Photo by Jason Maggio

Mason Jennings was born in Honolulu, grew up in Pittsburgh, and after deciding high school just wasn't for him opted for the open road which eventually led him to Minneapolis. Mason says he found comfort in the heartland's "big, open sky - and I loved the people and their literate, art-focused city."

"Making music is a way of experiencing something that I can't put a name to. When I write music I am always searching for something. As Thomas Wolfe said, I am trying to remember a forgotten language."

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Minneapolis singer-songwriter Jennings has a gift for expressing big ideas crises of faith, political frustrations and romantic entanglements with simple words, all within the parameters of traditional, well-crafted folk ditties. (His accomplished guitar playing doesn't hurt, either.) Bass drums, chains and minor-key melody give the rootsy "Some Say I'm Not" the somber, soulful quality of a field holler. And the heartbreaking "Which Way Your Heart Will Go" sounds like a less flamboyant Cat Stevens track all stoic piano chords and fingerpicked guitar.

LAUREN GITLIN - RS Magazine