INTRODUCING: JW x JU

beautiful new music produced by yours truly

Hello friends,

I’m really excited to share some music with you today that is very near and dear to my heart. If you saw my band at any point this year, you saw my friend Jacob Ungerleider. He played keys and guitar and bass. He’s very good at those things, but another thing about Jacob is that he is a songwriter of the absolute highest order. Some people write songs because they want to use them as a means of getting attention. Other people write songs because they absolutely have to or else they’ll die. Jacob is the latter. A true artist, humble, gifted, pure of heart. In fact, he doesn’t seem to like attention much at all, which is why I elbowed my way into the room to put on my “producer” hat and help bring some of his beautiful songs to the finish line.

Alert—I will be waxing philosophical at length below, so the tl;dr version of this is: go listen to these songs, I promise you won’t regret it.

(Also, if you’re in LA you can come to our show at Healing Force of the Universe on 3/22!)

“Everything You Can” b/w “I Wanna Be Fine”

Produced by Jenn Wasner and Jacob Ungerleider

With additional production, engineering and mixing by Adrian Olsen

and featuring the talents of

Alan Good Parker

Sam K-S

and Rose Droll

Album art and photos by Francesca Blanchard

With two stunningly beautiful videos by Otium:

More and more as I get older, I love stepping into the “producer” role. It’s a tricky word to pin down, with a definition as broad and shifting as the many different personalities who use it. It’s a confusing sort of umbrella term—separate from the many skill sets that are adjacent to it and often confused with it. There’s not one correct way to be a producer—but I used to believe there was, and that I was falling short. As I now understand it, producing is simply having a vision—seeing in your mind a picture of what something could be, down to the smallest details—and having the drive to turn that vision into reality. Sometimes producers are also engineers, or mixers, or instrumentalists—but they don’t have to be. It took me years to figure that bit out. Sometimes I still forget.

Part of being a great producer is, I believe, an ability to delegate. To understand the strengths you possess, and the areas in which it makes sense to step back and allow others to do what they do best. To learn when to have an opinion, and when to shut up. To see the best in others, and have the relational skills to know how to get their best out of them when it counts. There is an emotional, psychological, and dare I say spiritual component to the job. Sometimes you’re a therapist. Sometimes you’re a cheerleader. Sometimes you’re a technician. Sometimes you’re an artist. You’re wearing all of these hats, all at once. But it’s not about you. It’s about seeing something beautiful in someone else, and trying to help the world see it the way you see it.

As I enter my forties, I feel increasingly called to the experience of taking a supporting role. It makes sense that I would want to use the skill set I’ve worked so hard to develop in service of art that I believe in, made by and with people that I love. It probably won’t make any money for anyone involved, but that is not the point. Jacob’s songs are beautiful, and now there is a tiny bit more beauty in the world, for those who are seeking. It makes my heart feel full to have been a part of making that a reality.

There will be a lot more coming down the line in the not-too-distant future regarding this collaboration, and many others, and a general re-envisioning of the way I release music overall. I’m not supposed to spill the beans yet, but if you catch me on tour in the next month, I will probably talk about it a little (a lot?) Long story short—I’m about to take a big swing, and I will need your support more than ever, because the gatekeepers of the music industry probably aren’t going to want to give it the time of day. But I digress; I will leave it there before this email starts sounding too much like a fundraising email from the DNC.

Speaking of tour—Undertow tour starts in ONE WEEK! I’m excited to get back on the road. Working up a few new surprises. About to take the Prius to the car wash. Anyone available to water my plants?

Limited tickets still available in: Phoenix, Austin, New Orleans, Gainesville, Knoxville, Pittsburgh and Buffalo.

See you soon.

With my whole ass,

JW