An Interview With Husband and Wife Indie-Folk Duo, JENNY & TYLER!

Today, the lovely husband and wife indie folk-pop duo, Jenny & Tyler released their debut album, “Of This I’m Sure”. They recently signed with upstart record label Residence Music (distributed through Caroline).

The twelve-song set was produced by Gabe Scott (with the exception of one track), who has played on various albums by such artists as The Civil Wars, Ingrid Michaelson and Matt Kearney.

The album’s first single, “Song For You” was produced by Gabe Scott and Joe Causey, is a haunting entreaty of unrequited love that begins in sparse simplicity and steadily builds to a vast crescendo of emotion.

They have written some beautiful love songs not only for each other but about and for their beautiful daughters.  Vast, lush and soaring at times, their easy voices blend in harmonies that suggest a deep hope and a deep ache intertwined.  Popmatters says they have “…a similar vocal chemistry to Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová but also a real knack for the dynamic bombast of Coldplay…”.

Learn more about Jenny & Tyler in the following All Access interview:

Thanks for your time! How’s your summer been going?

Thanks for chatting with us! We’ve had an eventful summer. Our daughter, Sara, was born at the end of April so we spent much of the summer adjusting to life with two little girls. We’ve also been preparing to hit the road this fall by renovating an old plumber’s van so that we can take our band AND the girls out with us. Life is an adventure for sure.

How did you two first meet? How did you decide to start performing together?

We first met at the University of Delaware 11 years ago. We were kids then and have grown up together over the years. In the early days of our relationship we spent most of our time singing in the stairwells of the student center. The acoustics were fantastic and we found that we sounded better together than apart. We spent most of our college days playing cover gigs at local bars and coffee shops. We’d play for three hours and sneak some of our original songs in the set throughout the evening. We officially became a duo in 2006. We spent the summer in Nashville and wanted to do some recording. Tyler had five decent songs and Jenny had five decent songs so we decided that it made sense to make a record together. We don’t sell that record anymore, but we learned a lot in the process.

So what was it like moving to Nashville from Delaware? What was the biggest change you faced?

Moving from Nashville to Delaware was a huge change. Jenny is a military kid so she lived all over the country growing up, but Tyler lived in the same house in Delaware until he went to college. And the University of Delaware is only 10 minutes from his parents’ home. Moving to the south was a big deal for him. The culture here is completely different. However, the best change for us was the community of creatives that exists here. People didn’t understand why we wanted to pursue music in Delaware and thought that we should grow up and get “real jobs.” Here, folks understand that making music IS a real job. We encourage and support each other and spur one another on to make better music.

How does it feel to be releasing your album “Of This I’m Sure” next month? How long did it take to put this collection together?

Releasing Of This I’m Sure this fall feels incredible. We have been writing these songs since before our daughter Jane was born – she is two now – and began the recording process when she was just five months old. She came to the studio with us and took naps in the vocal booth. The record is a collection of love songs of various types. It’s been a long time coming and we’re just really excited to send it out into the world.

What it was like working with the producer, Gabe Scott on this album?

Working with Gabe Scott was wonderful. Gabe is gracious, kind, encouraging, and ridiculously talented. He brought so much creatively to this record and really brought the songs to life. The production is layered, full, intricate, and soaring at times. We couldn’t have done it without him.

What do you think is the most important thing to remember when you work with your spouse? What’s been the silliest thing you have argued about when it comes to your music?

Working with your spouse can be difficult, but it is very rewarding. We consider ourselves really fortunate to be able to make music together. Perhaps the most important thing to remember when we work together is not to take things personally. We’ve learned how to constructively critique each other when we write together and how to encourage one another to be better musicians and songwriters. It’s hard. Sometimes we push each other too far and have to step back and take a breath. We try to remember that we have a personal and romantic relationship but we have a professional relationship as well. In the end we’ve found that music naturally brings us closer together. We process life through songwriting and are able to communicate our thoughts and emotions to each other better through song.

Can you talk about the inspiration for your album’s first single “Song For You”?

“Song For You” is about deep, unrequited love. It was originally inspired by a family member that has found himself in a hard place and walked away from a relationship with us. Even in the hurt and pain we’ve felt through that relationship, we long for that person to come back to us. We’ve found that most people have been through a similar situation, be it with a family member, significant other, friend, etc… We would welcome this person back with open arms. The song is meant to be hopeful

Why is Residence Music the right fit you two and your music right now?

Residence is a great fit for us because they want to help us grow and flourish as artists. They’re not interested in changing the way we write or the way we sound. They want our music to be the best it can be and help us create better art.

Later this month, you will be heading out on tour and playing at a bunch of colleges. Where are you most excited to play at? Have you played at colleges before?

We play quite a few colleges. One of our favorite places to play is The Union in Naperville, IL which is part of North Central College. Naperville is just outside of Chicago. The students are fantastic, and the pizza at Giordano’s isn’t bad either.

Can you remember a favorite performance that you have had? What made it so special? Do you have any pre-performance rituals?

One of our all time favorite shows happened to be at The Union. It was a packed house and we’ve never seen an audience so excited about our music. It was the first time the singing of the crowd overwhelmed the music. It was incredibly encouraging. We don’t have an specific pre-performance rituals, but we do try to play each show like it’s our last and we try to remind each other of that before showtime.

What musicians have continued to inspire you two? Who would you love to work with in the future?

We are continually inspired by Glen Hansard, Coldplay, Levi Weaver, The Milk Carton Kids, Drew Holcomb, etc… Musicians that write excellent songs, songs that make us feel deeply, are the ones we’re most drawn to. We would love to work with any of those artists, though we imagine Coldplay is probably a big stretch. We’d also love to work with Foy Vance, The Lone Bellow, Humming House and so many others.

What do you hope is the message of your music?

We write about romantic love, friendship, family, divine, and, of course, baby love. Love is like the ocean. It’s vast and deep and beautiful and full of life. On the flip side, love can be painful and broken. We want to take people to those beautiful and broken places through our story and let them know that there is hope in all of it. We hope people feel more understood through the music and know that they are never alone.