Lynn Jackson

Since 2004 I've released an album a year,? singer? songwriter Lynn Jackson elaborates of her profile. ?The joy in all this for me is, mostly, the songwriting. That's the part I'm most passionate about. I don't really sit down to specifically write songs. I rehearse quite a bit though and often the song ideas just come and I try to capture them and work them out before they escape me.? Jackson's near staggering productivity betrays her modesty cause not just any hack can bang out an album a year.

Her last,2007's Restless Days, revealed a songwriter who had matured into something special: an author capable of touching the hearts of many with simple stories about everyman. Saints and sinners, drunks and singers. It's that careful observation of the human spirit that lent her country?folk it's weight.
After three albums spent studiously crafting her charming Alison Krauss?esque style,and dissecting the human condition, Jackson is taking a bit of a different approach with her newest long?player, Soft Stars.
?Sweet Relief and Restless Days were albums more in the folk?roots tradition which is a sound I love,? she says. ?But this time around I wanted to try something different. Those earlier albums were heavily based around my acoustic guitar so even though I write on the guitar, I decided to try as much as possible to take guitar out of the picture, or at least give it a lesser role.
?There are still a number of story songs on Soft Stars. For instance, ?4th of July' is a murder ballad. ?Mark The Spot' is another story?character tale, while songs like ?Same Sun', ?Devil' and ?Saturdays' are songs that are written in character. Writing stories or writing in character allows me the freedom to write about a wider spectrum of themes and ideas.?
Though her stories and ruminations remain as vibrant and rich as on previous albums, the shift away from standard roots?folk is immediately evident. The warm acoustic tones of the piano, banjo, and cello allow Jackson room to flex her high,hushed register and reveal a voice that's less a country girl's than it is a mature, even sultry woman's. Doubtless, this stylistic curveball was at least in part influenced by her production team of Bob Egan, (Blue Rodeo), and Ryan Allen.
?Both Bob and Ryan have good sets of ears. I came in with the songs mostly arranged, with ideas about which instruments should be on which songs, but Bob had a few surprises up his sleeve and brought in some great players like Feist's horn player Bryden Baird and Lewis Melville on banjo. And of course Bob plays on the album too [pedal steel]. I managed to get violin/mandolin player Shane Guse in for a session and Dan Walsh plays resonator on a track too.?