention to various branches of this revival of the Civil Rights Movement. Some of us have been writing checks, some of us have been writing songs, and others have been singing those songs. All of us are affected. None of us are untouched by the long legacy of racism in this country, and none of us are immune to the long-term impact of the unanswered questions, the half-truths, the partial peace, and the myths about equality.

However imperfectly, please keep showing up. Listen to the voices of diversity all around us. Ask questions, and question answers. March and demonstrate. Write letters, give money to legal defense funds, paint rocks with hopeful messages and leave them on walking trails. Make Covid-19 masks to give away to people at various Civil Rights gatherings. Ask leaders of color in your community how you can be most helpful, and then follow through. Learn how to help celebrate and uplift leaders of color in your community. Even if the work is not glamorous, it needs to be done. And if you have a specific skill and time on your hands, offer that skill to the movement in your area.

But no matter what keep singing. Keep singing the songs. Sing the old songs and now songs, write the new songs. Historically, the movement has never been stronger than when we were a singing movement. Let’s continue to be a singing movement, even from a distance.

~ Joe Jencks
6-25-20

Live-Stream Concert: Fan Requests and Favorites
YouTube Live Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cQ7kxDhObc

Dear Friends,

We had a rally and march last Saturday in DeKalb, IL and again this past Wednesday in Sycamore. IL. I was moved deeply that many hundreds of people showed up from DeKalb, Sycamore, and surrounding communities. And while I would not call the demonstrations peaceful, they were both powerful and justice-driven raising of voices, in anger and in solidarity. People of color led the way, and many allies from different places and communities joined the events in support of racial justice for all, in every sector of our society.

Here are a few pictures from the DeKalb demonstration, and some words from Minneapolis-based artist, author, and liberation leader, Ricardo Levins Morales. Some of you know his work from the Movements as a globally recognized visual artist. Some of you know his work from three of my album covers. Whether or not you know his work, please follow the links below to see images and read his thoughts which are insightful and invaluable.

In Solidarity,

~ Joe Jencks
6-2-20

From Ricardo Levins Morales:

"Note: I was asked by SURJ (Showing Up for Racial Justice – a group which organizes white folks against racism) to write a few paragraphs offering a perspective on white solidarity. It was to open a national organizing conference call. What I wrote follows:

White people are taught that racism is a personal attribute, an attitude, maybe a set of habits. Anti-racist whites invest too much energy worrying about getting it right; about not slipping up and revealing their racial socialization; about saying the right things and knowing when to say nothing. It’s not about that. It’s about putting your shoulder to the wheel of history; about undermining the structural supports of a system of control that grinds us under, that keeps us divided even against ourselves and that extracts wealth, power and life from our communities like an oil company sucks it from the earth.

The names of the euro-descended anti-racist warriors we remember – John Brown, Anne Braden, Myles Horton – are not those of people who did it right. They are of people who never gave up. They kept their eyes on the prize – not on their anti-racism grade point average.

This will also be the measure of your work. Be there. No one knows how to raise a child but we do it anyway. We don’t get it right. The essential thing is that we don’t give up and walk away. Don’t get me wrong. It is important to learn and improve and become wise in the ways of struggle – or of parenting. But that comes with time. It comes after the idea of not being in the struggle no longer seems like an option.

One more thing. You may not get the validation you hunger for. Stepping outside of the smoke and mirrors of racial privilege is hard, but so is living within the electrified fences of racial oppression – and no one gets cookies for that. The thing is that when you help put out a fire, the people whose home was in flames may be too upset to thank and praise you – especially when you look a lot like the folks who set the fire. That’s OK. This is about something so much bigger than that.

There are things in life we don’t get to do right. But we do get to do them."

~ Ricardo Levins Morales

Dear Friends,

As I look out the window at the first sun we have seen in northern Illinois in a few days, I find that I am grateful for the arrival of spring this year. Grateful in ways I have not been since I lived in Seattle, and could go 40-50 days in the winter without seeing the sun. I need the hope of sunlight. And I need the metaphor of the brighter future that it implies.

I am keenly aware of the immensity of suffering in the world at present, and wishing I could do more to alleviate the deep sense of loss so many of us feel as we grieve friends or family who have passed. We grow overwhelmed as we try to comprehend the global magnitude of the pandemic, and wonder what this will mean for our individual and collective future. Each day is a new step in that journey. Each day there is something more to be grateful for, and each day there is something that causes more sadness. And each day we begin again, to do our best and give what we are able.

To that end, I have been in Technology Boot Camp for three weeks in my home studio. And victoriously, I announce that I am finally ready to offer quality Live-Stream performances for the community. I can’t solve the problems of the world, but I can keep loving the world deeply through my music and performances.

I have three, publicly accessible Live-Stream events in the month of May. All are by donation. We are all reassessing our resources and how we use and share them wisely. And I want anyone who is interested, to be able to watch these performances regardless of any current economic challenges. Hope and beauty remain powerful allies. I give what I can freely.

All three of these performances will be streamed through my new YouTube channel
Joe Jencks Music Official.
Link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjcW_SPVdP2MXL121sCoBYw

PLEASE SUBSRIBE to the Joe Jencks Music Official channel. It is free. Many people have asked if they could do something to help me out. Presently the quickest and most helpful single step is to subscribe to the channel. YouTube offers different tools to artists and musicians, based on the number of subscribers we have. I just started a new channel this week and have over 200 subscribers. When I cross over 1000 subscribers I will get access to more nuanced creative capacity. I am hoping this newsletter will lift it over that mark.

I will post new videos and content on the channel over the coming weeks. Here is a song I posted today I invite you to listen. Love Will Guide My Way Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luesujwDxgQ

And, please join me for any or all three of the upcoming Live-Stream concerts. A donation button will be listed. Give as you are able, and receive as my gift to you.

May 9 at 7:30 PM ET / 4:30 Pacific, I will be presenting a concert in partnership with Focus Music in the DC area. I was scheduled to be performing for them live on May 9^. And so I shall.
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgOuFwdXfJM&feature=youtu.be

May 15 at 7:00 PM ET / 4:00 PM Pacific, I will be presenting in partnership with Acoustic StayAway Concerts - The Folk Project in New Jersey.
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-u08uTD_Hbg&feature=youtu.be

May 23 at 8:00 PM CT / 6:00 PM Pacific, I will be presenting a special Solidarity Concert in partnership with MayWorks! Winnipeg, MB Canada. MayWorks! is an amazing organization dedicated to the history, and future of workers everywhere.
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKXBs0EvLF0&feature=youtu.be

You may also read an essay I wrote about John Prine via the NEWS tab on my homepage
Link: https://www.joejencks.com/news/f/News/2910
Live-Stream concert listings and updates can be found in the TOUR DATES tab on this website.

My you be well, and may you find comfort in music and community, wherever we may be!

In Gratitude and Song,

Joe Jencks

5-6-20

If you missed the Caffe Lena show you can access it here! Thanks for your support

If you want to make a contribution to Joe's music, radio show, new CD, or just leave a tip in the virtual tip jar, please do so via PayPal: joejencks@hotmail.com. Thanks!




Dear Friends in Music,

I hope this finds you as well as can be. My heart is with so many people in so many places right now, around the world and in our respective neighborhoods. I have been moved by stories of kindness, courage, and compassion. And I have wept to hear of losses both abstract and distant, as well as nearer and more personal.

But I continue to believe in the power of music and art, poetry and beauty to help ease the burden in times of sadness and to help lend joie de vivre to those small triumphs and joys.

Cooking has become a more intentional and meditative practice while sheltering. Daily walks in the woods as I can find them, or on the sidewalk keep me moving and alert and connected to the world. Even at a proper social distance. Video chats and Zoom meeting are now the norm even for the technological luddite, and the digi.verse is sovereign ruler of most efforts to connect.

And through it all, I still see hope. Spring is happening. People are rising to the occasion in so many ways and in so many places. I am grateful for our healthcare workers and grocery store clerks. I am grateful for the sanitation workers and truck drivers and Postal deliveries. And I remain grateful for the tremendous caliber of people with whom I am blessed to be in community. Folk, Roots, Americana, and other music communities, spiritual communities of all stripes, communities of solidarity and action, labor and working people’s organizations and various unions, all have been continuing to do what they aspire to do, love through all things and be points of light shining through the fog. I am grateful.

There have been many concerts postponed and some cancellations. But to a one, every concert presenter has been kind, gracious, and community minded as we all work together to keep ourselves engaged and connected, and try to plan for the unknowable. For that, I am also grateful. A list of reschedule dates is at the end of this email. And more info will be posted about virtual and digital performances in my next newsletter. Stay well, and be kind.

In Gratitude and Song,

~ Joe

What A Long Strange Trip, it’s Going To Be?
Copyright 2020 Joe Jencks, Turtle Bear Music

I was a teenager when I first heard the Grateful Dead song: Truckin (What A Long Strange Trip It’s Been). I remember thinking that I liked the groove, and the melody, and the cadence of the poetry. But I did not understand it. Some of it was related to a culture, about which I could only imagine. Some of it was related to a culture I never wanted to be a part of in the first place. But some of it was about exactly what I wanted to become, a full-time touring road musician.

30 years later, I understand this song on a different level. Especially now, I have begun to resonate with the last few stanzas of the lyrics:

You're sick of hangin' around and you'd like to travel
Get tired of travelin', you want to settle down
I guess they can't revoke your soul for tryin'
Get out of the door and light out and look all around

Sometimes the light's all shinin' on me
Other times, I can barely see
Lately, it occurs to me
What a long, strange trip it's been

Truckin', I'm a goin' home
Whoa, whoa, baby, back where I belong
Back home, sit down and patch my bones
And get back truckin' on

When Covid-19 started making the headlines, I never thought that I would be living out the plot of a Michael Creighton Sci-Fi suspense thriller from the home of friends, or from the front seat of my 2014 Toyota Camry. (201,000 miles and going strong, for those keeping count.) I’m guessing I will have an unprecedentedly small number of additional miles on the old boy this year. Sir William is his name, Bill to his friends. He is a great road companion. ith a regular rotation of various Beanie Babies that reside on my dash-board, we have traveled cross-continent in the US and Canada many times. We have driven from just south of Hudson Bay to the southern tip of Florida, and he’s been a true road-dog and a reliable roadie throughout.

It was Goldie before that, a 2003 Honda Civic (Thanks Deb! Goldie’s previous caretaker.) Before Goldie it was Bessie. Yes, named after Bessie Smith. That was my other Toyota Camry – a 2005. AMAZING trunk space in that car. Good for stashing a lot of road gear. She also made 200K before our ways parted tragically, when she was stolen. I got to say goodbye – but it was hard. And before Bessie there was Bertie. Short for Bertha, she was my 2000 Saturn Station Wagon. I bought a Saturn because Bob Franke drove a Saturn. And he even wrote his Saturn into a blues song of his. Go and buy yourself a Saturn, Get you to the gig on time.

If it was good enough for Bob Franke, one of my all-time favorite writers, it was good enough for me.

Early in the fall of 2000, I took a big leap. I had been touring regionally for several years in the NW, based out of Seattle. But I decided to drop the day gig, and hit the road full-time. I bought a new car while I still had a credible job, bought a brand-new James Goodall - Koa Concert Jumbo guitar, and then quit my job. I have looked in the rearview mirror a few times, but I have never really looked back.

On my first truly national tour, which was a marvelous success much to my own surprise, I brought along some of my favorite CDs. The Grateful Dead’s American Beauty, and Working Man’s Dead. Queen, Jackson Brown, Bachman Turner Overdrive, America, Willie Nelson, Jim Croce, Tret Fure, Bob Franke, and many other recordings that had ignited my imagination for life on the road. But I digress.

What I really wanted to know, was if those songs and records made more sense to me now that I actually WAS a touring road musician. I felt good, listening while I was driving. And touring from Seattle as a home-base meant that I did a LOT of driving. In ways, the songs did make more sense to me. Especially Jackson Brown’s Running On Empty. Portions of those performances were recorded live, on the tour bus, while they were driving. I resonate with that whole album more and more as I continue to grow into my years on the road. A certain sincerity resides in the recording that transcends the Zeitgeist of time and place, and sings into any given present moment, uniquely and authentically.

Buddhist meditation is at its heart, a practice of letting go of our past worries, releasing the unknown future, and bringing our consciousness into the present moment. Many of us are afraid of the future, and miss out on the present moment because of it. Many of us are afraid of the present moment and the chaos and uncertainty it seems to hold. But for most of us, the present moment is benign. The present moment is resident in each breath we take and each thought we have. And in some small but important ways, we can shape the next moment with how we spend this one.

We can choose to take a deep breath, notice the song of a bird, notice the laughter of a child, the sun on our skin or the wind in our face. We can choose to notice the blossom of a flower or the art hanging on the wall. We can choose to notice the abundance of resource we still have access to in our homes, and in the world. We can remember that our ancestors survived many trials and tribulations to bring us into this moment. And we can honor them by actually being in this moment. Again, and again.

That is what music is and what music does. It brings us into this moment, whether we are playing and singing or listening to a recording or broadcast, we can become lost in the expansive and ever eternal NOW.

Jerry Garcia discovered scuba diving late in his life. He did not know it would be late in his life at the time. He was only five years older than me when he died. Sobering. But the point is that he spent a lifetime searching for the eternal NOW. He found it in music, and he found it in mind-altering substances and experiences. But when he found scuba diving, he said that he wished he had found it years earlier in his life. I heard him say once in an NPR interview, “I would never had had to use all those drugs, if I had known that such beauty and serenity existed just a few feet below the surface of the water.” How about that?

Jerry was always Truckin’. But he did find the eternal now in many ways. And he encouraged younger people to try and find it without so many drugs. He passed no moral judgement on himself or others for substance use or abuse. But he was aware that it had taken a toll on his body and longevity. I am aware that people just assume if you’re a fan of The Dead that you also partake. Maybe, maybe not. Your call. What matters is the spiritual principal that Jerry was chasing, and that I chase every time I pick up an instrument, sing a song, go for a walk in the woods, get lost in making art of any form, or settle into the Zen of cooking a really good meal.

But, especially when we do something kind for another, we are residing in the eternal now. Because we are transcending our own suffering and offering our consciousness to be in service to another. In those moments, our mind is no longer chained to our regrets or fears in the same way. We are busy being in this moment. We are in the now, and very likely adding to another’s joy in the future. We are banking tranquility, or equanimity as the Buddhists call it, for when we need a little more ourselves.

There is always now. It is a comfort and a solace. And now is the only time in which I can become a better musician, author, artist, recording engineer, cook, or chase any other desire or idea. I can prepare for the future, I can plan. But we have all seen what happens to our plans when we hit a major road bump. But in this moment, in the now, this is when I exist.

So, I made some art last night. I cooked some good food. I will pick up an instrument when I am done writing, and bank some practice time. I will offer up any discomfort or difficulty I experience with the intention that my efforts will bring someone else a needed moment of solace. And when I perform that piece of music I labored over, I will not remember the effort, I will live in the eternal now, trying to sing and play just a little better than last time.

I encourage you to sing, create, and play your instruments more frequently as well. It is such a marvelous practice. It relieves stress, and helps us bring beauty into the world. Even if you are a beginner, make some music. It will help ease whatever is dragging your mind into the past or future. It will help you notice this moment. I promise!

I won’t be scuba diving anytime soon. And I do feel in some moments like I’m, Running on Empty. But there is always the eternal now. And I will make it back home eventually, or redefine what and where home is. Either way… I’ll keep Truckin’.

I hope you will too!

Truckin', got my chips cashed in
Keep truckin', like the do-dah man
Together, more or less in line
Just keep truckin' on…

Joe Jencks
April 1st, 2020

If you missed the Caffe Lena show you can access it here! Thanks for your support



In This Newsletter

1. Greetings and Updates
2. Ways to keep the music flowing & new CD info
3. Support for AFM Local 1000’s Emergency Relief Fund
4. Adventures from Joe’s Kitchen

Dear Friends in Music,

I believe there is an ancient Taoist saying, a blessing or a curse depending on the context: May you live in interesting times.

We do.

I hope all of you are in safe places, in regular contact with your loved ones, and taking the appropriate precautions to stay well and healthy as can be, in all ways: Body, Mind, Spirit, Heart and Soul. It will be easy in the coming weeks to feel isolated and alone. Please remember, you are not alone. Please reach out to friends, family, neighbors, acquaintances, co-workers, and even your touring musician friends! If it feels appropriate, do so under the pretext of making sure that they are OK. But know in your heart, that it is also part of making sure you are OK too.

I have been contacted by MANY people I know from 21 years on the road. All of whom were worried about what happens to me as so many concerts are cancelled. My first answer is that I chose the life of an itinerant bard, knowing that it was an ascetic path. Knowing that it was inherently a life of austerity, compared to many other professions. But in truth, as more and more concerts and events are being postponed, rescheduled for 2021, or just outright cancelled, I am becoming more aware of how precarious this could be for so many people.

Nonetheless, I am committed to keep the music flowing in as many ways as I am able. Because art and music are part of how we mitigate the feeling of isolation, and continue to be culturally connected. And that will keep us pointed in a good direction!

Today at Noon ET (11 CT/ 10 MTN/ 9 AM PT), a special St Patrick’s Day broadcast of my radio show, My Highway Home will air on www.folkmusicnotebook.com, featuring stories from my travels in Ireland, and music from artists I have met there over the years.

Friday, March 20^th at 8:00 PM ET (5:00 PM PT) I will be giving a Live Streaming Concert from the historic Folk institution Caffe Lena in Saratoga Springs, NY. You can link in for free from my website www.joejencks.com, from the Caffe Lena website www.caffelena.org or through the Facebook event and watch a Joe Jencks concert from the comfort and safety of wherever you are. A donation link will be set up and all donation s will be split 50/50 with Caffe Lena. This will help me deal with dozens of lost performances, and it will also help Caffe Lena keep the doors open until things get better. And they WILL get better.

If you also want to keep supporting my work as a musician, and that of many other touring artists but you are not sure how to do so, here are a few other options:

1. I am ALWAYS happy to take on a songwriting or composing commission. For yourself or as a gift to a family member, for your organization, for your church or synagogue, I am delighted to create new music or arrangements in your honor. Just send an email to me at: joe@joejencks.com or reply to this newsletter.

2. I will be offering more online content in the coming weeks, new songs, some videos of performances, and more frequent essays on my website www.joejencks.com. Please feel free to tune in, invite friends, share on social media

3. I will gratefully accept any support you can offer via PayPal. From a few dollars to 100 dollars, to as much as you can share to help me keep serving the needs of building community through music and art. Send Virtual Tips via PayPal to: joejencks@hotmail.com

4. On April 1^st, I will launch a Crowd Funding campaign for my new CD. I have a slew of new songs that I am eager to share. And many of you have been asking when you would be able to get specific songs on CD or for download. The answer is, this year! And since I now have more time than expected, I will dive into recording this spring! Stay tuned for an April 1^st newsletter with more information. No fooling.

5. The American Federation of Musicians, AFM Local 1000 has been my Musician’s Union Local for 20+ years. And they are a great organization. Chartered specifically to serve the independent touring artists in the Folk and Americana/Roots communities, AFL Local 1000 has been a stalwart ally of the working road musicians for nearly 30 years. We have an Emergency Relief Fund (ERF) that helps provide for our members in times of need. 100% of all donations to the AFM Local 1000 ERF will go to working musicians in need, during this time of uncertainty. Please consider a donation of any size to AFM Local 1000’s Emergency Relief Fund. Representing over 500 musical artists throughout the US and Canada, I guarantee some of your favorite touring musicians are members!

https://www.local1000.org/product/emergency-relief-fund

Please check my website regularly for re-scheduled concerts and new events: www.joejencks.com

I know this feels like a really scary time for so many people. Whether it is because we are worried about illness for ourselves or our loved ones, whether we are afraid of losing our jobs, or our retirement in the stock market. Where we are concerned about how to deal with our needs emotionally or physically as we all self-quarantine for safe keeping, WE ARE NOT ALONE! We are in this together. And when we keep helping each other even in the smallest of ways, we are reminded of that fact. We are in truth and in deed part of so many larger communities. And beyond the logistical challenges and fears, we can always return to a place of loving kindness. We can return to a place of centeredness by taking a deep breath and asking ourselves: How may I be of service to someone today?

Do an extra kindness for your dog or cat or pet. Write a letter to a friend, colleague, or another person you know who would revel in an old-fashioned piece of hand-written correspondence. Pick up the phone and call someone with whom you have not spoken in far too long. If you are running to the store, ask a neighbor if they need anything? Try cooking new things. Share pictures of your creations online. Pull out some construction paper and glue and go back to 2^nd grade for 1/2 an hour. See what happens? Been wanting to wrote that story or novel, go for it. Now is the time!

Be safe, be well, and know that you are part of a larger community of people who care about you! Count me among them.

In Gratitude and Song,

Joe Jencks

3-17-20

PS. Regarding culinary adventures, MANY of you know I LOVE TO COOK! So… I will also start sharing some Adventures from Joe’s Kitchen. Here is the story of how a little bit of effort created 3 days of joy!

I baked a small pork roast on Friday. I rubbed a little lime juice on the roast first. Then I used a dry rub of chili powder, garlic powder, cumin, sea salt, and black pepper. I lined the bottom of a small roasting pan with about 6 medium sized potatoes cut into round slices about 1/4 to 1/3 of an inch thick. It turned out to be about three layers of potato slices in my small roaster. But that depends on the size of the roaster and the size of the roast. You may need more potatoes. Anyway, I placed the roast on the spuds, and poured about 1/2 a cup of red wine and about 1 cup of vegetable broth in the bottom of the roaster. Covered and cooked the thing for like 2.5 hours at about 375. Note: I applied the lime juice and dry rub, after I put the roast atop the potatoes, in the roaster. FYI. I don’t want you to have lime juice all over your counter.

On the first night, we just had some really marvelous carnitas and potatoes that were as yummy as any I have ever had. I sautéed some asparagus and that was dinner!

On Saturday, I took the leftover carnitas, and pulled it apart further with my fingers and put it in a skillet with a little more chili powder, a little more garlic and a little more salt. I sautéed the carnitas until it got a little crispy. Meanwhile, I was making a slaw of jicama, red cabbage, and thinly sliced raw white onion. The dressing was mayo, Sambal Olek (Thai) Chili Sauce, and a dash of salt, lime juice, and sugar. I also warmed corn tortillas in a pan with a little olive oil (one at a time in a small omelet pan). And grated some of my all-time favorite cheese in the whole world: Washing State’s own Cougar Gold!

So… Street Tacos! Carnitas, corn tortillas, jicama slaw, and a little swanky cheese for garnish. YUM!!!

On Sunday morning, I took those leftover potatoes from Friday night, and I cooked them in a non-stick skillet for about 30 minutes on medium low heat. I wanted to crisp them up slowly. And turn them every so often. They were full of all of that amazing merged flavor of the broth and wine and carnitas. And they did crisp up nicely! And with a few shreds of the carnitas left in the spuds, it was simply the best hash ever! WOW. Served with a Cougar Gold cheese omelet and some fruit salad. YUM again!

Bon appetite!

I cook Vegetarian food too. So, those of you who are not meat eaters – stay tuned. I will throw you a carrot too! - JJ

:-)

Dear Friends in Music,

I hope February is off to a good start for all of you.

February is an auspicious month in many regards. February 1st is the feast day of the Catholic Saint Brigid. Brigid is the namesake of my mother’s people in Ireland – Kilbride (church or servants of Brigid). In the ancient Celtic calendar, it is called Imbolc. The feast of the goddess Brigid and the 1st day of spring! And it is my birthday. Feels like a good day to have come into the world.

February is also Black History month. In case you have not recently read up on him, I recommend learning more about Dr. George Washington Carver. He is not celebrated nearly enough in my opinion. And he was so much more than a guy who worked with Peanuts. A true renaissance man. February also holds St. Valentine’s Day and President’s Day. And it is the birth month of many fine Aquarius and Pisces people, the 11^th and 12^th signs of the western astrological Zodiac.

This February finds me first in New York state – performing this weekend for Old Songs in Voorheesville, NY this Friday night. Then down to NYC for a concert at the People’s Voice Café with my dear friend – Rod MacDonald. We always have fun performing together, and this will be no exception. I’ve known Rod since I was in my teens and he is hands down one of my favorite songwriters.

Next weekend I will fly to Colorado for a couple appearances – specifically a concert for Quantum Arts at Avogadro’s Number in Fort Collins, hosted by Folk DJ Steve Brockway. Quantum Arts is one of the premier arts organizations on the front range in Colorado, and it is always a pleasure to sing for the good people with whom they are in community.

Then it’s home for the last part of February to begin work on my next recording project. More on that in the coming weeks and months.

Last but not least – you can tune in TONIGHT and SUNDAY to hear my radio show: My Highway Home. This week’s broadcast features an interview with the fabulous Canadian musician Al Parrish and his beloved life partner – Wendy Pearle. (Al was also born on February 1^st. Are you catching a theme yet?)

This episode of My Highway Home also features an ALL Canadian line-up of musicians including Dave Gunning, Maria Dunn, Ritchie - Parrish - Ritchie, Ken Whiteley, Gathering Sparks (Eve Goldberg & Jane Lewis), Ariane Lemir, Suzie Vinnick, Kim Beggs, Galitcha, and of course, Al Parrish.

I started this show last year – thanks to Ron Olesko’s invitation to contribute programming to the new All-Folk internet radio station – Folk Music Notebook. You can tune in tonight, February 5th at 9:00 PM ET/ 6:00 PM CT (also tonight at 2:00 AM ET/ 11:00 Pm Pacific), and on Sunday February 9^th, at 1:00 PM ET/ 10:00 Pacific. www.folkmusicnotebook.com.

May you be well in all things, and may your days be hopeful even on the coldest of winter days. Hope to see you at a concert soon!

In Gratitude and Song,

Joe Jencks

A New Year, A New Road

copyright 2020 – Joe Jencks, Turtle Bear Music

Music is all about indulging our creativity. We have infinite capacity as humans and as players and singers. The only limit on our creativity, is whether or not we continue our journey of exploration. And that is up to us. No matter what level you play at, or sing at, no matter how minimalist or virtuosic your efforts may be, there is always something to explore with music. Johannes Brahms once said, “Music is enough for a lifetime, but one lifetime is not enough for music.” Indeed.

I wish I could give a gift to every musician I know, from my professional colleagues to the gifted adult for whom it is an avocation, to the person or child who is just starting out. That gift would be this: a total lack of self-consciousness when it comes to exploring our instruments, our creativity, and our own potential.

I have been enamored by good symphonies my whole life. Even though I was a Vocal Performance major at conservatory, I loved symphonies. I loved chamber ensembles. I loved brass quintets. I loved solo cello recitals and Early Music wind ensembles every bit as much as I loved Folk and Jazz. In fact, I spent way more time in the listening library at the university with my head buried in symphonies than I did exploring other genres. Someday, I would like to compose for strings. And brass. And large choirs. I’ve scratched the itch on a few of my recordings by bringing in strings and brass, and I have been pleased with the results. But I want I want to know more, and I want to do more. I want to listen to a large ensemble of gifted musicians play something I composed.

A couple of years ago, I was privileged to perform at Merle Fest in North Carolina. It is an extraordinary music festival. While one would presume that it is specifically a Blue Grass festival, it encompasses a more diverse assembly of talent than perhaps any other festival at which I have been billed or have attended. And I think the reason for this marvelous rainbow of genres, is that the festival presents pretty much any quality music that flows downstream from the intersection of various traditions in Appalachia. Mountain music, Blues Grass, Dixieland, swing bands, Funk bands, Jazz, banjo players fronting orchestras, Bela Fleck and Abigail Washburn playing arrangements on two banjos that were nearly classical in their melodic interplay and counter melodies. Sam Bush - the legendary mandolin player – offering a set of Tom Petty songs on a Mando-Stratocaster (with full-on distortion and delays) remembering Petty’s contributions to art and culture, and people’s lives.

Of course there were a multitude of traditional Appalachian, Blue Grass, and Country acts there as well – ranging in style from the mid-1800s on up through Patsy Cline, to modern hipster urban New Grass. It was astonishing. An African American Funk band from Chicago, complete with a rhythm section and a stunning 7-piece horn line, was perhaps the biggest non-sequitur at first listen. But then I thought about the ways in which music from Appalachia came north during WWII – as people came north to work in factories – and it merged with other cultural forms in the cities of the north in ways that cultural bias would have prevented in the south. And I could see how deeply Funk was connected to other musical forms from the mountains. Merle Fest celebrates all of it. The many generations that have each taken the trad. music, and done something new with it.

But my most delighted moment at the festival was in listening to the Kruger Brothers. Jens and Uwe Kruger (pronounced Yens and Oo-veh), are well educated and practiced musicians. They grew up in Germany, and are accomplished in many regards. But they always loved Doc Watson’s music. And Jens learned to play the banjo like a true virtuoso, and Uwe learned to play guitar just like good ole Doc did. And they have created a stunningly inventive form of Blue Grass. Jens is also a composer. And as you listen to the Kruger Brothers play music together with their Bassist, Joel Landsberg, what you hear – were it transferred to strings - would be a piece of music to rival the finest of Bach’s concertos and string quartets. Stunning.

I was sitting on a hillside listening, and a guy came up to me and said, “Well those boys can sure play!” Which is absolutely true. But I am pretty sure he and I were not listening in the same way. I was listening to the extraordinary compositional expressions, the focused intent of the genuinely well developed and interleaved melodic lines, merging together in such complex sophistication, as to become a truly sublime sonic tapestry. But at break-neck Blue Grass speeds. One could play those same lines together on any other instruments – and they would still be as intricately beautiful. In fact, The Kruger Brothers have a concerto they perform regularly in collaboration with symphonies around the world, where the three of them front the orchestra in stunning fashion. I was blessed to hear them in Chicago in the summer of 2018.

There was a Merle Fest after party at Jens Kruger’s studio in NC, where I ended up in a nearly hour-long conversation with Jens. We discussed the music, the compositions, the specific themes and motifs and the ways that they were developed. We spoke of our favorite composers, Bach, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Copeland, Vaughn Williams, Berlioz and more. And I shared with Jens my secret desire to compose for strings and brass, and to write a larger symphonic work someday. He listened with excitement and joy.

And then he said, “If you have so many musical ideas, why aren’t you writing? I write in pieces. It never comes all at once, it comes a few lines here and there, and then you put it all together and then you orchestrate it. It’s very possible for you to do this thing. Why have you not done it already? Why have you not begun?”

And I explained my lack of formal education in compositional methods and techniques specifically for orchestral instruments. I talked about how much time I spend on the road, I talked about my performance schedule and various obligations, etc.

Jens listened very kindly. And then he reached across the table and took both of my hands into his own, with the tenderness one might use to console a child who is distraught. Then Jens said to me with the utmost compassion, “The job of an artist is to make art. Why are you making excuses? You hear the music in your head all the time, so you think other people hear it too. But they don’t. Not everyone goes through the world with music moving in their own head all day long. You must write it down! That way other people can enjoy it too.”

I was gob smacked. He was so kind, and so gentle, but so precise in his observation. I do make assumptions that other people have a self-generated 24-7-365 music station playing in their heads. It was the first time in my life that I had considered the possibility that it was not an accurate assumption. And Jens invited me to take on more challenging compositions. He offered to look over some scores when I have them ready for critique, and offered to help guide me whenever I am ready to dive into the deep end of that pool.

Have I done it yet? No. But that was only 18 months ago. And I have been busy on the road, and I have had family and community members in need, and… well… you know.

So… It is a new year. And I have a chance to walk a new road, along-side the one I now travel. Building a recording and composition space, working on a new album, educating myself on the limitless possibilities of writing for other instruments, producing records for other musicians and songsters, these are just a few of the long-term dreams. And I am only limited by my willingness or unwillingness to risk making mistakes and doing things poorly before I do them better. Anything is possible if I am willing to take the time and effort to explore and see what lies within.

What manner of creativity have you been forestalling? What would you be doing if it weren’t for job, kids, grandkids, parents, spouse, living situation, time, money, space, etc.?

One form of creativity leads to other forms of creativity. Cooking leads to melodies. Melodies lead to paintings. Paintings lead to songs, songs lead to other forms of expression, poetry, sculpture, and the cycle continues. The fact that we have our creative hat on leads to trying a new food, and a new spice, and that leads to lighting candles for dinner. That small effort leads to picking out an album you have not listened to in a LONG time, and that leads to a conversation with a friend who invites you over to a “paint your own pottery” party. And while you’re working with the clay… POW. There was another idea for a line in a song. Creativity begets creativity. It’s absolutely true.

So take a risk in the New Year. Do something creative that you have been stalling on for years. Take a risk at being bad at something just to shake it up. Try a new instrument, buy some paints and a few cheap canvases. Give it a whirl. Take a culinary class. Take dance lessons. Whatever gets the ball rolling on letting creativity be how we live, not just a thing we do. That is the new road for the New Year. Creativity in all things. (Except for taxes and accounting. You should probably be reasonably precise in those.) But in everything else – let exploration and a lack of self-consciousness be your guiding spirits. A new road, a new year, a new idea. It is already inside of us waiting to come out. I’ll take the plunge. Want to come along?

~ Joe Jencks

  1-18-20

What About Tiny Tim?

As the year begins to wind down, as the days keep getting shorter up here in the northern hemisphere, many of us pause to reflect on what the last year has been about. What have we accomplished? Did we keep any of the New Year’s resolutions? Did we make any progress? How are all those lists coming along? Where are we triumphant and joyful? Where are we feeling hopelessly mired and unable to see a clear pathway forward?

All of these are profoundly important questions to ask. And we live in a world that increasingly wants us to literally buy in to a way of measuring ourselves by our fiscal and material advances. So, asking these questions requires some intentionality around our schedules. We need to spend time with the people we love. We need to participate in whatever rituals and traditions help us honor the season. We need to have foods that remind us of the continuity of our own existence, and the ways in which we carry on making certain dishes the way mom, or dad, or grandma used to do it (as best as we can remember).

And in the midst of all of that, I think we also need to take a deep breath, and consider how well we are doing at caring for our long-term goals. Are we mending the relations that need mending? Are we honestly building a pathway forward that brings us more peace, joy, tranquility, or more actual satisfaction?

We live in a world that invitees us NOT to answer these questions, but rather to mirror an external vision of what we perceive or imagine happiness to look like. The woman in the magazine is sitting at a table with a cup of NAME BRAND coffee in her hand. She looks beautiful, joyful, and content as she wears a designer sweater that I could perhaps buy and sip that same BRAND of coffee with my friends. And then I would be happy like she is? Or maybe someone like her would go on a date with me? Or maybe I would attract the mate of my choosing if I were more like her/him/them?

Oy!

Yes, happiness is for each of us to chase and find on our own. But we cannot use an external yardstick to measure it. We need to slow down and grab whatever is for each of us, an emotional or spiritual plumb-bob. Gravity, nature, physics, and our own inner voice will tell us where we will find happiness. But we have to listen very carefully sometimes. We have to turn off the external comparisons long enough to notice where we felt content and when? What does bring us the most actual rather than imagined joy? And how?

Would we really be happier wearing that sweater? Or dating someone like the person who is wearing it? Would we really be happier with one cup of coffee over another? Maybe. Maybe that is where your happiness is. But I think what most of us really want is connection with our people, whoever they are. I think we want to know we are part of a community that values us and our work and volunteerism. I think we want to know that we make a difference in the lives of other people, that our acts of service are appreciated. And that we have people we can rely on when we need help ourselves.

The holidays come with so many expectations, so many emotional hopes that go unfulfilled, and SO many people willing to sell us something that they say will make us feel better. The holidays come with so many expectations that we place upon ourselves to have our Tiny Tim moment, when all is redeemed and all is made right. There is a reason why Dickens’ Christmas Carol remains a defining part of the Christmas season and our expectations of home, family, holiday cheer, and mirth. We all want that sense of things working out better than they have been recently. We all have something unresolved, somewhere. And the idea of our Tiny Tim moment is the hook on which many of us get suckered into hanging a lot of unrealistic hope.

So, what is real hope? I think real hope is the kindness we show others. It is the gratitude we practice for the kindness other’s show to us. Real hope is the act of generosity, not the size or value of the gift. Real hope is in asking a friend who is struggling, how we can help them have a better holiday. Real hope is in taking the risk to ask someone else for help. Real hope is in learning to be incredibly grateful for the life we have, the friends we have, the family we have and choose, the communities we help build. Real hope is in the sense of wellbeing that stems from finding the ability to recognize and experience genuine gratitude, for anything at all.

Gratitude is a practice. And like yoga, meditation, exercise, diet, keeping a journal, engaging our creativity, being of service, prayer, or learning other new skills, gratitude is a practice that we get better at every time we try. Gratitude is the real Tiny Tim experience. Not the stuff, but the style. Gratitude is the way we choose to engage the world, even if only for moments at a time. And gratitude is for me, the passport into a happier holiday season with more realistic expectations of myself and of other people.

So, light the candles when the time comes, trim the tree, make the food, wrap the gifts, sing the songs and say the prayers. Celebrate with full measure, in all the ways that bring you real joy! And then practice being grateful for everything that you can honestly be grateful for. Thanksgiving isn’t a day. It is a way of being. And for me, it is a way of being that helps me be a better person in measurable ways, when I remember to practice.

Wishing you gentle, kind, and happy holidays!

~ Joe Jencks

   12-4-19

I grew up thinking I knew what it meant to be Irish. But what I knew was what it meant to be Irish American Catholic. As opposed to Italian American Catholic, or Polish American Catholic. I understood how the families of my friends at St. Peter’s parochial school all honored different saints and celebrated various holidays differently. But it was not until 2007 when I first went to Ireland myself that I began to understand the vast difference between being historically ethnically Irish, and being Irish in a modern context.

And while I am a dual citizen, and grateful to be so, I am clear when I visit Ireland that I am in every way from Estados Unidos. I am an American. I am almost equally French Canadian as I am Irish. So, I can in fact say in an inclusive way that I am an American. The Jencks side have been in the US since the time of the colonies, since the early 1700s. Near as we can tell, they were Welsh and English. The first colonial governor of Rohde Island was Joseph Jencks (he says with pride). A distant cousin for sure, but nearly untraceable after so many generations. He did well in the business of casting and forging tools and implements, fine metal castings and other forms of metallurgy. But my branch of the Jencks family, well we have always been wanderers. Every generation picking up and moving on to somewhere, with the hope that it would be better. From Rhode Island to Ohio, to Wisconsin and North Dakota, and on to Washington state and California. We are a peripatetic lot.

And while it is good to know that I come by my wandering and explorative nature honestly, I was delighted to realize that my kin have more than 250 years of history in one small town in County Kildare, Ireland. Athy. And that identity of being from Athy means something in Ireland. When people ask where my people are from and I say Athy, (not far from where Luka Bloom is from BTW) that means something. Being connected to a place means something. Not just there, but anywhere. On my Dad’s side, one branch has been in Minnesota for 4 generations now. But not for two and a half centuries. And that’s just the records we’ve found so far. My ancestors were likely in that valley in Ireland for generations before that. They were Murphy’s and Kilbride's. Both ancient names in the region. The Dominicans started the first church in Athy in 1257. Wow.

The Gallarus Oratory on the Dingle Peninsula

It has always been a curiosity to me that with French Canadian, Alsatian, Welsh, English, Scottish, German, and a small fraction of Native American heritage – it is the Irish heritage that has so thoroughly dominated my awareness of my identity. But there it is.

This year my sister Julie and I did some exploring in my Granddad Felix Kilbride’s homeland, County Kildare. We had a grand adventure meeting cousins, walking the streets he would have walked. We went to the town museum and met with a local historian and genealogy expert. They confirmed some things we suspected and filled in many gaps. The family were Tailors going back many generations. They were native Irish Language speakers, fluent and literate in Irish and English going back several generations.

Julie and I in Athy - in the background - what was once the Kilbride Tailor Shop. Now Alan's Footwear.

In 1911 Great Granddad Felix Kilbride WAS sentenced to a few months in prison. I was worried that this would be a black mark on the family name. Maybe that was why they left? NOPE. It was a Tax Protest. They were ethnic Irish paying taxes to the British Crown and so they cooked the books as a way to support the independence movement. In short Great Granddad Kilbride was an Irish patriot and a political prisoner. Both the historian and the genealogy expert were ready to buy us pints just for that. Far from being a black mark, they read it as a badge of honor. Good to know I come by my renegade nature honestly as well.

I grew up singing Irish songs, hearing Irish stories, and celebrating Irish Saints. My favorite holiday Samhain, Halloween derives from a pre-Christian Irish celebration of the harvest and the beginning of winter. A night when the veil between this world and the next world is thin and spirits can back cross over. So, turnips and other bulbous root vegetables were carved with scary faces and often a candle would be put inside to chase away the dark spirits. Only the good spirits would be drawn to the light. And this tradition is so VERY much like DI de Los Muertos – the Mexican Day of The Dead – it blows my mind. How many other earlier human societies celebrated some parallel honoring of the ancestors and festival that makes us intentionally aware of our mortality?

I first made it to Ireland in 2007, because I met a man named Tom Pigott. We met at a Folk Alliance conference. He found out I was an Irish Citizen who had never been to Ireland, and that was that. He insisted that I visit before the year was through. In fact, he swore an oath on his own life that he would make it happen. And he did. We did it together. And I have been going back since. Tom sadly passed in 2012, but his spirit lives! And I am grateful to all the folks with Inishfree Tours who picked up Tom’s legacy and kept it going.

Poulnabrone Dolmen Toumb in the Burren

My mom’s maiden name, Kilbride, means Church of Bridgette in English, or church of Bridgid as the Irish would say. But in the Irish Language, Irish Gaelic in which I am not qualified to spell at present, it is McGillabridgh or something like that. I’ll get back to you. But many historians understand this surname to be derived from the Goddess Bridh, and they also argue about the spelling of that name. Regardless, they were the keepers of the temples to the goddess, and identified as the clan of Bridh. I met an old man in a pub in Doolin once and he asked about the family surname. I said Jencks. He said, the other one! Apparently, I can’t hide my Irish even there. I said Kilbride, and he instantly rose and shook my hand and said, servants of the Goddess. Be proud of that name. There are very few of you left.

I am proud of the names, and the identities. I am delighted to know my people were native Irish speakers once. I was honored to have a few pints in a pub where my people surely would have gathered. O’Brien Pub in Athy. It was a small town and that place has been there the better part of two centuries. Surely, they were there. A marvelous feeling. And so grateful to have shared the journey with my sister. We marveled and how much Athy and County Kildare looked like northern Illinois and eastern Michigan where the Kilbride people settled in the US. It must have just looked and felt like home to them. Until winter arrived. But they coped. They always did.

The Cliffs of Moher

But as we see the news, read the papers, and wrap our heads around what darkness people are willing to perpetrate on each other in the name of racial and ethnic identity, I am aghast. I am baffled and shocked. And I wonder about how much pride one should take in ethnic identity? To the extent that it helps us live better lives, feel more grounded and connected to our people, I suppose it’s a good thing. But as we have clearly seen, racism is alive and thriving in ways unimaginable to those of us who grew up in the wake of the Civil Rights Movement. We were privileged to grow up thinking that level of hatred was waning.

Yesterday was the remembrance of Hiroshima. Tomorrow the reembrace of Nagasaki. At no time in history has any nation killed more people all at once that the USA did on those fateful days in 1945. And while I am a student of history, and I understand all of the reasons and arguments that have been made to me about why the use of The Bomb was considered necessary, I also see ethnic identity and racism playing into that decision. And it simply must stop.

The color of one’s skin or the county of one’s origin must cease to be a cause for violence and murder. Whether in wars between nations or on the streets of our cities and towns, or on our national borders, we must transcend ethnicity and race as the justification for violence. I believe in the rule of law, but not of unjust laws. And tyranny by any name is still tyranny. My Irish, Quebecoise, Alsatian, and indigenous ancestors would all agree. I don’t know how we transform this world, but I am so clear about the absolute and irrefutable need for all of us to become peacemakers in every possible way. And I will keep seeking the path along with you.

In Gratitude and Song,

Joe

8-7-19

Sunset in Carlow

Note...
My Highway Home will broadcast ths week on the Folk Music Notebook: https://folkmusicnotebook.com
July 10th - 9:00 PM ET / 6:00 Pacific
July 11th - 2:00 AM ET / 11:00 PM July 10th Pacific
July 14th - 1:00 PM ET / 10:00 AM Pacific



How Long Does It Take To Walk Two Miles?
Copyright 2019, Joe Jencks, Turtle Bear Music

Revisiting a hopeful day...

In August 1963, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous “I Have A Dream” speech at the Lincoln Memorial. That march on Washington has come to be recognized as a turning point in the Civil Rights Movement, and in United States History. On the ripples of energy from that day, the Civil Rights Act (1964) and the Voting Rights Act (1965) were successfully legislated and became the law of the land in the US. From the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, such a poignant symbol, the organizers and leaders of a movement gave voice to their hopes, wishes, dreams, grievances, and truths. In the city that is the center of political power for the US, they came from every part of our nation to claim their fair share of access to the ideals put forth in our constitution.

“The march was initiated by A. Philip Randolph (international president of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, president of the Negro American Labor Council, and vice president of the AFL-CIO), who had planned a similar march in 1941. The threat of the earlier march had convinced President Roosevelt to establish the Committee on Fair Employment Practice and bar discriminatory hiring in the defense industry. The 1963 march was organized by Randolph, James Farmer (president of the Congress of Racial Equality), John Lewis (president of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee), Martin Luther King, Jr. (president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference), Roy Wilkins (president of the NAACP), and Whitney Young (president of the National Urban League). Bayard Rustin, a civil rights veteran and organizer of the 1947 Journey of Reconciliation, the first of the Freedom Rides to test the Supreme Court ruling that banned racial discrimination in interstate travel, administered the details of the march.” (Wikipedia)

To be sure, it was a coalition of Labor, Religious, Civic and Community leadership that were at the head of the event and the movement. And it was the many facets on that gemstone that gave it such luster. Please look up some of these names if you are unfamiliar with them. These organizations and individuals were every bit as pivotal to the Civil Rights movement as was Dr. King.

There are frequent comparisons of Dr. King to Mohandas Gandhi. I am read a book some years back called, Gandhi & Churchill: The Epic Rivalry that Destroyed an Empire and Forged Our Age (by Arthur Herman). It is an amazing book, examining without rose colored glasses, these two contemporaries, their families, cultures, strengths, weaknesses, similarities, differences and the place where they came to loggerheads, over the independence of India as a free and sovereign nation.

I learned for the first time that Gandhi was once a racist. He grew out of it. He learned that any meaningful liberation movement has to be a movement driven by solidarity between class and race. He learned that the principals of non-violence, derived from his religious traditions, were applicable to all castes, classes and races. But he did not start there. In his many years in South Africa, where he began his work in earnest as a liberation leader, he was not challenging racism categorically. He was specifically seeking liberation for Indians.

Coming from a very class driven society, Gandhi was not opposed to the segregation of society by race, religion and class per se, but he wanted the Indians to be in the same class as the whites. And it took him years to realize that the British and the Dutch saw anyone who was not white, as being black. There was no distinction for them except that. And in the years that Gandhi worked so hard to elevate the Indians, he was indifferent to the tribulations of black South Africans. But in South Africa he came to a realization: Class and Race must come together for a meaningful liberation movement. It was with that understanding that the famous liberation leader we know as the Mahatma Gandhi was came into full being. He was over 40 years old before this pivotal transformation took place. (Dr. King was only 39 when he was killed). And the liberation movement, which Gandhi helped to lead, took many years and many people to really manifest. Yes he was amazing! But again, it was a strong coalition of leaders from every segment of society that ultimately led to the desired liberation. And it is still ongoing. The aftermath of empire is still felt in India and South Africa. The work continues.

So on inauguration day 2009, when I saw President Obama standing on the steps of the Capitol Building about to give his inaugural speech, I thought to myself, this has been a long time in coming. From the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to the steps of the Capitol building, 1.9 miles, 45 and-a-half years, and we are finally taking another major step forward in human liberation! I say human liberation not just liberation for people of color, because like the 1963 march, like the work of Gandhi, an ongoing Civil Rights movement that has to overcome racial and class divisions to succeed. And it still has a long way to go. But look at all that happened in that half-a-century? As the news cameras paned out to show some of the last living members of the Tuskegee Airmen, I saw tears falling down their cheeks. That was when I started to cry. These men knew that President Obama was standing on their shoulders, and they had never lifted so sweet a burden. You could see it on their faces.

“Free at last, free at last, thank God almighty I’ll be free at last!”

Yes it took us nearly half a century as a society to walk those 2 miles from the Lincoln Memorial to the Capitol steps, but we did it!

What you mean “we” white man?

Well, I mean WE did it. Dr. King, a student of the trials and tribulations of India and South Africa, a student of their struggles for racial and class equality, was standing on Gandhi’s shoulders. Dr. King started out working for the liberation of Blacks. But as he invested in the liberation movement, he came to an understanding that it was about all people of color, and then he came to understand that it was about class too. Dr. King understood that impoverished white people were struggling under the same load. He came to understand that racism was at times a tool of classism, and that if we wanted to dismantle racism, it needed to be done in conjunction with addressing classism. The two were partners in a crime against humanity, and the movement needed to address the larger issues in order to achieve its goals.

There had always been white people involved in the movement, and Jews, and Latinos /Latinas, and people of all stripes. But between 1963 and 1965, the Civil Rights movement gained huge inter-racial support. And from 1965 to 1968 when Dr. King was killed, the cross-cultural efforts were tremendous. King was trying to launch a major coalition movement to address poverty, unilaterally! And in the wake of his death, millions upon millions were baptized by that fire of conviction, tragedy, and purpose.

I hold a visual image in my mind of a young Jesse Jackson, on the evening of April 4^th, 1968. He is kneeling on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis. His friend, mentor, spiritual leader, and brother in struggle has just been assassinated. The news media have all gone away. The police are gone. The body of his companion was removed hours before. And still, there is a pool of blood on the balcony. The blood of a martyr… The blood of a friend! And Jesse Jackson kneels down in prayer beside this pool of blood, and he places his hands, palms down in that blood. And he lifts those hands out and places them on his chest. He is wearing a white shirt at the time. And he puts those bloody hands on that shirt, on his chest, over his heart.

Jackson takes the blood of his friend on his own hands, and on his own chest. In a way, he indicts himself in this act. For all of us carry some of the shame and burden of responsibility when so terrible a thing has happened. And Rev. Jackson in his grief took on the blood of his teacher. Not unlike the Apostles taking on the blood of Jesus, a tradition preserved in the celebration of the Eucharist. But Jackson literally took the blood of his martyred friend, and placed it on himself. Placed it on ALL OF US! And indicted all of us in the process. The blood of Dr. King was on us all, for every generation.

But the great lesson of Gandhi is transformation. And so it is possible to transform the blood of that indictment, the echoing cries of that martyred man, from the convicted into conviction! YES WE CAN!

And in the half century that it took our society to traverse those two miles between the Lincoln Memorial and the Capitol steps, that is what we did. We have transformed a society. We changed a nation. And it is time to do so again. YES WE CAN.

I saw people carrying signs on inauguration day 2009 that proclaim, “Yes We Did.” And while I appreciated the sentiment, I think it missed the mark. Yes, we elected and installed a new government, peacefully. Yes, the head of that new government was a man who claims a by-racial heritage. But I think it is important to remember that amidst all the talk of the fact that President Obama is Black, he is just as much White. Gandhi discovered that for many people, if you are not white, you are black. So perhaps many people still see Obama as a “Black” President. But I saw, and still see him as MY President. I see myself in him. I see all of us in him. I see the child of HUMANITY as a whole, finally mature enough to move forward, leading his people… all of them, one step closer to the Promised Land.

I mean, what if Moses had started flying a sign saying “Yes We Did!” after the Jews finally escaped Egypt? They wandered in the desert for 40 years as it was. How many more years would they have wandered if they had not again picked up the slogan, “YES WE CAN?”

In my travels of late, I have heard many people say, “Well, I voted for him. But he let us down.”

Huh? Have you been listening? Have you been paying attention? It’s YOUR job not to let you down. The 1963 march did not happen because one person made it happen. And President Obama did not make it to the White House, because one person decided it should happen. Yes he had the potential to be a visionary leader. But he could not have accomplished anything without the support of the people!

YES, We Can. Yes we CAN. Yes WE Can!

It is a spiritual statement. Not just a political one. It is a state of being. It is a way of thinking. And the work is still in front of us today. Yesterday is gone, and tomorrow is unknowable. The work is present time and real. YES WE CAN speaks to that truth. The work is in the present moment. People of every color, race, nationality and creed have joined in the process of human liberation. And in January 2009, we inaugurated a man of the people to the highest office in the land. But, Obama was and is not a saint. He is not a miracle worker. He was and is an organizer. And the best leadership this world has seen in any age, in any time or place, in any movement, is a good organizer.

And he is STILL asking all of us… ALL OF US, to follow that lead. President Obama continues to invite all of us to be organizers. In our families, in our houses of worship, in our neighborhoods, in our schools, in our towns, in our workplaces, in our circle of friends, we still need to learn how organize.

Disease, poverty, environmental degradation, all of these matters will take a toll on all of us. Racism is again on the rise. But we have the power, the intelligence, the creativity and the ability to take on the problems we face as a society, and as a planet. And it is not up to a President to make those changes. And no president has the right to take away our inalienable rights.

Step by step the longest march, can be won, can be won

Many stone can form an arch, singly none, singly none

And by union what we will, can be accomplished still

Drops of water turn the mill, singly none, singly none

These lines, originally from the preamble to the constitution of the American Miners Union (circa 1850) still resonate in my soul! It is the same spirit as Yes We Can. These lines invite us to recognize that as great as a person may be, on their own, they are nobody. Only in community, in conjunction, in cooperation, in coalition, are we able to really make a difference. And we have, and we did, and we will.

I was on tour in Texas in January 2009. And I watched most of the proceedings of January 20^th, 2009 on a huge flat screen TV at a friend’s house. And then we were all invited over to a neighbor’s house for a big barbeque. Texas Barbeque. Amazing. Ribs, brisket, chicken, beans, potato salad, yummmmmmmm! (My respects to the vegetarians among you.)

But what was amazing to me, as if to cap off this significant day, was that we were in the home of a family of color. White and Black and mixed race, all of us having dinner together. Our host made his living doing a variety of odd jobs, including my friend’s yard-work. He was their handyman. And yet on that auspicious day, he invited all of us over for dinner. He invited all of us over as his guests. And shared with us one of his truest passions, a good smoky barbeque. But he invited us to share even more, in the communion of the moment. He wanted to honor the day by recognizing that he was a man who was free to be friends with anyone he likes, and gather in public or private with those friends. I speculate that he wanted to celebrate with edible generosity, the fact that even though he took care of their lawn, that it was a job. Not a class. And on that day, in this nation, he was perfectly welcome to be peers and equals with his whole community.

And it was damn fine barbeque. In fact, it was the best I have ever had. And as I looked down at a BBQ sauce stain on my own shirt, on my chest, and I looked around at people who were even still, tentatively reaching across class and race barriers. I thought again of Rev. Jesse Jackson. I thought of the blood on his hands and his chest. And I thought of the miracle in which I was participating. Maybe it was not a water-into-wine biblical sort of miracle, but it was no less impressive to me. I was participating in a world transformed. And the stain, the indictment itself had been for a time transformed into genuine community and fellowship. And barbeque sauce.

I hoped in that moment, that MLK and Gandhi and X, and children killed in church bombings, and activist murdered on their way to a march, and countless numbers lynched and tormented and abused over the ages and continents, simply for the color of their skin, were looking down on us and smiling. From Bombay to Durban and London, from D.C. to Selma to Austin, transformation is possible. And to each one of us falls the sacred and solemn and beautiful duty to carry that transformation forward one more step. Ours is not to finish the task, but to make sure we do our part. And on the 20^th of January, 2009, as more people gathered in Washington D.C. than ever before in our nation’s history, I saw the United States of America take one more marvelous and long awaited step forward. We installed a man of the people, of all the people. A child of our nation, come of age and ready to lead us. I saw nothing short of a miracle. And I will tell generations hence, I remember when…

So, how long does it take to walk two miles? It takes half a century. But what an amazing two miles! And we absolutely have the power to carry that spirit forward in the coming months and years. Si Se Puede!

Dear Friends,

Greetings from the road! Tonight will be the premier of my new radio show on the Folk Music Notebook.

My Highway Home:

Celebrating music, art, culture, and community from the drivers seat.

Longtime friend and Folk-DJ Ron Olesko had the idea of starting an Internet Radio Station dedicated to the music and broad community that is Folk. The Folk Music Notebook is off to a great start and I am honored to be a regular contributor, starting tonight!

In honor of the Kerrville Folk Festival, tonight’s show will feature an interview with two extraordinary people, Vern Crawford and Lenore Langsdorf. They are remarkable volunteers, not just at Kerrville but in many other capacities within and outside of the world of folk music and singer songwriters. And our conversation will focus on volunteerism and the many components of good community.

I will also feature music from performers and recording artists whom I have had the privilege of getting to know over the years, through performing at the Kerrville Folk Festival. We’ll hear songs from: Louise Mosrie, Ken Gaines, Zoe Mulford, Karen Mal, Connor Garvey, Jack Hardy, The Malvinas, RJ Cowdry, and David Glaser.

Tune in at 9:00 PM Eastern/ 8:00 Central (US), or for the re-broadcast at 2:00 AM Thursday morning EST. That’s 6:00 PM & 11:00 PM for the west coasters.

https://folkmusicnotebook.com

On the performance side of things, this weekend (Saturday night) I am excited be performing for the amazing FolkNet community in Cleveland, OH. I will also be at the Gurler Folk Festival in DeKalb, Illinois (also featuring my sister Jen and nieces Nelle & Ellen as The Conley Trio). Later in June I will be attending and performing at the Great Labor Arts Exchange, in Silver Spring, MD.

In July I will be off to Ireland, and August will see me performing in IL, WI, MN, CO, NY, MA, CT and VT.

I hope to see you on the road!

In Gratitude & Song,

Joe Jencks

6-5-19

The Wisdom of Goats

I have been on tour in Texas for the last couple weeks, and I’ve spent much of that time on a ranch owned by my dear friend Valerian. I was here at the Double Z Ranch, ostensibly on a songwriting retreat. But my consciousness was taken over by goats. It’s “kidding season” as they say. And there are lots of baby goats about. It’s hard to focus the mind on abstractions when one is in the presence of that much life happening all at once.

It was a long, hard winter up north. And I have been eager for spring. I have seen hints of it in various places, but on my drive to Texas last week, I really could feel the heaviness of winter finally lift. I have heard of the fabled Blue Bonnet season in Texas, but I had never seen it for myself. WOW. Whole hillsides and meadows just covered a deep bluish-purple. Occasionally smattered with red and orange paintbrush and buttercups. An explosion of color! (Unfortunately for me – also an explosion of pollen. But this too shall pass. Back to the goats.)

My friend invited me to go with him on my first night on the ranch, to collect the kids that were born that day from out of the woods and bring them up to the paddock where the new moms hang out with their babies. The moms/nannies will go into the woods and find a secluded place to birth. It keeps nanny and kid safer from predators. There are currently 25 baby goats between 1 and 14 days old. And they are a hoot!

Even newborns will begin butting heads, as soon as they can stand up. It is absolutely hardwired into them to bang their heads into immovable objects to see if they can prevail. If I ever take one of those genetic mapping tests, I suspect there will be some stray strand of goat DNA in my chain. I just feel complete kinship with these animals. They are gentle on whole, not easily excited, and they seem to have a fairly Zen-like approach to life. They have ambition. They have goals. They have needs and they seek to meet them. But they live very much in the present moment. And it is in this practice that I have the most to learn from goats. Not unlike dogs, their favorite moment is NOW.

I have to say, one of the more sublime experiences of my adult life has been feeding baby goats with a bottle. Wow. If I was looking for spring and renewal, I have found it here. Life will out. There is no stopping it. And goats, they have a certain joie de vivre that is hard to ignore.

I sit on a little knoll, surrounded by baby goats and the kids are all nibbling on my shirt and pants and hair. A few practice ramming my knees or elbows. One tries to use his back hoof to scratch his ear, and he knows instinctively even at 2 days old that this is what goats do. But he doesn’t quite have it down. He lifts his hoof a few times toward his ear, and then slowly falls over sideways as if in slow motion. He’ll get there. But I can’t refrain from laughing in sympathy at his awkward experiment with gravity.

The baby goats on the knoll also like to jump. I think perhaps it is not even a choice. It is an involuntary tic. They will just spontaneously jump a foot or so vertically into the air. And when 15 or 20 of them are all gathered together in a nursery herd, they bounce up and down like popping corn. Pop, pop, pop, pop! One after another, like they were free dancing at a rave, to music only they can hear.

There is no moment other then the eternal now for them. And for a while, there is no moment but right now for me as well. I am consumed and mesmerized by the baby-goat-mosh-pit that surrounds me. And they keep bumping into me and nudging me inviting me to bounce with them. I am content to be on the receiving end of a dozen plus of God’s own battering-rams-in-training. It tickles. They ARE life.

Sitting fully in the present moment, I am yet reminded of the enduring words of the master Lebanese poet and artist, Kahlil Gibran:

Your children are not your children
They are the sons and the daughters of life longing for itself

I have cares and concerns, fears and worries that the goats do not understand. And they look at me - kids and adults alike, and ask me why I am so busy obsessing about things that are out of my control? There is a beautiful day happening, right now. It is gorgeous. In this specific moment, the sun is warm, the water and food are enough. The company is joyful, and there is a sense of happiness that is unavoidable. It cannot be subjugated by the past or the future. It is now. Come play!

I do.

The bottles are empty now. The kids have jumped themselves silly and are all snuggling up for a nap. The sun is setting, and I look at a newborn, one of the day’s goats we gathered on our way up the hill. She is snuggled up next to mama and watching her first sunset. Her VERY first sunset! I am moved to tears, inexplicably. But there is something so tender and real, so gentle and peaceful in this moment. Life is good. We are all safe. The evening settles and we all have faith that tomorrow will come, sun shining and full of more perfect moments.

The goats teach me what I have come here to know. Not the answers to my complex and convoluted questions, but rather the necessary way to face a world that is so out of my control. Play. Eat. Love. Be silly. Jump and dance. Snuggle. Delight in beauty. Stay close to family and friends. Revel in community. Be grateful.

I can do that. The rest will reveal itself.

Joe Jencks

4-12-19
Medina, TX

The Power of Play

It will surprise many of you to know that being a touring Folksinger was a pragmatic 2^nd choice career for me. First and foremost, I wanted to be an ASTRONAUT! Dad and I would watch launches on TV and we would read about the space program in National Geographic, Smithsonian, Popular Science, and Popular Mechanics. My childhood friends and I would build rockets, starships, moon cruisers, and interplanetary transports out of Lego. And when Star Wars came out, and then Star Trek Next Generation, we got to imagine through those characters some of what life might be like in other parts of the galaxy and the universe. And it wasn’t just space adventures we imagined with our Lego kits. We engaged in Terrestrial explorations as well. The fun thing about a Lego person is that they are big enough to actually play with and small enough that you can make whole scenes and ecosystems out of construction dirt piles, grassy hills, a small patch of forest floor, a huge snowdrift, icicles, sand dunes, rocks and boulders, etc. Anywhere you look there is an environment rich with possibility, if you are looking through the scale lens of Lego people.

I bring this up, because I think that too few adults remember to play. We get so busy doing adult things, working our jobs, paying our bills and raising children, running businesses and organizations, dealing with medical paperwork, taxes and various other administrative duties that we forget to play. I mean really PLAY. We forget how to loose ourselves in imagination, how to let go of the mundane and pretend that we are adventurers in Antarctica, or on Jupiter’s moon, Europa. We forget that we can fly; we can be racecar drivers, artists, pilots, archeologists, or explorers. We forget to play games. And even when we do play, sometimes we forget that winning isn’t the point of the game, playing is! But that remembering is never too far away.

A few years ago when I was going through a divorce, I reconnected with Lego. I had been a fan of HO Scale Model Trains for a long time. But then I needed to move and the trains got packed up. And I started to play with Lego again. It is a more portable hobby. I remembered how much fun I had found in my younger years, and I was amazed to see how many more multi-dimensional pieces had come into existence within the Lego universe. Instead of just building up, one could now build out and down and in nearly any direction one chose. Lego has transcended the bricks of my childhood, and is now a vivid tool for thinking outside of traditional spatial relationships.

As I began again to play with Lego, and to collect new Lego sets, I began to imagine new things and build even cooler spaceships than ever! And I fell in love with the Arctic Adventure series kits as well. So recently, on a day when it got down to -31 degrees Fahrenheit (actual) in Illinois, I decided to stage an outdoor Lego photo shoot. Yes. I am just a little bit crazy. But you knew that already.

It was a beautiful day, so cold and the sky so bright. Everything was closed and snow was drifting and piling up everywhere. I put on my long johns, heavy snow boots, parka and facemask, and went adventuring. I felt like a National Geographic photographer. I got about 10-15 shots per battery before I had to switch them out, and about every 30 shots I had to come back in the house to warm up the camera batteries and myself. But the pictures were amazing. And for nearly three hours – I was at one with my mini Arctic adventurers, struggling against the elements and endeavoring to persevere in adverse conditions to accomplish the mission. I felt like Earnest Shackleton in a cornfield.

I have not had that much fun in YEARS. What a blast! Character acting at its best. I was in the heart of the adventure with my little Lego people, capturing the activities of the scientists who had discovered a Wooly Mammoth frozen in an Arctic glacier, revealed as a result of climate change. For several hours, I forgot about being an adult, and just remembered how to play. I remembered the practice of surrendering into the moment, living in the now, seeing the potential adventure in the mundane, and seizing the moment when the universe conspired to create the perfect snow-day!

I’d like to be able to explain what specific bit of productivity will spin off of that photo shoot in miniature. I would like to tell you that it triggered some quantifiable bit of creativity that will emerge publically in my music and art. I can’t do that. The scientists who started to play with X-Rays had no idea in the beginning, that there was any practical application. It was just exploration. I have no idea what will spring forth from creativity, but I believe that it is a practice like Yoga or Buddhist meditation. Engaging our creativity is a practice that helps us solve other problems, because we learn how to see things from a different perspective.

Maybe I will get to Antarctica one day, maybe commercial space travel will allow dreamers like me to go for the ride of a lifetime and see the earth from the same vantage point as John Glenn or James Lovell or Sally Ride. But even if I don’t, I am comforted to know that we are as humans, still dreaming. We are dreaming again not just of mastering the knowable, but taking leaps into the unknown. Space-X and NASA will put humans back into orbit, this year. And plans are actually underway for viable missions to The Moon and to Mars. That is incredibly inspiring to me. Maybe my link to the heavens will forever be Lego, imagination, and videos and photos shot by actual astronauts and robots. But in the spaces of my mind, the two merge and become one in my playtime. Play both grounds me in reality and allows me to surrender it for a while at the same time. Play is good. Play is necessary. I think if more adults remembered to play in spite of our difficulties, I think we would all be happier. Play is a totally valid and necessary physical, mental, and spiritual practice.

What does play look like to you? What releases your imagination and allows you to dream? If you don’t know, I hope you find it soon. Because there is nothing healthier in my opinion, than laying our burdens down for a spell and remembering that we are as humans, dreamers! So, DREAM ON!

In Gratitude and Song,

Joe Jencks

3-14-19

In Remembrance of Kindness

I was saddened a couple weeks ago to receive a phone call from my friend Andy Spence, telling me that her beloved husband and co-conspirator in many artistic and community endeavors spanning more than ½ a century, had died. Bill Spence was a gracious man with an occasionally surreal sense of humor. Absurdist quips were a tool of transformation in his hand. He could uplift, console, inspire, encourage, all with a brief bit of humor and levity.

Bill was 78, and had a remarkable life. He recorded/produced over 40 albums for Front Hall Records, the record label he and Andy founded allowing many artists shut out by the mainstream industry a chance to share their music in recorded form. They wrangled a distribution hub called Andy’s Front Hall, promoting the music of hundreds of additional musicians over the years. And Bill was a huge support to Andy in her work founding and running the Old Songs Festival for 38 years. And in 1973, Bill released a seminal recording, The Hammered Dulcimer. It brought several generations of musicians into playing that unique instrument. Thousands of people now play that instrument as a result of the ripple affect of that one recording.

What strikes me most about Bill however is his kindness, and the lessons to be learned from his leadership by example. Bill was the sort of person who could walk into a room and immediately make people feel more welcome, even when he was the guest. Always happy to share the spotlight, equally willing to pick up a broom after the show and sweep the floor. A man who showed his respect, devotion, and love by being of service. My own father was very much that way.

As I sift through the memories, I ask myself what piece of Bill’s legacy do I carry on? How will I honor him not just for a day or a week, but as a daily practice? And I keep coming back to kindness. In these times it is a spiritual and emotional and physical practice to remain kind. It is a choice. There is so much that can throw us off our center and cause us to be reactionary. But taking a deep breath and choosing kindness is always a good choice. Even when we disagree, we can do so with kindness.

I know this is all starting to sound all love and light and unicorns and rainbows. So I must add that I saw Bill’s ire rise on a number of occasions. He was human and opinionated, occasionally impatient. But his default setting was to be kind. That is a choice. And it is a choice we can all make. Graciousness feels like a lost art sometimes, an anachronistic holdover from another generation or culture. And yet it is what allows us to accomplish the work of bringing people together in collaboration. Whether that is a few people or thousands of people, a core practice of graciousness in our process and daily interactions can be the difference between having a good idea and actually making something happen in the world.

There are many differences for us to overcome in the modern world. We live increasingly in societies where diversity of language, religion, and culture could be barriers to feeling like we are in community and in harmony with each other. But kindness and graciousness are almost always universally understood as gestures of welcome. I want to be like Bill. I want to be a person who makes other people feel just a little bit more welcome.

The Folk Alliance International conference just finished in Montreal. In addition to being a FABULOUS musical event, it was marvelous to spend time in another culture and in a place where English is NOT the common language. I was reminded sadly by witnessing a moment of intolerance toward a Francophone man by an English speaker – how little it takes for some people to equate different as "less-than." I was surprised in the moment to witness the lack of graciousness on the part of a fellow English speaker and a musician at that! In my mind I keep going back to that moment and wishing I had thought to just defuse the situation by offering to buy the Quebecois man a beer, a universal act of apology and welcome. But the moment went by fast and in my brief experience of shock; I did not intervene at all.

This why I think we must practice kindness every day. SO that it becomes our automatic response, even in a moment of dismay or surprise, or in a moment of anger or frustration. If we are practiced in graciousness and kindness, even our activism and opposition to things that make NO SENSE to us can be imbued with kindness. And what a difference that could make in the world.

So, I will remember Bill Spence. I will remember him in my music and with colleagues and friends. But I will remember him most as I continue to aspire toward letting graciousness and kindness BE the center of how I relate to the people around me. I will carry his way of being forward in my life more than his accomplishments. Because HOW we are in the world seems to have a bigger impact than who we are in the world.

Thanks for the many kindnesses, Bill.

-Joe Jencks

2-20-19

Dear Friends, Fans, and Fellow Travelers,

Happy New Year!

I hope this finds you well. The year is off to an odd start civically, but personally – I hope a spirit of renewed possibility is upon you, and that optimism is your companion. And, in the face of the unknown and the absurd, I think the best thing we can do is to keep gathering in community and continue to celebrate the joy of music and the enduring goodness of each other!

As we honor the passing of an American genius of word, wit and spirit, Mary Oliver, I think about other artists and poets whose ideas have changed my life.

Utah Phillips said, “The best weapon in American politics is a long memory.” I think he meant a great many things when he said that. But based on conversations I had with Utah over several years, part of what he was expressing is that we have an enduring spirit. And we have survived many difficulties and challenges over many generations and hard times. We have lived and worked and sung through those hard times, and we are still here. The people remain and thrive. The spirit of who we are thrives! And the naysayers will all fade away. It’s about having a long memory not just to remember the past challenges, but also to remember the past victories and draw strength from them. If we remember the power of the people to gently and pervasively wait out the reactionaries of the day, we will emerge in beauty.

May it be so!

I am told that the weather is going to be less frightful this weekend than was first predicted in the NE and as such, I am excited to be performing this weekend in New England:

Friday Jan. 18^th in West Roxbury, MA – Music On Centre (Guest Mari Black on fiddle)

Saturday Jan. 19^th in Rockport, MA – Old Sloop Coffee House (Lisa Bastoni opens)

Sunday Jan. 20^th in Rockport, MA – First Congregational Church

Additional shows next weekend include concerts in IL & WI, with special guest Heather Styka joining me for three engagements:

Friday Jan. 25^th in Rockford, IL – Just Goods Listening Room at Emanuel Lutheran

Saturday Jan. 26^th in Mequon, WI – The Wisconsin Singer Songwriter Series

Sunday Jan. 27^th in Shawano, WI – Cotter Creek Concerts

And Friday February 1^st (Shhhhh… my birthday!) I will be performing a special concert in Indianapolis, IN

Friday Feb. 1^st in the Carriage House at The Propyleaum (Flying Cat Music)

A HUGE thanks to all the Folk DJs who are keeping indie and acoustic music alive on the airwaves! I am honored to report that I was listed as the #7 Artist for the whole of 2018 on the Folk DJ Chart. As the 7^th child in my family I am used to #7. I am happy there. And when you consider who was #1 through #6 on the Folk DJ list, I am doubly honored.

#7 Joe Jencks

#6 Bob Dylan

#5 Eliza Gilkyson

#4 Joan Baez

#3 John Gorka

#2 John Prine

#1 John McCutcheon

A full schedule of events can be found on the tour page.

Thanks for your support and for keeping the faith in so many ways! The spirit of goodness will prevail. So keep on loving, keep on being kind, keep sharing joy, keep believing in hope, keep gathering and keep singing!

In Gratitude & Song,

-Joe Jencks

Dear Friends,

Greetings from the road!

I will be performing several concerts in the coming weeks - across the eastern US, Ireland, and in Ontario, Canada. I hope to see many of you at one of these shows.

Thursday – September 13^th – I will be at Baldwin’s Station in Sykesville, MD. My Friday the 14^th concert in Norfolk has been postponed due to Hurricane Florence – and will now be on September 21^st. In between, I will be returning to The Cooperage in Honesdale, PA. I will be performing additional shows this month at The Lotus Center in Roanoke, VA - and FOCUS Concerts in Alexandria, VA.

October will see me in Albany, NY – then onto the Garden Stage in Garden City, NY – and at Circle of Friends in Franklin, MA – and then off to Ireland. October 21^st I will be performing in Hastings-on-Hudson, NY (more info TBA soon) and then off to Ontario for a lovely tour swing with my dear friend and very talented colleague from Edmonton, Alberta – Marina Dunn.

Please scroll down for a list of upcoming tour dates and visit www.joejencks.com for more complete listings. Please also read the essay below – Rhinoceros.

I look forward to seeing many of you soon!

As Hurricane Florence barrels toward the Carolina and Virginia coast, my thoughts are with many friends and colleagues in the region – and indeed all of the people who will be affected by this storm. “St. Christopher protect them from the cold and stormy sea…”

In Gratitude & Song,

-Joe Jencks

Rhinoceros
Copyright 2018 Joe Jencks, Turtle Bear Music, ASCAP

I had a dream a few weeks ago wherein I was witness to a broad-shouldered, chisel-jawed, robust and strapping man. He could on a whim transform himself into a small Rhinoceros. There was a dog in the space where we were and he morphed into a Rhino and went and lifted the dog with his pointed and horned snout up into the air. As the dog came back down – he caught it on his horn. The dog yelped in pain. He continued to torment the creature a fraction of his size – just because he could. In the dream, he derived joy and pleasure from the exercise. The Rhino-man was a sadist, extracting delight from injuring a relatively helpless creature.

The Rhino-man transformed himself back into a fellow in a tuxedo and began talking to me again as if nothing shocking had happened – while the poor canine lay, in agony in the corner. I was in shock.

The Rhino-man repeated the atrocity when a wild boar – a more formidable opponent - entered to investigate the Rhino-man and the dog. The man-cum-Rhino attacked the Boar in a similar fashion – unprovoked. The Boar was a harder mark, but the Rhino dispensed with him quickly enough by throwing him down a flight of stairs. The Rhino-man went after the Boar – down the stairs – trampling him.

I had pleaded with the Rhino-man to STOP when he attacked the dog. I pleaded when he attacked the Boar. I begged him to stop. Finally I put myself directly in front of the Rhino-man. He did not attack me. He transformed back in to the burley man I had first seen and looked at me quite quizzically. He asked me what I was going on about? And I said he was hurting creatures unnecessarily, and doing so for his own pleasure and amusement. I expressed my dismay and outrage, and empathy for the wounded and likely dying creatures.

Rhino-man’s eyes blazed with rage and anger toward me for the briefest of moments, and then he laughed out loud. He laughed and said he could not begin to understand why I was making such a scene! He said I was too sensitive, and that I was making something out of nothing. He said that the animals were of no consequence. Nuisance creatures. Why was I concerning myself with their inconsequential existence? He suggested that because they were animals that they could not really feel pain. True pain required awareness that was beyond their sub-human capacity. He brushed me off in disgust and went away – and I was left with the image of the wounded animals and the lingering memories of their cries of pain as a sadistic bully attacked them in an unprovoked manner.

The dream has haunted me for nearly a month.

Imagine my surprise, when while reading a book by Yale professor and historian Timothy Snyder, I learned of the Romanian playwright Eugene Ionesco, who wrote a play likening the actions of Fascists and their minions to a Rhinoceros? Ionesco wrote a stage play in 1959 called, “Rhinoceros” wherein those people who were committing acts of Fascism and their followers – the people who believed their propaganda – were transformed into violent Rhinoceroses. WOW.

Both Sigmund Freud and Karl Jung wrote about the collective unconscious mind of humanity. So did the famed professor of mythology, Joseph Campbell. How in the world did my mind link Fascists and brutal, sadistic acts of oppression and torture with the actions of the Rhino-man before I had ever even heard of Eugene Ionesco?

I have yet to read his play from 1959 – but be sure I will.

The lesson is not in the vilification of the Rhinoceros – a creature that is innocent enough in its own right, but in the way in which the mind of a playwright who lived under an oppressive and totalitarian regimen in 1959, a man who had survived the inconceivable hatred and racism of the Third Reich, drew the image of such a massive and powerful creature out of his unconscious mind as the symbol for the exploitation and coopting of the “innocent” into being complicit in the oppression and exploitation of others. The lesson is more perhaps in how a musician, poet, and songwriter in “the land of the free” nearly 60 years later would have a dream – wherein the same creature served a similar role.

For me, the amazing serendipity is that in the face of people who willfully surrender their relationship with the truth, people who willingly surrender a rigorous pursuit of factual information about what they hear and read and see, the mind of two artists independently conjured the same archetypal image of brutality, ignorance, and unmitigated savagery – as a way of quantifying the inconceivable acceptance of systematic and unwarranted hatred. Two artists separated by ½ a world and more than ½ a century both summoned out of the depths of their unconsciousness – a specific image to represent the cold, unfeeling, unquestioning, reckless, and sadistic bullying that has somehow become socially acceptable in their respective societies.

In the dream, I tried to plead and reason with the Rhino-man. I pleaded with him to stop his brutal attacks on the innocent. I begged him to quit. Eventually the screams of the innocent grew so unbearable that I myself stood in front of the Rhino-man. My refusal to stand idly by while he brutalized another – was enough to interrupt the behavior for that moment. The dream ended there. I don’t know what happened next. But I ask myself – how many of my neighbors will need to be attacked for being black, being women, being Muslim, being Latino/Latina, wearing a hijab, being poor, being Chinese or Japanese? Would I have stood between the Nazis and a Jewish neighbor in Warsaw, Poland 1939? Would I have stood between a Japanese-American neighbor and the US authorities in 1942? I cannot know.

The question is - what am I doing right now to challenge a growing acceptance of increasingly violent and bigoted nationalism masquerading as patriotism? And am I willing to stand in between a Rhinoceros and an innocent life – in order to choose non-compliance over complacency or even worse – complicity?

And even if one is willing to do such a thing – willing to risk being attacked alongside others who are being targeted, bullied, exploited, and blamed, how does one do that effectively in the current climate?

I do not know. It is a question I will be exploring in the weeks and months to come. The dream still haunts me. I can still hear the yelps of the Dog and the squeals and screams of the Boar as they were attacked by the Rhino-man. I remember the extraordinary fear as I finally stood between the Rhino-man and the innocent – refusing to allow him to finish off the two wounded creatures. In my dream, I stood up – and not soon enough to stop all of the brutality. But I did stand up.

When the weapons of unwarranted violence, driven by ignorance and fear strike – we don’t always have warning. And while we are wrestling with our own shock, disbelief, and fear, the wielder of those weapons strikes again.

We are not necessarily responsible for the ways in which we are surprised. We are not even reasonably responsible for the ways in which our human instincts protect us by putting us into shock when we witness the unimaginable. But we are 100% responsible for what we do once awareness reaches us that something horrible is happening, and we have the ability to do anything at all to interrupt the pattern of exploitation, hateful rhetoric, or damage that is being done to the innocent around us.

I do not know what my response will be on or off stage, in a climate where racism and hatred are again being turned into public policy. I do know however, that in the wake of a dream that unwittingly connected me to a playwright from Romania and a work of art written well before I was born – I WILL have a response.

I respond in my music and in my conversations. I respond in my actions and in my inactions. I respond by educating myself about the world around me. I respond by travelling to communities different from my own so that I can learn from them. I respond by choosing a non-violent form of resistance rather than surrendering to a presumption that violence is the inevitable and necessary response to a threat. I respond by challenging a toxic level of competition among men and women – and encourage systems of cooperation instead. I respond by refusing to “take the bait” when someone tries to goad me into an unnecessary confrontation. I respond when I reserve my voice for places where I can reasonably communicate (a.k.a. not getting sucked into needless anxiety by living on social media). I respond by living as much of my life as possible in the flesh and blood world, not the virtual one.

I respond by saying hello to everyone I meet on the street or in the grocery store. I respond by making eye contact with people and by choosing to be kind – if occasionally direct. I respond by singing. And, how can I keep from singing?

When tyrants tremble as they hear, the bells of freedom ringing,
When friends rejoice both far and near, how can I keep from singing?

Until I read the book “On Tyranny” by Timothy Snyder, I did not know that Eugene Ionesco had even existed. Now I feel bound to him through our collective manifestation of specific imagery. I feel bound to try and quantify the hurtful and unreasonable behavior of bullies and those who side with them, over reason and social responsibility. And I will keep asking questions even if I do not have the answers. That is why we ask questions, to find the answers. When did ignorance become something to be proud of, or something to be ashamed of? When did ignorance stop being the beginning of knowledge and wisdom?

Never, is the answer. And never is when I will stop asking questions that make me (and others) uncomfortable. Please buy the book On Tyranny – by Timothy Snyder. Please go see the new Spike Lee film, BlacKKKlansman. It is extraordinary. And, say hello to neighbors and strangers alike. Break the wall of anonymity that separates us. I am convinced it will make a difference.

Joe Jencks
9-12-18

Dear Friends,

Greetings from the road!

I am in Colorado this week with appearances at Swallow Hill, KGNU FM, KRFC FM, and Quantum Arts at Avogadro’s Number. Then I’ll make a beeline home for a special Folk Festival performance Tuesday at the College of DuPage, hosted by WDCB FM.

Next weekend, Si Kahn and I will be launching The Forgotten tour with CD release concerts at The Eighth Step in Schenectady, NY and The Hurdy Gurdy Folk Music Club in Fair Lawn, NJ. Then we will be off to Ontario, with CD release concerts in Toronto, Kitchener (Folk Night At The Registry), and London (Cuckoo’s Nest Folk Club).

What CD release you ask?

The Forgotten: Recovered Treasures From The Pen of Si Kahn, is a NEW Joe Jencks CD comprised entirely of songs written by my friend and brother in song, American Folk master Si Kahn. Si approached me several years back with over 70 songs that he had written and never released. He asked me if I would consider singing any of them, and it evolved into a remarkable new album. Produced by Ken Whiteley and featuring some amazing Canadian musicians, these are some of my best performances yet in recorded form. 14 previously unreleased songs chronicling the lives of extraordinary people will soon be available. But I need your help.

I have set up a link where you can review the project, order CDs, and make contributions. Making records is a ridiculously expensive process. And while I have used some creative measures to finance this one thus far, I need your help to put a roof on the barn, so to speak. Thanks in advance for the support!

Check out the IndieGoGo page and learn more about it: https://igg.me/at/JoeJencksTheForgotten

Later in March I will be on tour in Florida and new tour dates still being added. And in early April, I will be teaching for a week at The Mountain Retreat Center. More information under Tour Dates.

(Harrow Fair Performing at FAI 2018)

The 30^th Annual Folk Alliance International Conference was AMAZING! If you have never been, do consider going some year. It is a wondrous gathering of the Folk Village.
We’ll be in Montreal next February. Indoors of course! Mostly.

(Joe Jencks & former FAI Executive Director - Phyllis Barney - Keeping it GREEN!)


My best to you, in all things! And thank you for your continued encouragement across distances and time. You make space in your hearts for the music to come forth. And you make the Folk Village a great place to live!

In Gratitude & Song,

-Joe Jencks

As Halloween approaches, a day of immense tradition and ritual around the world, I reflect on the significance of this time of year. In the ancient Celtic calendar – Samhain (SAH-win) marks the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter. It is also known as the ancient Celtic New Year. Various Passage Tombs in Ireland were built in alignment with the position of the sun on Samhain. I find it interesting that an ancient people recognized that life begins in stillness. By the time the spring comes – much had been done internally to prepare for the coming growth.

Samhain was also understood as a time when the boundaries between this world and the spirit world were at their thinnest point – and souls could cross back over for one night from the other side. Squash and turnips were carved into grotesque faces and candles were lit to chase away the more malevolent souls. The Mexican and Central American Dia De Los Muertos or Day of The Dead – shares a similar idea. It is a time when people honor the deceased and ancestors, light candles, say prayers, and set out plates of delicacies – so that when the spirits cross back over into this world, they can enjoy its pleasures once again. Often people decorate sculls made of sugar – and then take a bite out of death. An act of defiance, and a commitment to live life in all of its fullness!

In Christianity - All Saints Day, November 1^st and All Souls Day, November 2^nd – are a time of remembrance when we also honor our ancestors, and hold gratitude for their sacrifices and hard work, the work that allowed us to become who and what we are, today. I have always loved this time of year. The fall colors, carving pumpkins, spiced cider, tales of mystery, it all invites reflection and celebration. An awareness of plenty and the abundance of the harvest are mixed with an awareness of the possibility of the long winter, and the potential for want and privation that come with the short days and long nights.

Most of all – this is a time of year that draws our attention into the many opportunities we have to gather with family and community over the coming holidays, and to celebrate what is good in our lives and commit to growth where it is needed. May this Samhain be both joyful and contemplative. May we celebrate the living, honor those who have passed, hold gratitude for the many gifts we have, and savor the opportunity to taste the sweetness of life.


Happy Samhain!

In Gratitude & Song,

-Joe Jencks

10-27-17

Thank You For The Music

As I come into the home stretch of my 18^th year as a full-time touring musician, I am filled with gratitude. It has been an extraordinary experience. And while there have been genuine hardships, I would not trade the path I have chosen for another.

As a child I lay on the floor and listened to 33s, 45s, 78s, cassettes, and any other form of recorded music I could get my hands on. As the youngest of seven children in my family of origin, with a nearly 17-year spread between the siblings – I had a lot of music to choose from. And my parents and grandparents had all collected recordings as well. From 78s of symphonies and big band music to 45s of pop singles, from 33s to bootleg cassette tapes – I devoured it all. From Bartok to Benny Goodman, from Ella Fitzgerald to the Everly Brothers, from Appalachian church hymns to ABBA, from The Beatles to Black Sabbath, from Cole Porter to Cat Stevens, it was all in the mix. But Folk music was a through-line. I can’t say for sure why – but I think it was because folk music was music I could make on my own. With a single instrument I could mimic some of what I heard on those magical records.

This of course begs the question, what is Folk music?

I don’t have a good answer, and at age 45 I have been trying for nearly 40 years. But as the famous American Blues and Folk artist Big Bill Broonzy once said, “Folk music? Folk music? I ain’t never heard horses sing none of it. It’s all Folk music!”

I started on Mandolin when I was five. I think my first song was, “You Are My Sunshine.” Then my sister took her Mandolin back to college, so I explored the piano and a cool little electric organ my family had. But when I was eight, a family friend gave his classical guitar to me. He was moving to Seattle and did not have room for it in the car. It was the first instrument I had ever had that was all mine. I was so proud. It was HUGE for my 8-year old hands, but I was determined to learn how to play it. My sisters in particular, and an older brother helped me out with that quite a bit. Then I began to write songs. The songs were simple. They were basic, honest, minimalist expressions of my childhood perspective on the world around me. But I loved my guitar and I was determined to follow wherever the recordings were leading.

After determining that Ozzy Osbourne did not sound quite right on a classical guitar, I started learning Irish ballads. I tried some of the Classical melodies – but I had a greater love of creating new songs than learning existing ones.

I am so grateful to all of my siblings and to my parents for their genuine encouragement. I hear so many colleagues tell me stories about how they had to battle their parents in order to get permission to pursue music. How they were discouraged from following their natural curiosity and had to come back to it later in life. But isn’t that the joy of music? It’s always there waiting to be discovered!

The composer Johannes Brahms once wrote, “Music is enough for a lifetime, but one lifetime is not enough for music!” I could not agree more.

The way that my sisters and brothers, my parents, and my music teachers invited me to keep exploring was an immense gift. I sang in boys choir, musical theater, church choir, summer stock theater, Madrigals, Barber Shop groups, Celtic, Gospel, Folk, Rock, and Jazz groups, chamber music, and so much more. But I kept coming back to Folk music and songwriting as the most intuitive and natural expression of my ideas. Every genre taught me something, and continues to do so. Brahms was right. It is more than can be learned in a lifetime. But it is such a gift to have innate curiosity and be met with the encouragement to pursue one’s fancy.

I am not blessed with children of my own. But I have nieces and nephews and young friends that I meet in my travels. And I have encouraged them over the years to follow their passions. For me it was music. For some maybe it’s astronomy, medicine, weaving, sheepdog training, law, horticulture, carpentry, mountain climbing, natural conservation, social work, education, circus performing, or even parenting (which clearly is a little bit of everything). But whatever the passion, I encourage the young people in my life to go after it in a big way, and I encourage parents to get behind their young people. Eat life with a big spoon! Maybe they don’t figure it out. That’s what graduate school is for. There’s always another chance to chase a living. But there is no replacement for the indefatigable curiosity of youth.

I think that even though my siblings and I grew up with relatively little economic standing – the cultural tapestry that my parents surrounded us with was an immense gift. My parents could not afford to travel around the world, so they hosted foreign exchange students. And they brought the world to us. That alone taught me to be aware of other cultures and traditions. And each student enriched us with food, stories, and music from their home countries. I learned Chess and Backgammon from college students who hailed from Iraq and Iran. I learned simple chants and melodies and stories I later learned were from the Upanishads and the Bhagavad-Gita, from students who hailed from various regions of India. I learned how to make spinach soup from a young Portuguese couple, and tasted my first Teriyaki created by a young Japanese student. We were so rich in experience – I spent very little time worrying about material concerns.

And books! We had books from as far back as the time of the US Civil War. I had encyclopedias from the era of WWI, from the 30s, and from the 1960s. Of course some of it was out of date by the time I was reading it. But most of it was not. We had volumes of literature and philosophy. And great dictionaries! And any time I found a word I did not know, I was invited to look it up.

And camping! That subject will have to be saved for another essay entirely. But suffice it to say – my parents instilled in all of us a sense of deep wonder and appreciation for the natural world. This too is a gift for a lifetime.

I in no way want to minimize my parent’s struggles. They worked hard to support us and to lift us up to the best of their abilities. And they paid a price. But they also gave us the gift of knowledge, curiosity, learning, and an awareness that the world around us was there to explore. And they also instilled in us the knowledge that we had a responsibility to those with whom we shared the planet. And they encouraged me to follow my dreams.

I do my best to honor them by continuing to follow my dreams, wherever they may lead. And like all paths of inquiry, one needs to be open to the unexpected. Those surprises may change our direction. Good scientists pursue answers to questions, but they also accept the times when the answers differ from the expected results. That is what research and exploration are about. My current path of inquiry is with a 1922 Gibson A-2 Mandolin. I just got it a few weeks ago and my inner 5 year old is VERY excited to be reunited with an old friend. We’ll see where it leads.

Music has been my primary area of exploration. And there have been plenty of surprises. But as I continue to make music and share it with others, I realize that one day – the larger pathway of my life may lead me in a different direction. Who knows? But I quote one of my favorite ABBA songs when I say, “Thank you for the music!” It is a gift that will carry me through a lifetime. And maybe, if I am lucky, a few of my songs will carry another curious child into this realm of joyous exploration.

-Joe Jencks

September 2017

Copyright 2017 - Joe Jencks, Turtle Bear Music, ASCAP

Dear Friends,

I am honored and pleased to announce that the new CD: Poets, Philosophers, Workers, & Wanderers, spent seven (7) consecutive weeks as #1 Americana record on Sirius XM Radio / The Village. The recording also garnered #1 CD, #1 Artist, and #1 Song on the international Folk DJ Chart, with 4 songs in the top 10. Unexpected, to be sure - and welcome news!

No project of this scope sees the light of day without the kind and gracious support of MANY people. From the production team and musicians, to the fans who helped finance the project, from family and friends who kept my spirits up, to Folk and Americana DJs who were and are always willing to give new music a chance. This was definitely a communal effort, a "barn-raising" if you will, and I am filled with gratitude!

I would like to give a special shout out to the musicians, engineers, artists and designers who helped bring this collection of songs to life over a 2 and 1/2 year period.

Jon Carroll – Piano, Accordion

Jim Robeson – Electric Bass (Upright & Fretted)

Cheryl Prashker – Percussion

Harpeth Rising:
Jordana Greenberg – Violin, Vocals

Maria Di Meglio - Cello, Vocals

Rebecca Reed-Lunn - Banjo, Vocals

Ysaye Barnwell – Vocals

Tret Fure – Vocals

Edie Carey – Vocals

Heather Styka - Vocals

Reggie Harris – Vocals

Charlie Bernhardt - Vocals

Cathy Fink – Banjo

Grace Jencks – French Horn

Charlie Pilzer – Acoustic Upright Bass

David Glaser – Mandolin

Produced by: Joe Jencks and Charlie Pilzer

Recorded by: Charlie Pilzer at Airshow Mastering, Takoma Park, MD

Mixed & Mastered by Charlie Pilzer, Airshow Mastering

Bass Recorded by: Jim Robeson

Mastering Consultant: Randy LeRoy, Airshow Mastering

Production Consultant: Paul Mills

Art, Calligraphy, & Graphic Design: Moki Kokoris & Leslie Lee

Photography: Jayne Toohey – 2EPhoto

Publicity & Media Relations: Anna Ratliff

Radio Support: Lisa Grey, Blue River Promotions

Duplication: Andrew Ratshin - NW Discs


If you have not had a chance to check out the project please visit:

https://www.joejencks.com/cds/f/c/2230

The summer will see me touring a great deal both solo and with my mates in Brother Sun. Upcoming solo concerts include:

Saturday July 29th at James Reeb Unitarian Universalist Church in Madison. (Kaia Fowler will open the show and sit in.) And Sunday July 30th - I will be in concert at The Lake County Folk Club in Grey’s Lake, IL (please note a location change due to flooding.) I will resume touring with my band mates this coming week with concerts in MI, OH, and then off to Falcon Ridge Folk Festival. I hope to see you at one of these performances.

Solo tours in the fall will include many parts of the Northeastern US, Ontario, Colorado, Ireland, the Carolinas, and select shows in the Midwest as the year winds down. Please see the Tour Calendar for more information.

I hope to see you on the road in the coming months! And I hope you have a GREAT summer!

In Gratitude & Song,

-Joe

“If one can master a craft after investing 10,000 hours, Joe Jencks’ hours are showing! I am literally stunned by this new album. “Poets, Philosopher, Workers & Wanders” tells our stories, his story, and the untold stories, as an American folk master can - with heart and unfettered perfection. In this recording, Joe Jencks opens all the doors and windows of his traditional, Celtic, and Blues voice. It is his best recording yet. Add this one to the folk canon! ” ~ MarySue Twohy, SIRIUS XM Radio – The Village / The Bridge

“Poets, Philosophers, Workers & Wanderers -is absolutely Joe Jencks’ finest effort thus far. Jencks’ captivating tenor voice, lofted by flawless production, demonstrates music of conscience and provides a feast for the ear as well as nourishment for the soul.”
~ Rich Warren, The Midnight Special – WFMT, Chicago, IL

"Beyond the fine selection of songs and the talented team assembled in the studio, what really shines through on Joe Jencks' new album are his resonant, honey-rich voice, his open-hearted humanity, and his commitment to social justice. We need artists who inspire our better selves more than ever, don't we?"
~ John Platt , Sunday Supper, WFUV, NY, NY

“Joe Jencks brings us moving and stunning songs of hope, redemption, connection and remembrance. Sung with passion and delivered in his rich tenor voice, the songs on Poets, Philosophers, Workers & Wanderers are a balm for the times.” ~ Laurie DesJardins – KVMR, Nevada City, CA

“Climb inside the songs of Joe Jencks, and you meet real people. His lilting melodies and warm, caramel tenor draw us closer to the stories he tells. Jencks finds the humanness that binds us to the people in his songs!” ~ Scott Alarik – Author of Revivial and host of Folk Tales, WUMB, Boston, MA

Dear Friends,

I hope this finds you well. In times that try the soul, we have always relied on music to pull us through. Utah Phillips used to sing a song called "Singing Through The Hard Times." I have always found making music in community is a great way to reconnect with what is good and hopeful. It is a wondrous way to reach beyond the present moment into what is eternally good about gathering together and sharing time and space. In short " concerts where music is shared and the audience sings " feel like the best part of church to me.

Bernice Johnson Reagon " of the Freedom Singers and Sweet Honey In The Rock (and I paraphrase) says that a song cannot merely be sung " it needs to be raised up by community. And in so doing " when we sing together " we connect with the power of our own breath. And when we breathe together we begin to break down the walls of separation and really notice that we are on a journey together. And when we give ourselves into the moment of collective breath and song " something is transformed and healed. I could not agree more.

In that spirit - I am pleased to be on the road this week with two dear friends and colleagues, Si Kahn and Maria Dunn. We had a wonderful show in Rochester, NY last night hosted by the Golden Link Folk Singing Society " and MANY thanks to Janice Hanson and all the volunteers for a quick redirect when weather incapacitated our original venue. A wonderful night of music and community!

Tonight we three will be in Vooheesville, NY performing for Old Songs Concert Series. Si and I will be back at the Old Songs Festival in June " so this is a little preview. Thanks to Andy, Bill AJ and all the folks making these concerts happen!

Saturday night " we will be offering a concert for the Walkabout Clearwater Coffee House in White Plains, NY. It is always a pleasure to work with this auspicious organization and their fine crew.  And Sunday " our good friend Debra Chesman and Valley Folk in Corning, NY will host us for an afternoon concert. On Monday " Si and I will travel to Barre, VT for a concert at The Old Labor Hall. Thanks to one and all for hosting us!

Next week " I will be flying solo with some great concerts for the Princeton Folk Music Society, the New Haven Folk Consortium, and then back to New York for an appearance on Bound For Glory, in Ithaca.

On March 26th - I will be performing for the Blue Boat Cafe and leading services for the DuPage Unitarian Universalist Church in Naperville. The full tour schedule can be found on www.joejencks.com.

I had a wonderful visit with Billy Bragg at the Folk Alliance Conference last month " and I will share more about that in the next newsletter. But I'll leave you with a quote from Billy that really struck a chord within me. He said, "The enemy is not conservatism, the enemy is not liberalism. The enemy is cynicism. It is our job to remain engaged and not let cynicism lead to apathy." In short - it is our job to take back hopefulness. Singing always helps me do that. I hope it does for you too!  

See you soon!

In Gratitude & Song…

-Joe Jencks

New Beginnings

For years I have watched people in my life make New Year’s resolutions: a promise to do, or not do something in the coming trip around the Sun. I myself have succumbed to such thinking from time to time. But the more trips I take around the Sun, the more I see resolutions at the New Year as fundamentally hollow and unattainable.

Thich Nhat Hahn, the ever-wise Vietnamese Buddhist teacher tells us that the entry point for any worthwhile undertaking is wherever we are at right now, in this moment. So while vowing to do something tomorrow, or next week or next year is a noble goal, the entry point, the beginning of the change we are seeking remains forever in this moment, today, right now.

In the late 1960s - Thich Nhat Hahn wrote something that has really moved me recently. He was writing to his students back in Viet Nam – while he himself was recently exiled and living in France. He wrote, “You have every right to suffer, but you do not have the right not to practice while you suffer.” This one gem of Dharma has been my mantra and my guide for most of this last year.

When I spent a week performing at Carnegie Hall a few years back, I bought a Teddy Bear in the Carnegie gift shop. The affable bloke is wearing a hoodie that says (of course), “Practice, Practice, Practice!”

One morning last spring, I woke up at home (rare enough), opened my eyes and looked across the room at the Carnegie Bear – and saw that hoodie in a brand new light. I was overcome with a new understanding of that chestnut of a phrase, through the lens of Thich Nhat Hahn’s teachings: Practice, Practice, Practice!

I got out of bed, grabbed my Yoga mat and my meditation bench and began my practice. It was a present-time resolution. And I am coming to understand with more and more clarity that the only functional resolutions are present-time resolutions. They are the things we decide to do today, and again tomorrow and again each day we decide to do them.

So this year I did not make any specific resolutions for 2017. But I did do a lot of work at the end of 2016 to lay the foundation for a healthier and more productive 2017. I did the tasks and engaged in the practices that will hopefully lead to more serenity, equanimity, and gentleness. How did I do this you may ask? I built shelves. I emptied boxes. I set up a new filing system. I threw away and gave away a lot of unneeded things. I created a space in which creativity will be more easily attained, and where my instruments are hanging on the wall, calling me to play every time I pass by.

Next time I’m home for a spell, I’ll set up some studio gear so that when ideas strike, it will be easier to capture them. I also set up a craft/art space and a separate writing space so that I can leave projects unfinished and come back to them as the mood strikes. I have made discrete spaces for work, play, meditation, and music. I am cleaning up old messes so that I can make room for new ones. I find the Muse is disinclined to call on me if I am in a state of complete chaos. I need to invite her into a space that is ready to receive her.

My morning practice typically begins with lighting four candles. I light one for the past which is gone, and which I cannot change. But from which I can learn much. I light one candle for the future, for which I must plan and prepare, but over which I have almost no control. And I light one candle for the present moment, which is the only moment in which I have the power to do anything at all. It is a joyous and intimidating responsibility to fully embrace the power of the present moment. I fail more than I succeed. But I practice, like the Teddy Bear (Andy) tells me to.

Finally, I light a 4^th candle for all of the people I know who are struggling with various physical, mental, emotional and spiritual difficulties or afflictions. I light this candle of hope and healing, and imagine the light finding it’s way to each of those people I hold in my intentions. Then I do my Yoga and stretching, and my sitting meditation, and then I get on with my day.

Imperfect as I am, I continue to practice. And when I forget, as soon as I remember again - I begin again. It is a renewing and ongoing resolution, and a choice to do my best to actually be present in the here and now, as much as I am able. Because here and now – is the only time I have.

In this coming year, I wish all of us many wondrous moments, the gift of deep serenity, and meaningful action when the moment arises.

Happy New Year to you and yours!

In Gratitude and Song,

Joe Jencks

1-5-17

Dear Friends

Greetings from Musicland!

On this Veteran’s day, I remember my father, Edward Louis Jencks, Uncle Robert “Bob” Kilbride, Granddad Felix Kilbride, Uncle Floyd Jencks, Uncle Clarence Jencks, cousin Dan Jencks, Keith Lindell, Rev. Rebekah Montgomery, and dozens of other friends and family members who have served or are currently serving in the military.

My dad used to grumble on Veteran’s Day as he grabbed his Thermos and lunch on the way out the door to work, “Everyone gets Veteran’s Day off but the Veterans!”

I didn’t know what he meant. I didn’t know what he had seen, what he had sacrificed, what he had lost and gained during the years he served. (1948-1952). He did not talk about it much. The occasional story, sure. But it was a piece of his life he tried to leave behind when he got married, and then had seven children. And when he died in 1991 at age 62, the Army put a footstone marker on his grave that read simply, “Edward Louis Jencks, U.S.A. Master Sergeant, Korea.”

It was such a small part of his life chronologically, but there it was, written in stone. And for a long time it was the only marker present, the only memorial, until the family put up a headstone that more fully reflected his life and family in the civilian world. It is my belief that part of why he died at age 62, was survivor’s guilt. He carried with him a deep need to live the most ethical, most decent life he could possibly live, in honor of the hundreds and hundreds of men he trained and knew, who did not return from that war alive.

In 2013, 22 years after his death, my friend Paula Griffin, approached me at the Old Songs festival and asked me if I would consider doing some songwriting with Veterans. I said, “Sure! I’ll give it a try.” And what a life-changing process it has become. For three years now I have been the songwriter in residence for “Warriors Heart To Art.” WH2A is a retreat in Spokane, WA for Veterans of the armed services who are in one form or another dealing with Post Traumatic Stress.

On my first retreat, one of the Vets said, “I don’t use the D.”

I said, “What do you mean?”

He said, “I don’t use the D in PTSD. It stands for Disorder. Pathology. What I am experiencing is not a disorder. It is not mental or emotional pathology. It is my humanity reasserting itself. It is a sign of my true humanity, reemerging and wrestling with the unconscionable things I was asked to do in the name of my country. I don’t use the D.”

He taught me a great deal, as has every Vet who’s attended one of these retreats. In sharing their stories, women and men of several generations have helped me understand the impact of war, violence, sexual assault and trauma, on the human psyche, as well as the indefatigable spirit that ever still reaches for redemption and meaning.

They have also helped me understand the pride, loyalty, sense of honor, duty and patriotism that blends together with the darker experiences – into a turbulent conglomeration of thoughts, emotions, and contradictions that are hard to reconcile. Blessedly, we are all greater than the sum of our contradictions!

On this Veteran’s Day, I offer my gratitude to the Veterans at Warriors Heart To Art, and everywhere. The sacrifices you and your families have made in service to the constitution, your people, and the ideals of democracy and freedom are noteworthy and recognized with gratitude. Your voices are heard, and your dedication is honored.

One of the Vet’s on this year’s retreat wore a T-shirt that said, “A Veteran is a person, who at some point in their life wrote a blank check to the United States of America, payable for a sum up to and including their own life.”

As a nation, we may not always agree on how to solve our problems, or even what those problems are. But you, our service women and men, step up no matter who’s in charge. You stand up and give your best. And I thank you.

Please watch the video/ slide show linked here. This is the first song I wrote with Veterans in 2014. Thanks to Warriors Heart To Art for creating a space for healing, and to the Vets who courageously share their stories.

You are remembered on this Veteran’s Day. And you are not alone.

In Gratitude & Song,

Joe Jencks

11-11-16

8-25-16 Joe Jencks Newsletter

Dear Friends,

My ostensibly monthly newsletter is going out for the first time in nearly six months. When I promise that you will not be badgered with excess email by being on my mailing list – I certainly mean it! It has been a delight to see so many of you at concerts over the last six months, nonetheless. Thanks for staying tuned to the webpage, FB, Twitter, etc.. Your continued enthusiasm for live music and those of us who make it is a gift. And good music is the one of the best antidotes I know for the difficulties of the world around us.

Through deaths and births, losses and gains, ups and downs, moves and times of stagnation, it is the music and those who make it that keep me going. Thanks for being a part of the fabric of the community of musicians, listeners, DJs, presenters, and countless volunteers who make the magic happen.

Speaking of which, I will be performing this weekend close to home with solo concerts in Flossmoor, IL at Route One House Concerts, in Chicago, IL at WFMT’s FolkStage – hosted by Rich Warren, and at Windy City House Concerts also in Chicago, hosted by Lee Herman.

Next week I am off to Texas for several solo performances in Cuero, San Antonio, and Austin, culminating with a concert at the Kerrville Fall Folk Festival! Additional solo shows coming up in September in State College, PA and in Nutley, NJ. More information can be found on the tour schedule online and pasted below.

This weekend – and for the next two weeks – Sirius XM (The Village and The Bridge) will be broadcasting a live performance Brother Sun gave a few weeks back at their studios in Washington, D.C. The premier will air on Sunday Aug 28 -“The Village Folk Show” on The Bridge, SiriusXM ch32 and on the SiriusXM App @ 6 am-10 am ET and 8 -12 midnight PT. BROTHER SUN LIVE! We’ll be on around 9 AM ET and 11 PM PT. This show will rebroadcast on SiriusXM The Village ch741 online in the USA and Canada all week (6x). Thanks to MarySue Twohy for a GREAT interview.

In other news: This fall I intend to release my long awaited solo CD: Poets, Philosophers, Workers, and Wanderers. One cut off of the CD (The Longest Night of The Year) was pre-released last December, and was the number 1 song on the North American Folk DJ Chart for December! Thank you one and all for your support, encouragement, and faith. The CD sounds fantastic and just as soon as I get the graphics in order it will be off to the copy house.

Thanks to Charlie Pilzer at Airshow Mastering in Takoma Park, MD for helping me to wrangle this project off the range and into the corral. Thanks also to all of the marvelous musicians for their notable contributions including: Ysaye Barnwell, Tret Fure, Edie Carey, Reggie Harris, Harpeth Rising, Jon Carroll, Jim Robeson, Cathy Fink, Cheryl Prashker, Heather Styka, David Glaser, Grace Jencks, and so many more. I can’t wait to get this CD into your hands and share the work that has taken so long to complete, but that is so deeply satisfying to my heart.

Last but not least I am officially opening up slots for my 2017 Ireland trip with Inishfree Tours. I will be leading a 10-day a music filled tour through Counties Clare, Cork, and Kerry - October 6th -15th, 2017. For more information please respond to the newsletter or send a note to joe@joejencks.com, and I will get you more information.

Hope to see you at a show soon!

In Gratitude and Song,

Joe Jencks

Dear Friends,

As the year winds to a close, I am made aware of how complicated our world is. We cling to images of childhood, toys, games, movies (yes, I did see Star Wars!), simple pleasures like a cookie or a cup of cocoa, mostly because we need to be reminded of a time when life was simpler. And in truth, it can be simpler if we let it. And it does not just have to be during the holidays. We can embrace a little simplicity anytime we like.

For my part – the multi-colored "happy lights” we often string up during the holidays are a welcome way to embrace simple joy, anytime. I leave a few strings up all year. And when I need to relax, I plug them in. I am also a fan of Legos, HO scale model trains, and stuffed animals. And I know it seems childish for a grown-up to play with such things, but it is part of a cultivated practice of staying connected with simpler things, both inside and out.

When the world gets to be too much for me, when the stress of holiday gatherings merges with my constant awareness of pain and suffering in the world around me, I know I need to go for a walk, have a cup of tea, play a game, play some music, cook a good meal, or just be silly. It does not stop violence in the world around me. It does not make wars cease, and people suddenly be kinder. But it stops the war in me, if only for a little while, and it makes ME be kinder. And that is a start.

So, embrace simplicity and simple joys. Not as a frantic effort to cling to the past, but as a way of being present in the now. Breathe deeply, consider a few things you can be grateful for even if your life is hard, and know that even though the world is complicated, you can choose to simplify. Even for a moment. It will help.

May the coming year be rich with blessing and wonder, and may we all find some of that simple joy. Thanks for your continued support of my music!

Happy Holidays to you and yours,

Joe Jencks

NEWS:

New Brother Sun CD:

IndieGoGo: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-new-brother-sun-cd#/

We’re only a few hundred dollars away from our goal with less than 2 days to go! The CD will be released on or about April 1^st. Thanks!

Joe’s Next Ireland Tour – October 3-12, 2016

I’ll be leading another music-focused tour in Ireland, October 3-12, 2016. This year’s trip was AMAZING! Thanks to all who participated. I still have some seats on the coach for next year, but they are going fast. If you would like more information, please send an email to joe@joejencks.com and/or reply to this note with Ireland 2016 in the subject line. I’ll send you the costs and a full itinerary. Many THANKS to John Smith and Jo Smith of Inishfree Tours, for all of their support and hard work!

Joe’s New Solo CD:

I’ll be in the studio the first week of January – finishing up the new Joe Jencks solo CD: Poets, Philosophers, Workers, & Wanderers! For those who ordered, THANK YOU! It will be worth the wait, I promise! Release date is hopefully in early February. For those who still want to order, you can do so on-line at: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/poets-philosophers-workers-wanderers#/

Dear Friends,

At the end of the Summer of 2009, I received a phone call that changed the course of my life. The sister of my dear friend Jason Larche rang to inform me that he had chosen to end his life. One of his last wishes as expressed in writing, was that I sing at his funeral. Jason and I went back to college theater days, and while he continued very successfully on that path, I applied myself with equal enthusiasm to music. Our friendship, as well as the manner of his passing, left an indelible mark on my life. As a playwright and composer, Jason had a knack for looking at people on the edge, people in transition, people in struggle, people seeking transcendence from suffering and stuck in the difficult places of decision.

In early 2010, I wrote a song in honor of Jason called Going Home. And while the song was written in his memory, it is really a litany of the stories and ideas he would no longer be here to bring forth. It is a piece of music that has inspired the creation of a brand new collection of original Joe Jencks songs and compositions. I am recording these songs along with some thematically complimentary pieces written by a few good friends including Kat Eggleston, Jon Brooks, and the late Jack Hardy.

The new project is titled: Poets, Philosophers, Workers, & Wanderers.

The songs range from grand cinematic ballads and stories of people who dared to dream and paid a high price, to intimate songs of personal evolution, growth, and transition. The underlying tone of the new record is adventurous and hopeful, while never shying away from the difficult truths of the world in which we live. From the tragedy of 18^th century Prison Ships bound for Australia, to a ballad about the Shoah and a small town in the Ukraine called Trochenbrod; from stories about Veterans and PTSD, to a celebration of Pete Seeger and his courage in standing up to HUAC in 1955, the underlying theme of transformation, both personal and societal is evident throughout. Poets, Philosophers, Workers, & Wanderers, is the most thoughtfully arranged and composed record of my career to date.

In addition to carefully cultivated songs and arrangements including strings, horns, piano, choir and other acoustic instruments, a host of guest artists have lent their time and talents to help bring this to life. Musicians include: Ysaye Barnwell (of Sweet Honey and The Rock), Peggy Seeger, Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer, Tret Fure, Harpeth Rising, Edie Carey, Heather Styka, Jon Carroll, Jim Robeson, Cheryl Prashker, Grace Jencks, Charilie Pilzer, David Glaser, Bob Beach, and Charlie Bernhardt. Most of the recording has been done with Grammy winning engineer, Charlie Pilzer (Airshow Inc., Takoma Park, MD) and it sounds AMAZING!

I am writing to you now, to invite you to be a part of this important project. On the creative side, it has been a community “barn raising.” I now need to ask for your assistance on the financial side to help complete the project and put roof on the proverbial barn. I have been financing this out of pocket thus far; and I am hoping that together we can raise at least another ten thousand dollars that is needed to finish this collection of songs and stories so sacred to my own heart, and others.

The best way you can help is to order copies of the CD in advance. I have set up a crowd-funding website here and as always, checks can also be mailed directly to me. Please send me a note for a mailing address. (joe@joejencks.com)

In addition, I have also secured several thousand dollars in Challenge Grants from a few enthusiastic private donors. It’s money on the table and you can help raise an equal amount via crowd-funding to access that support. ­ Please join me in making this a reality.

The result of your generosity will be not only the completion of this CD, but it will also support an outward ripple affect of good deeds. Several of the songs on the project will go out into the world as singles – in support of other communities.

I have been doing work with a group based in Spokane, WA called Warriors Heart to Art. This wonderful organization helps Veterans tell their stories, and integrate their experiences through the arts, as they endeavor to live more fully in spite of their ongoing struggles with Post Traumatic Stress. Your support will allow several thousand copies of a song I wrote with the Veterans called, One Piece At A Time to be distributed free of charge to Veterans across the country by Warriors Heart to Art. In addition, the project’s Bass player, Jim Robeson (a Vietnam Vet) has volunteered his services as a video producer, to create a music video using this song, to help honor the Vets.

A ballad I wrote called Children of Trochenbrod about the insanity of the Shoah / Holocaust, has already been donated as part of the film score for an independent film, called Lost Town. The film is now available on DVD. With your support to complete the project, the song will keep traveling through the communities of descendants, survivors, and allies that we may continue to learn from and avert genocide and hate-crimes (all too present in our world, even still).

Your role in this project will create opportunities to donate other songs for suicide awareness and prevention, mental health awareness, as well as contributing music to several Labor organizations, and to the ACLU for it’s ongoing efforts to defend Civil Rights. Last but not least, several hundred copies of this record will be sent to Folk DJs for their efforts to keep acoustic music alive and well on the airwaves. You are a necessary part of the success of this effort.

None of this can happen without your generosity. Order copies of Poets, Philosophers, Workers, & Wanderers for yourself and for friends. Order a copy to give to a local radio station or a local library. Please also consider giving a gift of 100 to 1000 dollars. The more money we raise, the more CDs we will be able to give away. Every dollar given beyond the ten thousand needed to complete the project will be spent sharing this work with communities that can benefit from the music. It is a musical portrait of humanity I would very much like to share, in the hopes that music can help heal what is broken in our world. Your generosity is a critical component to begin that healing. And in advance, let me say thank you for your generosity.

This has been a labor of love. Every one of these songs has a story. Every one of the musicians and engineers has donated some or all of their time, in the effort to help bring this project into the world. You are also an integral part of this community. Please feel free to contact me for more information about how you can help bring this record into the world.

In Deepest Gratitude,

:-)

Joe Jencks

Turtle Bear Music