"Music comes at us from all directions.
Sometimes a short review will catch your eye and lead to an overwhelming
discovery. Other times a new band seems promising, and then one of its
members takes off on their own. That’s Beau Jennings. The Oklahoma
native has a name that sounds like he should come from that state, but
his music is as big as America."
~ Bentley's Bandstand
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Release Date: 05-February-2013 (expected)
Genre: Rock / Roots Rock / Americana
Publisher: [c] 2013 Beau Jennings
Label: Unsigned
Total Time: 20m 27s
Review Date: 29-January-2013
Review Format: AAC (iTunes)
Bit Rate: 160 kbps
For Fans Of: Wilco, Whiskeytown, Jay Farrar
Songs In Jivewired Radio Rotation:Song For Wynn
Best Songs:A Full Moon, Readin' To My Baby, Song For Wynn
Team Photo:Sweet Action, Quick Trip
Previous Jivewired Review: None
Jivewired Digital One Sheet: Not currently a Jivewired Subscriber
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Get it at:
This album is set for release on February 5, 2013 but you can get the lead single, Song For Wynn, immediately at Bandcamp. For more info click on either of the following links.
Bandcamp | Artist Website
Track Listing:
01. Song For Wynn
02. A Full Moon
03. Sweet Action
04. Readin' To My Baby
05. Quicktrip
Review:
I saw Beau Jennings & The Tigers at Opolis (Norman, OK) in July, 2012 as the opener for the Heartless Bastards. It was the first time I had heard Beau perform live and he closed his set with an amazing back-to-back-to-back uptempo face-melter that kicked off with Readin' To My Baby, one of the new songs on Beau's latest release Sweet Action.
The performance revealed a more lively side of Beau, one that I hadn't heard on some of his earlier releases which were more identifiable to me as a singer/songwriter-meets-contemporary-roots brand of rock music. Kicking it up a notch suits Beau well. He certainly has the talent as a vocalist/guitarist and the necessary confidence to carry that sound and it opens up a warmer, story-telling side to Beau Jennings.
Sweet Action is a music travelogue of sorts, an EP that sketches a landscape deeply rooted in the Bible Belt-meets-Midwestern-heartland section of Broken Arrow, OK in which Jennings resides. It also portrays a career that has taken Beau on journeys across America, those very journeys that have shaped his career as a performer and songwriter. This EP represents more of an alt-rock and Americana showcase that is akin in spirit to works by Uncle Tupelo and early Wilco.
A Full Moon is an absolute stellar jam of a song that is the repeat player on Sweet Action. Here Beau really shows maturity and polish as a performer. Readin' To My Baby is similarly good, an uptempo number with just a hint of rockabilly in it's verse structure. Readin' To My Baby builds on impeccable, pitch-perfect harmonies featuring Beau and Samantha Crain and includes a smoking keys and guitar call/response between Beau and Chad Copelin before finishing with an abrupt close that in statement begs for more. The addition of Copelin and Crain offers a defining moment on this EP that includes a number of defining moments:
The thing that's really cool is that Jennings' backing band, The Tigers, is really an ensemble cast of interchangeable parts with the constants being Beau, guitarist Jarod Evans and Chad Copelin on keys. That puts an interesting spin on this project that makes it slightly more effusive than a solo project and something slightly less than a singularly traditional group effort. A great example is the sublime drumming by Nathan Price on Song For Wynn. Jennings has really put together a cast of some of Oklahoma's best talent for this recording and the result is first rate.
An EP release certainly allows Beau Jennings to give us the best he has to offer. Sweet Action offers five really good songs in the tradition of some of the best alt-country and roots-based rock releases of recent memory. It's a quick listen, and a repeat player. Definitely worth adding to your collection and well worth giving up twenty minutes of your undivided attention.
About Beau Jennings:
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After spending several years in Brooklyn fronting the americana rock band Cheyenne, singer and songwriter Beau Jennings was in search of a new backing band upon returning to his home in Oklahoma. The Tigers - based out of Norman and a wrecking crew of some of the best musicians in the state - were already known as the go-to backing band for songwriters from the area and were a perfect match for Jennings' new songs. After one rehearsal and several beers, Beau Jennings & The Tigers performed a hastily assembled set at the Okie Noodling Tournament and soon realized they were a match for each other. At times channeling the energy of early Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, other times the more modern Wilco, Beau Jennings & The Tigers set out to begin work on their debut recording, the Sweet Action EP.
Initial tracking began at The Honey Jar Studios in Brooklyn, NY with Devin Greenwood (Norah Jones, Amos Lee) at the helm. On songs like Readin' To My Baby, A Full Moon, and Song for Wynn, a bigger, broader sound for Jennings' songs began to emerge, contrasting with the more intensely personal nature of the lyrics. There were no fictional storytelling songs this time around, only reflections on real life situations: "I guess it's a funny way to go about it, pairing these big sounding songs with lyrics that are probably better suited for quiet acoustic stuff, but I try not fight what seems to be coming in" says Jennings. Rounding out the Tigers' debut recording were Sweet Action and Quicktrip, balancing the rock n' roll with lush, acoustic keyboard driven instrumentation reminiscent of Jennings' early recordings with Cheyenne. Tracking later moved back to the familiar Blackwatch Studios in Norman with both Jarod Evans and Chad Copelin handling final tracking and mixing duties.
The songs on Sweet Action were written in between periods of writing songs for Jennings' other ongoing project, The Verdigris: In Search of Will Rogers. "I've written all the songs I can about Will Rogers at this point, and it was time to focus a little bit on some of the others songs I'd been writing on the side."
With The Verdigris album and documentary film not scheduled for release until sometime late in 2013, Jennings is happy to focus on working with the Tigers until then. "All these different projects seem to inform each other I think. The Verdigris has been a tedious and painstaking process and I know the results will show it was all worth the effort, but I also have a musical side that needs to turn it up and make a lot of noise with the band."
![]()
~ Bentley's Bandstand
Release Date: 05-February-2013 (expected)
Genre: Rock / Roots Rock / Americana
Publisher: [c] 2013 Beau Jennings
Label: Unsigned
Total Time: 20m 27s
Review Date: 29-January-2013
Review Format: AAC (iTunes)
Bit Rate: 160 kbps
For Fans Of: Wilco, Whiskeytown, Jay Farrar
Songs In Jivewired Radio Rotation:Song For Wynn
Best Songs:A Full Moon, Readin' To My Baby, Song For Wynn
Team Photo:Sweet Action, Quick Trip
Previous Jivewired Review: None
Jivewired Digital One Sheet: Not currently a Jivewired Subscriber
Get it at:
This album is set for release on February 5, 2013 but you can get the lead single, Song For Wynn, immediately at Bandcamp. For more info click on either of the following links.
Bandcamp | Artist Website
Track Listing:
01. Song For Wynn
02. A Full Moon
03. Sweet Action
04. Readin' To My Baby
05. Quicktrip
Review:
I saw Beau Jennings & The Tigers at Opolis (Norman, OK) in July, 2012 as the opener for the Heartless Bastards. It was the first time I had heard Beau perform live and he closed his set with an amazing back-to-back-to-back uptempo face-melter that kicked off with Readin' To My Baby, one of the new songs on Beau's latest release Sweet Action.
The performance revealed a more lively side of Beau, one that I hadn't heard on some of his earlier releases which were more identifiable to me as a singer/songwriter-meets-contemporary-roots brand of rock music. Kicking it up a notch suits Beau well. He certainly has the talent as a vocalist/guitarist and the necessary confidence to carry that sound and it opens up a warmer, story-telling side to Beau Jennings.
Sweet Action is a music travelogue of sorts, an EP that sketches a landscape deeply rooted in the Bible Belt-meets-Midwestern-heartland section of Broken Arrow, OK in which Jennings resides. It also portrays a career that has taken Beau on journeys across America, those very journeys that have shaped his career as a performer and songwriter. This EP represents more of an alt-rock and Americana showcase that is akin in spirit to works by Uncle Tupelo and early Wilco.
A Full Moon is an absolute stellar jam of a song that is the repeat player on Sweet Action. Here Beau really shows maturity and polish as a performer. Readin' To My Baby is similarly good, an uptempo number with just a hint of rockabilly in it's verse structure. Readin' To My Baby builds on impeccable, pitch-perfect harmonies featuring Beau and Samantha Crain and includes a smoking keys and guitar call/response between Beau and Chad Copelin before finishing with an abrupt close that in statement begs for more. The addition of Copelin and Crain offers a defining moment on this EP that includes a number of defining moments:
- The pedal steel of Michael Phillips on Sweet Action
- Brine Webb's sick and wicked bass on Song For Wynn
- The wonderful, Wilco-influenced arrangement of A Full Moon
- Beau's ethereal vocals on Quicktrip that ooze pure Americana
The thing that's really cool is that Jennings' backing band, The Tigers, is really an ensemble cast of interchangeable parts with the constants being Beau, guitarist Jarod Evans and Chad Copelin on keys. That puts an interesting spin on this project that makes it slightly more effusive than a solo project and something slightly less than a singularly traditional group effort. A great example is the sublime drumming by Nathan Price on Song For Wynn. Jennings has really put together a cast of some of Oklahoma's best talent for this recording and the result is first rate.
An EP release certainly allows Beau Jennings to give us the best he has to offer. Sweet Action offers five really good songs in the tradition of some of the best alt-country and roots-based rock releases of recent memory. It's a quick listen, and a repeat player. Definitely worth adding to your collection and well worth giving up twenty minutes of your undivided attention.
About Beau Jennings:
After spending several years in Brooklyn fronting the americana rock band Cheyenne, singer and songwriter Beau Jennings was in search of a new backing band upon returning to his home in Oklahoma. The Tigers - based out of Norman and a wrecking crew of some of the best musicians in the state - were already known as the go-to backing band for songwriters from the area and were a perfect match for Jennings' new songs. After one rehearsal and several beers, Beau Jennings & The Tigers performed a hastily assembled set at the Okie Noodling Tournament and soon realized they were a match for each other. At times channeling the energy of early Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, other times the more modern Wilco, Beau Jennings & The Tigers set out to begin work on their debut recording, the Sweet Action EP.
Initial tracking began at The Honey Jar Studios in Brooklyn, NY with Devin Greenwood (Norah Jones, Amos Lee) at the helm. On songs like Readin' To My Baby, A Full Moon, and Song for Wynn, a bigger, broader sound for Jennings' songs began to emerge, contrasting with the more intensely personal nature of the lyrics. There were no fictional storytelling songs this time around, only reflections on real life situations: "I guess it's a funny way to go about it, pairing these big sounding songs with lyrics that are probably better suited for quiet acoustic stuff, but I try not fight what seems to be coming in" says Jennings. Rounding out the Tigers' debut recording were Sweet Action and Quicktrip, balancing the rock n' roll with lush, acoustic keyboard driven instrumentation reminiscent of Jennings' early recordings with Cheyenne. Tracking later moved back to the familiar Blackwatch Studios in Norman with both Jarod Evans and Chad Copelin handling final tracking and mixing duties.
The songs on Sweet Action were written in between periods of writing songs for Jennings' other ongoing project, The Verdigris: In Search of Will Rogers. "I've written all the songs I can about Will Rogers at this point, and it was time to focus a little bit on some of the others songs I'd been writing on the side."
With The Verdigris album and documentary film not scheduled for release until sometime late in 2013, Jennings is happy to focus on working with the Tigers until then. "All these different projects seem to inform each other I think. The Verdigris has been a tedious and painstaking process and I know the results will show it was all worth the effort, but I also have a musical side that needs to turn it up and make a lot of noise with the band."