03 June 2022 - 0 Comments

Southland-born, now Wellington-residing singer songwriter Jenny Mitchell has today released her intriguing new single, Snakes In The Grass. This is the fourth single to be lifted from her forthcoming album, Tug of War (Cooking Vinyl Australia), released on July 22. Exhibiting a darker, Americana sound, it’s described by Jenny as a “love-warning” tune and features her sisters Maegan & Nicola on backing vocals, with Australian country music legend Rod McCormack on banjo and Michael Muchow on electric guitar.

LISTEN HERE

Jenny explains, “Lyrically, it’s quite a direct song of warning. The line “I told my mother’s mother & she told her too,” was one of the first ideas when I was writing it. I was thinking about how we have all the wisdom in the world to avoid falling for people that clearly aren’t willing to give as much as us but we do it anyway! I suppose it’s something that you have to learn on your own but this song is essentially my warnings/wisdom about such things.

“The demo was recorded in my bedroom before I worked on it remotely with my Sydney based producer, Matt Fell. I eventually recorded my final tracks at Loho Studios, Christchurch.

“This song was actually written as part of a Songclub run by Sam Hawksley. Each week, Sam sends out a prompt to a group of songwriters and we each have to write a song inspired by it and submit a recording of it within the week. It was deadline day, almost midnight, and I had to whip something up. Sometimes the best songs fall out at those moments when you’re just being creative for fun & with a time limit and this one stuck with me.”

Tug of War is set for release on July 22 (with vinyl to arrive later on October 14) via Cooking Vinyl Australia.

Produced by Matt Fell, Tug of War is a deep and emotional dive, for the artist and the listener. It finds Mitchell at her most raw and honest as a storyteller while creating a musical work that’s as rich and fertile as the farming country in Southland where she grew up. The title, Tug of War, hints at the turmoil at the heart of the songs while the musical settings draw on inspiration from old-timey country to dark folk mountain music and classic singer-songwriter albums. The music defies easy categorisation but if you admire music by genre-defying artists from Emmylou Harris to Kasey Chambers and Jason Isbell, you are going to love Tug of War. Mitchell is a writer with important things to say, and brave enough to say them.

Mitchell made her stage debut at four with her country-music loving father Ron at the local country music club in Gore near Invercargill. At 14 she placed third in national TV show New Zealand’s Got Talent, a formative experience which taught her how to stand up for herself and to believe in the songs she was writing.

She specialised in Gender Studies in her Bachelor of Arts degree, studying the struggles of women dealing with sexism, writing about artists who inspired her like New Zealand songwriter Tami Neilson.

Catch Jenny Mitchell live this month – playing two intimate shows. See Jenny live in Wellington at Wellington Bluegrass Society, Petone, on Saturday June 11. Tickets HERE Or, live in Kumeu, Auckland, at Kumeu Live on Saturday June 18. Tickets HERE

Tug of War is released on July 22 via Cooking Vinyl – pre-order HERE

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