On the day of the release of his new album, Always Been, Mason Jennings stopped by The Current's studios to talk with Jill Riley and to play some songs off the new record.

Always Been is the tenth studio release for the prolific Jennings, and as he tells Jill Riley, he took a slightly different approach to this record. Jennings focused on writing a batch of songs first, then recording demos before hiring a producer and session musicians to help make the album a reality.

After listening to artists like the Pines, Greg Brown and Iris DeMent, Jennings chose Bo Ramsey as the producer for what would become Always Been; that led to Jennings working with members of the Pines, including Bo Ramsey's son, Alex, who provides piano accompaniment to Jennings during today's in-studio.

In addition to talking about the new record, Jennings and Jill Riley talk about Jennings' appreciation of Neil Young; about the mysterious "Marfa lights" of Marfa, Texas; about creating, signing and numbering lithographs for inclusion in the Always Been LP; about the relationship of Patti Smith and Robert Mapplethorpe; and about Jennings' relatively new fondness for ukuleles.

Songs Performed

"Patti and Robert"
"Wilderness"
"Just Try"

All songs off Mason Jennings new album, Always Been, released today on Stats and Brackets Records.

Hosted by Jill Riley
Produced by Lindsay Kimball
Engineered by Michael DeMark

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