Episode 164: Cassandra Jenkins

Episode 164 of Look At My Records! features an interview with Brooklyn-based songwriter Cassandra Jenkins. Last month, Jenkins released her latest full-length, An Overview On Phenomenal Nature, a gorgeous, diaristic record that’s sure to land at or near the top of many year-end lists. For the album, Jenkins embraced a new approach to writing and recording, entering the studio with “ideas rather than full songs,” for a fruitful week-long session with producer Josh Kaufman. The record documents many of her experiences during the last few months of 2019, after the unfortunate passing of David Berman led to the cancellation of his Purple Mountains tour. That summer, Jenkins was tapped at the last minute to be a part of Berman’s backing band, and she spent several days rehearsing with him in preparation for the tour. She expounds on the process of grieving that loss at several points on the record and during our interview, we talk about the impact that her interactions with Berman had on her as a person and a songwriter. Plus, we chatted about how a baby was born to her song “Hard Drive,”  how Craig Finn of the Hold Steady has served as her mentor, the experiences that inspired the instrumental track, “The Ramble,” her collage-like process to lyric writing, and much more. Cassandra even goes through some of her iPhone notes from 2019 to give us a glimpse into her lyric writing process and tells us a few great stories about touring with Eleanor Friedberger.  You can follow along with Cassandra’s record picks via the official playlist for Episode 164! An Overview on Phenomenal Nature is out now via Ba Da Bing. You can purchase it on limited edition vinyl via Bandcamp. Keep up with Cassandra via Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.