In her seventh studio album, Fredericksburg’s Karen Jonas explores themes of consumerism, excess, and greed.
If that sounds too serious, the music is a lot of fun.
Appropriately titled “The Rise and Fall of American Kitsch,” the album comes out Aug. 9 and features Jonas’ longtime musical partner Tim Bray on lead guitar adding his special combination of roots rock and country twang.
Recorded between Christmas and New Year’s of last year at Cue Studios in Falls Church, the album also includes Ahren Bucheister on steel guitar and banjo, Benji Porecki on piano and organ, Bobby Hawk on fiddle, Seth Morrissey on bass, Ben Tufts on drums, and horn players recruited from some of the DC armed service bands.
The album opens with an upbeat country pop song, “Poor Man’s Valley,” based on the story of the Carter Family often credited with the start of country music in the 1920s.
“I watched the Ken Burns Country Music documentary and I really took a lot of notes,” Jonas said. “Some of the phrases are borrowed from things that were said throughout the Carter Family episodes. There was some cunning business from them. Was that tacky, or making something work that you wanted to work? I think it’s the poppier song on the record; it almost plays as irony but it is also a fun little song about making things work.”
That theme of the tension between commercialism, kitsch, and art weaves throughout the rest of the songs on the record.
“Four Cadillacs” is a riff on Elvis Presley’s well-known obsession with Cadillacs at the beginning of his career. “Let’s Go To Hawaii” is a mashup of Tex-Mex rhythms and Jimmy Buffet island vibes. “Plastic Pink Flamingos” starts as a quick jingle about the tacky lawn ornaments then following a clean guitar break by Bray, takes a dark turn into a woman’s obsessive mental state. “Call Dr. Nick” is a psychobilly dirge about prescription drug abuse. That song also features a rare turn by Jonas on banjo.
“I was envisioning the record after I collected all the songs,” Jonas said. “So I thought Dr. Nick could use a banjo. Tim makes a face when I say we should have a banjo on something — but I won that battle.”
The last three songs on the album bring home the consumerism theme.
“Online Shopping” may sound familiar to listeners who share that obsession of the same name. The title track “American Kitsch” is the first spoken word piece Jonas has released. It’s an ominous message backed with atmospheric guitar that sets out the tone of the record. The concluding song “Buy” leaves the listener on a more upbeat note. It has a singsong rhythm with a minimal strummed guitar and upright bass behind Jonas’ voice.
While Jonas has received much critical praise and has a loyal following in Fredericksburg, Richmond and DC, she has yet to make the jump to national recognition on the level of contemporaries like Kacey Musgraves or Margo Price.
In social media posts last year, she came to grips with this struggle while keeping her artistic vision.
“The art of it really drives me forward and making this record was so fun,” she said. “Being obsessed with the vision of this record and seeing it come together has been so inspiring but also I have bills to pay. There’s some cold reality there for sure.
“I so appreciate all of the people anywhere who listen and come to shows and buy tickets and support my Kickstarter that we just funded. We have a lot of support, but I think it’s a hard truth of the Spotify world and the modern music industry that you can have a lot of support and still just float.”
Jonas is playing a string of area dates to promote the album release including a ticketed show at Eleven-Eleven, Révéler Experiences in Richmond, Pearl Street Warehouse in DC, and The Sounds Of Summer concert series in Market Square.
If you go
Karen Jonas is performing at:
- Pearl Street Warehouse, 33 Pearl Street SW, Washington, DC, Aug 8, $16-$30, Tickets: https://www.pearlstreetwarehouse.com/
- Révéler Experiences 3108 W Cary St, Richmond, Friday, Aug 9, $15, Tickets: https://www.revelerexperiences.com/
- Eleven-Eleven, 1111 Lafayette Blvd, Fredericksburg Aug 17, 7 p.m. $25, Tickets: https://karen-jonas.square.site
- Sounds Of Summer, Market Square, Fredericksburg Sept 6, 6:30 p.m. free
