Winter 2019–2020: Turning of the Wagon Wheel (Not too Proud for it)
My Grandma loves the song Wagon Wheel.
Last week, as an elected official for her assisted living facility in Bend, Oregon, my Grandma petitioned for less "bad music," and more Mozart in the dining hall.
She studied piano at Juilliard in the 1940s.
I write folk songs and play them around. I guess somewhere along the way I found myself identified with the dis-illusioned posse of acoustic musicians who claim “too cool” for Wagon Wheel.
But it wasn't always that way. In college, I sung for “Tangled Up In Blue” – a sixteen person coed folk music chorus. We concluded our big end of semester concerts with a tipsy Wagon Wheel encore. Hundreds of undergraduate compatriots would join us, waving whiskey bottles and smooching. It’s hard to imagine I will ever feel more “rock star."
In every jam with Grandma there comes a moment, after we've played the Tennessee Waltz and Goodnight Irene, her piano fingers warmed up and flying, when she humbly requests Wagon Wheel.
My Grandma doesn’t remember too many new things. She doesn’t remember any of my songs by name. She enjoys new things, she smiles and shakes, but very few are worthy of cutting new neural pathways. She’s been dealing with Parkinson’s disease for a decade. But my grandma REMEMBERS Wagon Wheel.
As 2019 turns 20, I pledge to meet every request for WW with gusto. I pledge to take the heart of Wagon Wheel back into mine. Then, and only then, will I stand a chance.
If you feel inspired, drop me a line with a 2020 dream/pledge/intend.
Happy new year. I appreciate you and your fan-ship and your friendship. I intend to share new music I am deeply proud of in 2020.
Today, I'm on my way to Futaleufú, Chile for three months of time spent mostly off the grid. Time to fill up the tank, write songs, sing around fires, and run with that big beautiful river.
Glad tidings,
Jenner
2020 will see many rides on this new Xtracycle steed. The future is pedal powered!
Live in 2020
December 28 - April 1 - Futaleufú, Chile - Bio Bio Expeditions - Rafting, Music, & Multisport
April 11 - Westport, CT - The Voices Cafe - Tickets
April 13 - New York, NY - Rockwood Music Hall Stage 3 - Tickets
May 10 - Santa Rosa, CA - The Lost Church Santa Rosa
May 15 - San Francisco, CA - The Lost Church
May 17 - Oakland, CA - House Concert
June 11-14 - Rogue River, OR - Serenade Gourmet Food, Music, & Rafting Adventure
June 14-20 - Washington, DC - Cassiopeia Academy for Music Performance and Songwriting
July 6 - Sisters, OR - The Open Door
November 21 - Bend, OR - Tumalo House Concerts
***Email jennerfoxmusic@gmail.com for house concert details
Big thank you to all the supporters over there on Patreon for allowing me devote so much of my time this year to music!
Patreon is a platform that allows you to directly support creative endeavors that you find meaningful. Basically, it's a voluntary monthly subscription that you choose to pay because you believe in the artist and want to keep this musical spaceship orbiting. Any amount you contribute each month helps me get my music out there. And you get perks, like for $3 a month you receive a new song demo in your inbox every month! Check them out on my Patreon page. Sneak peak from this months new song below!
Preview for this month's Patreon exclusive new song demo!
Fox Recommends
Cory Henry NaaNaaNaa LIve. 2019 was a big piano year for me. I never really payed too much attention to the ivory keys, but living with Natalie this year, I guess it seeped through the cracks. Nat showed me Cory, and boy is he a giant. This performance is all joy and ease.
Feels Like Home. Speaking of piano giants, here's a Spotify playlist consisting mostly of my favorite Randy Newman songs, and a few others I thought belonged. Randy has been ruling my songwriting world for the past few months, and I'm on a deep dive. Highly recommend going deep.
Snowga. The tradition of gifting "Yoga Playlists" for my mom for Christmas continues! She teaches four classes a week in Bend and needs new material. She’s a badass. But you don’t have to do yoga to enjoy “Snowga," simply sit back and bask in the glory, down dog or no dog.
Can Babies Learn to Love Vegetables? Burkhard Bilger on baby food. Burkhard is a friend, a staff writer for the New Yorker, the father of my musician compadre Hans, and an uncanny conveyer of the human condition. Here’s another example of becoming enrapt in something I had never thought of.
The easiest and tastiest homemade bread. From Mark Bittman and the New York Times. Raph's parents showed me this recipe years ago, and last week Natalie and I devoted a surprisingly small amount of time making bread, and a large amount of time enjoying the empowering taste of warm yum.
PS.
“A story is told of a French railroad passenger who, upon learning that his neighbor on the next seat was Picasso, began to grouse and grumble about modern art, saying that it is not a faithful representation of reality. Picasso demanded to know what was a faithful representation of reality. The man produced a wallet-sized photo and said, “There! That’s a real picture–that’s what my wife really looks like. “ Picasso looked at it carefully from several angles, turning it up and down and sideways, and said, “She’s awfully small. And flat.” -Stephen Nachmanovitch from Free Play.