Interview with Jessamyn

This year, we hope to host many events at Sun Cafe, including concerts, poetry readings, community groups, and presentations. Last year we did a "Summer Concert Series". This year, we're starting early and hoping to get more events and more patrons to each event. We already have two concerts and a poetry reading scheduled, as well as Dr. Terry Goodwin's "Tuesdays With Terry". We also hosted "Coffee with a Cop" last week.

Our first musical guest is Jessamyn, a singer-songwriter from south St. Louis, playing Friday, February 19 at 6PM. You can find out more about her at http://jessamynmusic.com/, or listen to and download (for free!) her ep, "Songs of the Living", here: http://www.noisetrade.com/Jessamyn/songs-of-the-living

We asked her a few questions about the motivations behind the music. Here's what she had to say.

Why do you make music?
I think I make music because it is an art form that transcends words. Though I make music that is accompanied by words, there is usually something I am trying to communicate that is bigger than the words themselves or that is hard to put into words. My theory is that words correspond to the intellectual/discursive part of us and that melody corresponds to the emotional part of us. Songwriting, I think, is an art form that tries to bring the two together.

What do you most often express through your music and why?
Wordsworth said that “all good poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings.” I think that’s what I most often express through my music—“the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings.” The feelings, though, are not just random emotions or mood swings…they are the kind of feelings that accompany truth, insight, or some kind of revelation.

What do you hope to accomplish with your expressions, if anything?
I hope that, by being honest and thoughtful, and by hopefully creating something of beauty, I will connect with people on a deep level through music.

How do faith and creative expression intersect for you?
I think creative expression, like faith, requires honesty, humility, discipline, a willingness to take steps into the unknown, and a willingness to be vulnerable.

Have your own expressions, or those of others, helped you heal, know truth, know God, know yourself, etc.? Elaborate.
Yes, all of the above, I think. Certainly creative expression has brought me healing and relief. Songwriting often feels like a kind of breakthrough—being able to put into words and melody the truth that God has been trying to communicate to me.


Come and listen on Friday, February 19 at Sun Cafe, located at 1435 Salisbury, St. Louis, MO.