Jenny Keefe:
Songbird of Central Illinois.
Jenny Keefe is a singer, songwriter, and acoustic guitarist who grew up in Mattoon, Illinois. She is now 30 years old and has been singing since childhood.
Originally printed in the Summer 2007 issue of Black Oak Presents, pg. 4-6.
Black Oak: When did you first start making music? Were there any obstacles you had to overcome?
Jenny: I first started writing songs when I got my guitar and that was in ‘95 or ‘96, but I didn't play out in public until about four years ago. It took a really long time for me to have the courage to actually sing in public and fear was the biggest obstacle of all. It's still scary. Not as scary, but still scary.
Black Oak: Did you face any other obstacles besides your fear? For example, did people resist you because you were new?
Jenny: I think people were pretty open and welcoming around here [Mattoon and Charleston, IL], but when you try to play in Champaign or Terre Haute it gets a little trickier because people want to know that you can bring a crowd to their business. They [promoters] aren't always interested in the quality of music they're bringing in as they are how many people are going to come and buy drinks and food.
So that part has been hard. Also when you are a solo artist you aren't bringing a big, rocking band. You have to find a place that is interested in having mellow, original music. A lot of people just want cover bands, so that's been an obstacle.
Black Oak: How would you describe your music to people who have not heard it?
Jenny: It's pretty mellow, just an acoustic guitar. The stories of the songs deal with the conscious state of society to relationships between friends, relationships between lovers. I've got songs that talk about choices that you can make in life that can be a waste of time and how you need to live your life to the fullest. There are songs about traveling. I try to deliver vocally. There is a lot of emotion behind my vocals.
Black Oak: You have self-released two albums. Tell us about the process involved in doing that.
Jenny: I’ve released two CDs―Pot Belly Prism and Wellspring. They are actually from the same time. The first pick of the songs was Pot Belly Prism and Wellspring was the second pick.
Those were all recorded with my friend Riley and also a guy named Mike Wake in Mattoon. Mike Wake had a recording studio in Mattoon for a while―in the old movie theater on Broadway. So I was lucky enough to have some friends who had a studio and get some good time in there. On top of that, Riley has some really good portable equipment. We would take it to the train station, to his apartment, or wherever we felt like it and just record. If it wasn't for me having friends with connections, I would never have been able to afford to make these albums because recording studio time is just outrageous and I'm really thankful to them for that. It also costs about $1,000 to have your CD professionally manufactured and packaged and I didn't have the money for that either. So I just make my own covers and burn my own CDs and sell them at shows.
Black Oak: If you could pick one song that you really put everything into, or you really felt said the most about the way you felt at the time, which one would it be?
Jenny: That's really hard because I feel that way about every single one of them. I mean, there have been times when I've written songs―I used to make tapes before I had access to make CDs―I would sit around and push play and push record at the same time and that's what I did. I recorded my songs on tape and would give them to people.
My girlfriend Leonna and I would drive around the country in the dark whenever I had a new song and we'd listen to it on her stereo in her car. A lot of times I would be like, “oh my god! This song just makes me want to puke and cry!”
It was such a vent. Each song was me venting or healing, you know? So I feel like every song I write, whatever emotion I'm dealing with at the time with that song I put my everything into it and it's pretty intense for me. So to pick one, I think would be impossible.
Black Oak: Would you say that local venues are conducive to the growth of local musicians?
Jenny: Absolutely! That is the first place as a musician that you are going to go to get a show. The places around here―Friends is a little different now―but Friends used to be an amazing place to go play. There was open mic night there. There is open mic night at Jackson Avenue Coffee. Open mic nights are definitely a way to get things going. Once you are ready to book your own gigs.
I think that local venues are wonderful and that around here they are really good because they'll book you, and you get paid. It's an outlet for you to invite people to hear you play, somewhere to sell your CDs, somewhere to get inspired to move on to towns that you've never been to. We've been really blessed with the music scene we have in Charleston. Some absolutely amazing people have come out of here.
Black Oak: Tell our readers a little bit more about your current project.
Jenny: It will be a little different in that there will be more instruments besides just me and my guitar. We are trying to keep the intimacy and rawness, but at the same the melodies that are being brought in from the outside are enhancing the songs so much more. Stephen Swords is an amazing musician and besides doing acoustic music or Rock and Roll, he also does this incredible mood music with his keyboards. Plus he has all of these bell instruments and hand drums around his house.
So I think making this album with him you can get a feel for me and also for him at the same time. It's a perfect collaboration for the two of us. I'm honored to work with him and I'm excited about the way that he can add something to one of my songs and to feel like that was the missing link as it takes on a whole new life. That is very exciting and is what's different about this album.
Black Oak: When writing a song, is there any particular place you go or anything that you do to get inspired?
Jenny: No, but I used to. When I first started I would go outside in the wind and the birds and just play. Songs would come out like tangents, but not so much anymore. Whenever it's just me playing with a guitar it's because I feel something so strongly that I have to get it out. I'll just sit where ever I am and play and stuff will come out. Then I'll rework it, write it down, or record it then edit it later. With the jazzy stuff, it can be as simple as somebody else playing music and me just really liking it. Words will come out and I'll just make a story out of it. It just depends.
Black Oak: Is it a simultaneous process or do you write the music or lyrics first?
Jenny: You never know. It's back and forth. Sometimes it will be something that I've written that I want to find a melody for and sometimes it will be a melody that I am working out that I'll put the words to. It's different every time. I don't have a method to the madness but it would probably be easier if I did!
Black Oak: How difficult is it to get your albums into stores?
Jenny: It's tricky. Positively Fourth Street Records [Charleston, IL] has a local music section. I've called up there before and had employees tell me that it's such a hassle working with local musicians. Whether or not the CDs are selling or if people are stealing them and taking them out. It's been kind of a let down in that respect.
Places in Mattoon and Champaign, like Barnes & Noble, Pages for All Ages, and Borders, don't want to sell your CD if it hasn't been professionally packaged. If you can't afford to do that then you don't have that outlet available to you. CD Baby is a phenomenal alternative.
Black Oak: Is that an online store?
Jenny: Yes. It's a hosting service where you pay a one time fee. Not only will they advertise for you, they will sell your CD until the end of time. You send them five CDs and you create a bio page where people can write reviews when they buy them. When people want to purchase a CD they just click on the CD Baby link on your website and they can hear pieces of every song. CD Baby takes care of the mailings, the shipping and handling, and they send you a check.
Black Oak: So the Internet has had a big effect on the way local musicians get their work out?
Jenny: Well, your magazine is an online magazine. You contacted me through the Internet, through my MySpace page. That opens up a lot of opportunities for people like us in this day and age. My friend just emailed me an article about a singer/songwriter named Kate Walsh from the UK. She was outselling Elton John and was on top of the charts on Itunes. Because of that she has record companies coming to her.
She sold 60,000 albums in a short amount of time. They were homemade albums. She did it all herself. She was someone like you and me. Your magazine is an online magazine. It's going to have the opportunity to reach so many people. I'm really excited about what that has to offer.
And the networking possibilities―getting together with other musicians and playing shows and sharing music. I'm just excited that the outlet is there and I would like to invite everyone that reads this to check out the MySpace page. There's always a list of shows on there and sample tracks you can listen to.
Interview conducted by Michael Kleen
and transcribed by Chris Lempa.
Reproduction of material from any original Blackoakmedia.org pages
without written permission is strictly prohibited.
Copyright 2007 Black Oak Media