Joe Jencks, Kaia Fowler

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John Mazlish

Joe Jencks

media release: Joe Jencks is an 25-year veteran of the international folk circuit, an award-winning songwriter, and celebrated vocalist based in Chicago. Merging conservatory training with his Irish roots and working-class upbringing, Joe delivers engaged musical narratives filled with heart, soul, groove and grit. Having penned several #1 Folksongs including the ever-relevant Lady of The Harbor, Jencks is also co-founder of the harmony trio, Brother Sun. From Festivals like Falcon Ridge, Kerrville, Mariposa, and Old Songs, to venues like Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall, Jencks has enthralled diverse audiences with his approachable style. Joe is noted for his unique merging of musical beauty, social consciousness, and spiritual exploration. Blending well-crafted instrumentals and vivid songwriting, Jencks serves it all up with a lyric baritone voice that has the edgy richness of a good sea-salt caramel.

In August of 2022, Jencks released his 17th recording, The Coming of the Years, an album that stands firmly in the modern Celtic traditions and is still quintessentially a Joe Jencks record. Centered around songs Jencks wrote while on tour in Ireland over a 12-year period, this album emerges as a synergistic blend of past and present merging with themes of immigration spanning multiple generations. The album is already being received with critical acclaim.

“Gorgeous! Wherever you come from and wherever you're going, you will find yourself in the songs on Joe Jencks' The Coming of the Years. It's a page-turner of a concept album that pulls the listener through generations of the immigrant experience and extends musical hands and hearts across the ocean. Throughout, Jencks' timeless voice is deep, warm and sweet, but never saccharine. Top-shelf accompaniment and harmonies limn every detail. His new songs align perfectly with the ancient and the familiar to spin a wholly satisfying saga.” ~ Marilyn Rea Beyer, Host, "The Midnight Special" WFMT - Chicago, IL

“Interspersing his own songs inspired by visits to Ireland to explore his heritage with carefully chosen covers and traditional pieces, Joe Jencks weaves a tapestry of love, immigration, history, and Irish pride. The instrumental arrangements support the vocals tenderly, giving Jencks' deep warm voice space to bring the lyrics to the fore. The Coming of the Years is an audio treat and a history lesson.” ~ Paul Hartman, Host, "Detour” WTMD - Baltimore & Founder - Dirty Linen Magazine

“With his meticulous care, craftmanship and exquisite sensitivity, Joe Jencks has once again blessed us with a thoughtful and stunningly beautiful collection. Themed from the shaping of his own heritage, Joe in his typically generous way encourages each of us to explore and reflect on where we’ve come from. Haunting, melancholy, hopeful and heartfelt all at once, Joe’s gorgeous baritone brings new perspective to the traditional, honour and homage to those written by others, and breathes life to his originals. Goes wonderfully with either a quiet cuppa or a wee dram.” ~ Suze Casey, Artistic Director, Calgary Folk Club

“Climb inside the songs of Joe Jencks, and you meet real people. His lilting melodies and warm, caramel tenor draw us closer to the stories he tells. Jencks finds the humanness that binds us to the people in his songs!”- Scott Alarik – Author of Revival and host of Folk Tales, WUMB, Boston, MA

“You can expect many a gifted artist to move you deeply, but Joe Jencks will change who you are.” - Angela Page – WJFF, Radio Catskill, Jefferson, N

In addition to his performance work, Jencks' skills as a vocal harmony arranger are in demand. With over 30 appearances as a guest vocalist and arranger on various studio recordings, he brings a unique rich sound to the work of other artists.

On the stage, in the studio, or in the classroom, Jencks applies conservatory training to contemporary genres, bridging styles and techniques. Drawing on his Irish heritage (dual U.S./Irish Citizen), Jencks uses his lyrical voice to enchant, heal, and inspire. Jencks has won numerous songwriting awards and is also highly regarded as a song interpreter. Jencks weaves a diverse web of stories with brilliant musical skill, ensnaring even the most rigid of hearts, inviting them to open. His songs invite us to live inside of our passions and our beliefs.

In 2010, Jencks co-founded the dynamic harmony trio Brother Sun,with colleaguesGreg GreenwayandPat Wictor. The trio performs widely throughout the United States and Canada. Brother Sun's 2016 release - "Weights & Wings" was the #1 CD for 2016 on the Folk DJ Chart, and 5 songs charted in the top 50 for the year - including Joe's composition, "Mary Don't You Weep & Moan" at #3 for the year! The trio's 2013 release "Some Part of The Truth," was #1 for 2013, and also took #1 song for 2013 with Joes composition: "Lady of The Harbor." Fusing, Folk, Roots, Blues, Pop, Jazz, Rock, and a cappella singing, Brother Sun is an explosion of musical diversity and harmony, in the finest of male singing traditions. For more information, please visit:www.brothersunmusic.com.

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For over forty years, the non-profit Madison Folk Music Society has fostered folk and acoustic music in the greater Madison, Wisconsin area. Funded entirely by members, concert ticket sales, and donations, we keep the light of folk music shining! Mad Folk hosts six to ten concerts a year featuring some of folk music's finest national touring acts. We also publish a monthly newsletter -- Mad Folk News -- featuring album reviews, a calendar of area folk music and dance events, and articles of interest to regional folk music fans! Become a Mad Folk member to receive the newsletter!

Learn more at our website: https://www.madfolk.org