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AcoustiCafe: First of I'd like to ask you about Isabella, what's new with the band, and what are you guys doing as far as new material or a tour?
Jenn: We have some new songs. We're playing some new songs tonight. A lot of them are Lovechild songs, or old Isabella songs and a couple of them are new Isabella,
but I don't have a lot of time to work with Isabella so this is the first stretch of time that we've had free from Rusted Root. We've been on tour and then we were recording,
and then we went back on tour. So the time that I've had with them has only been month stretches at a time.
Just enough time to like throw a couple gigs together and play and not really work on things.
So our plan though is to make an album and we won't be able to go on the road probably for real until after the
Rusted Root album cycle is done. It's like my band and unfortunately they're sad that I have another thing to do all the
time because like we get rolling and we get excited and things start taking off and people really like it and musically is
what it is that we really start to click and then I have to leave...
AcoustiCafe: As far as solo work is there anything you plan on doing solo?
Jenn: Um, only acoustic shows like this with Michael and I'm actually just booking them now through March
there'll be some acoustic shows around the Pittsburgh area, nothing further than Erie or Cleveland.
AcoustiCafe: As far as being back with Rusted Root how does it feel to be back with the band?
Jenn: Sometimes just like the old days and nothing has changed, sometimes it feels brand new and it's like a whole new group of people that I'm dealing with. Everybody's grown so much and changed so much and I've changed so much that it's not even, it's just, you know, pretty fabulous, but it's not that heavy.
AcoustiCafe: How did it happen, you getting back with the band?
Jenn: Michael and I started hanging out. I moved away to north Carolina for about a year and a half or so and when I came back we started hanging out and we were talking about writing music together and trying that and he asked me to come and try playing with the band this one show... this one show that was a possibility...
AcoustiCafe: Was that the beehive show?
Jenn: No, that was the midwife's benefit. It was like a big deal, July of 2000?... and so I played that show and then he asked me to come and make a record with the band and have fun...
AcoustiCafe: Are any of your songs on the new album?
Jenn: Yeah there's one that's called "Weave" that is my song and there's a song that I co wrote with Michael called "Union 7" that's a freak song!... It's freak with a capitol "F"! Yeah and you know, I took part as much as everybody else in collaborating on the arrangements of the songs and contributing.
AcoustiCafe: As far as your inspirations what artists have inspired you the most?
Jenn: The most, songwriting wise, umm... Neil Young, I can't get out of my head songs, like a James Taylor song. Really pretty, good stuff like that. Like super-freaky poppy almost, but... like James Taylor, you know. I don't know how else to put it! I like the 70's songwriters like Carly Simon, but then I'm really into ben Harper, Dave Matthews, I like Jeff buckley... and then it goes into really obscure stuff I've been listening to that Union 2 album and I love it. I think the songwriting on that is just great.
AcoustiCafe: Where do you pull inspiration from when you're writing music?
Jenn: That's like a weird question cause you can't go with one song means one thing. Sometimes it does but mostly for me songs are like conglomerations of feelings about what's happening in my life. Maybe one song is about one person but it's sort of, mostly about them, but there's other stuff in there too... sometimes it's a story, sometimes it's not... where else do I get inspiration from?... Pot. Usually I smoke pot and find something on the guitar and sing the melody with out any words and use a little tape recorder like that and the words are all nonsensical and then I go back not on pot and try and write down what I think I hear. Or I will listen to the melody and feel what it's trying to say and then make the words usually... I use pot constructively, that's what I use it for. That's where I draw inspiration from.
AcoustiCafe: What was the greatest record you've ever bought?
Jenn: The greatest record I ever bought? Oh my God!... umm... can I have three?... ok, "Exile on Main Street"... uh, I'm going to venture to say this, it's not the greatest record I ever bought but it's on my head right now is "Welcome to the Cruel World". That's stuck with me for about three years, and umm, this next Rusted Root album! (John buynak shouts out "Except you get this for free!") Yeah, it doesn't count cause I don't have to buy it!
AcoustiCafe: How did you feel about George Harrison's death?
Jenn: That was a sad thing. I was playing at the Rosebud and everyone wanted to play a beatles song last night. Something in the way she moves... that's one of my favorite beatles songs ever! I don't know it's such a hard thing. I didn't know him but like every beatle you feel like you do. It's an icon thing. Icons are weird. I'm weirded out by icons. I think that it's a good thing that people have idols and icons and they're really important, but it's a real personal thing for me...
AcoustiCafe: What's the most fun you've had on stage?
Jenn: The most fun that I've ever had on stage was most recently on the Ratdog Tour.
Michael and I had a lot of fun on stage...
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