Moon Croon
with Carolyn Dennis, Jade and Sharon Hendrix
Looking for music instruction on the internet is a harrowing experience. It was even worse in 2015, when I dared to put the words “singing lessons” into the search engine.
We had just moved from Greenpoint, Brooklyn to Ojai, California, my wife, one-year-old daughter, and myself. Talk about a culture shock. Yes, we’ve got a few next wave coffee shops here now, but back then it was figuratively and literally crickets in this little valley village in Ventura County. But we loved it.
I had been on the road heavily in 2015, and it was a big year for me. I played the Hollywood Bowl and the David Letterman show as well as many other cities around the globe in Hiss Golden Messenger. But I was also itching for something new.
The year before, Steve Gunn, MC Taylor and I made a collaborative record called GOLDEN GUNN for the inimitable Three Lobed label. If you haven’t heard this one, please do take a listen, its a weird one, but one of my favorite records I have ever taken part in. A large part of GOLDEN GUNN consists of instrumental nuggets I had been carrying around. I was (and still am) obsessed with crusty old drum machines, and I played around with them in the back of the van, hotel rooms, and wherever I could on my downtime from Hiss. When I sent these to Mike and Steve, they worked a few of them into lovely songs and sang on them. I don’t think I ever told the guys this, but seeing the transformation of these jams into compelling tunes was most inspiring to watch. I wanted to try.
But first, I wanted to fortify (or at least remember) how to use my vocal chords. I had been the singer of some embryonic projects as a teenager. I fronted the pop-punk power trio CHAG, and made a long forgotten tape called SIMON where I penned and sang the songs. But that felt like a million years ago by the summer of 2015. I entered my search query and was confronted with some very questionable shit. Results shot back to me tailored to people who see themselves on the The Voice, aspiring hotel lounge singers, or gearing up for the next community Lion King musical. I was not seeing much in the way of “weirdo Kosmische crooner” that I had hoped. There was one low key result that popped up in nearby Ventura- a very modest listing for one Jade Hendrix. I thought, good name. I signed up.
Well, the lessons quickly got me up and running, but my collaboration with Jade Hendrix endures to this day. If you are familiar with my records, you know that Jade sang on every one of them. Her work on Blue Rider Songs, the record I made shortly after meeting her, really transform the music. She also graced the songs of Lost Time Behind the Moon in 2018. By the time we got to recording Windless Day deep in the pandemic, Jade was probably getting tired of hearing me constantly reference the song “New Pony” off Bob Dylan’s Street Legal record. She finally said “You know that’s my god-mother singing on that song right?” And before I could pick my jaw up off the floor, she followed with “Why don’t we just get her to sing on your next record?”
When you are offered the opportunity to sing along with Jade, her mother Sharon (who sings professionally with the likes of Barry Manilow), and the legendary Carolyn Dennis (who sang on “New Pony” and is Dylan’s ex-wife), you say YES.
This first session was strained because the rules of working during Covid were new. We found an (over) accommodating studio that took our temps, provided masks and even shoe booties and kept all of us in separate rooms. I still remember Carolyn in full PPD when we worked, taking her mask off only to sing and pose for this photo below. Looking back, it’s all pretty funny, but we really didn’t know. Remember wiping down groceries?
Needless to say the ladies ripped on songs like “Much Too Late,” “Wolves,” and “Dreamer” from Windless Day.
When I set out to record LOST PADRES last year, I was excited to get to work with the trio again in better circumstances. We found a perfectly vibey studio in Los Angeles called Boulevard, which, somehow fittingly, had risen from the ashes after a studio fire almost wiped out the building in 2021. Unsurprisingly, we had a very fun reunion and session there, and it was invigorating to finally hang with Carolyn in the same room and work through the songs together.
LOST PADRES, available now on Bandcamp.com, comes out officially on all the streaming platforms on Friday May 16th, and features a bunch of singing from these magical ladies. In some of my favorite photo captures, Brendan Willing James was able to capture the fun and magic of the Boulevard sessions, as producer Daniel Wright and I worked with the crew.
You can meet and see Jade Hendrix perform with me this month at the special Ojai show and in Los Angeles at Permanent Records- check the shows and ticket links below.
See you ‘round the clubs (and houses)!
SH
This is the first I’m hearing about the Golden Gunn album…sounds like I have a treat ahead of me!
CHAG4EVA
Great post Scott - love those ladies and never thought to ask how you met Jade. ♥️