On August 20th, award-winning artist Karen Jonas will release Summer Songs, a new four-song EP along with Gumballs, a book of original poetry. “Over the course of a raw week in January, I wrote frantically. I didn’t worry about what my kids or my mother or you would think, I just wrote. When I amassed over 60 poems, vignettes of hard scenes from my life, I realized I had written a book, covering everything from divorce to religion to dating to spiders,” Jonas recalls. Writing this vastly personal autobiographical collection of poems allowed her to find a more vulnerable place to embrace these gems from her old songwriting notebooks.
“I began to hear flashes of these songs as I was writing my poetry collection, songs I started writing years ago. I reconnected with them and spent a lot of time reprocessing and editing,” she adds. “I was able to update them to my current songwriting sensibilities while maintaining the sweet vulnerability of the inspiration for these summer-themed tunes.” The result is Summer Songs, three heartfelt originals and a show-stopping cover of Don Henley classic “The Boys of Summer.”
Through swooping pedal steel and bluesy guitar, lush harmonies and beautifully-crafted lyricism, Jonas paints a vibrant sonic portrait with stories to which we can all relate—tales of love and loss, and of hope and reclamation.
A two-time Wammie Award winner for Best Country Artist, Mid-Atlantic Songwriting Contest Winner, and Ameripolitan award nominee, Jonas is known for her stellar songwriting, sultry vocals, and compelling stage presence. Her writing harkens back to her songcrafting heroes Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan, with a sonic nod to modern greats like Gillian Welch and Jason Isbell.
Her long-time collaboration with dazzling guitarist Tim Bray, joined by bassist/vocalist Seth Morrissey and drummer Seth Brown, has produced five full-length records, beginning with 2014’s internationally-acclaimed Oklahoma Lottery. Her much-lauded 2020 LP The Southwest Sky and Other Dreams is a gutting masterpiece – proof of her ability to weave creative depth into everyday stories. Covered by everyone from Rolling Stone Germany to Country Music People UK to American Songwriter, Jonas’ investment in artistic excellence continues to pay off with her upcoming releaseSummer Songs.
