Jenny Parrott’s “Pregnancy Choir” explores what it’s like to be in a pregnant body while “living in a culture that seeks to control bodies.”

Based around vocals, it is an eight-minute musical poem that nods to Parrott’s current obsessions: Bernice Johnson Reagon, Grouper, and Björk.
 
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Jenny Parrott self-portrait with baby Juno
 
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[YOUTUBE]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nl0sP414jrk
 
[SOUNDCLOUD]: https://soundcloud.com/fanaticpro/jenny-parrott-runnin-to-you
 
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Austin-based artist, songwriter, and new parent, Jenny Parrott will release “Pregnancy Choir,” an eight-minute musical poem presented over seven tracks on Nov. 4, 2022.
 
Centered mainly around her layered vocals (recorded while pregnant with baby Juno), Parrott says, “‘Pregnancy Choir’ explores what it’s like to be in a pregnant body and to hear many voices: Ancestors, doctors, lovers, friends and relations all talking to and at you. “Literally ‘Joe Everyone’ tries to give advice,” she jokes.
 
The voice we hear the most through Parrott on “Pregnancy Choir” is the one she describes last: “Your own brain’s ‘Lil Greek Chorus.’”
 
The piece is a surprising change from the twang of Parrott’s 2021 album The Fire I Saw, but no less deeply felt. It’s her ability to effectively channel emotion that has brought attention to Parrott’s work over the years, regardless of style.
 
This time, “Pregnancy Choir” piece came out of necessity.
 
“I tried to record using my usual gear and instruments,” Parrott remembers. “I just gave up one night and was like, ‘Let’s see what I can do with just vocals. No bending, no lifting! Also, I’ve been obsessed with Bernice Johnson Reagon, Grouper, and Björk for a while.”
 
While “Pregnancy Choir” is deep in concept, it’s also a joy. The circumstances surrounding its creation, and the cover art featuring the duo of Jenny and Juno, may subtly remind of the Talking Heads baby-based hit, “Stay Up Late.”
 
Still, Parrott reminds of the reality that sometimes the “Lil Greek Chorus” is “at odds with itself, experiencing the thrill of life, fear of death, excitement, and foreboding all at once. It rejects the ‘Earth Mama’ ‘Pinterest-y’ branding of pregnancy in favor of an honest dive in the conscious, sub-conscious, and general cacophony they create in a mind.”
 
Parrott is also acutely aware of what experiencing pregnancy and becoming a new parent means at this moment in our society.
 
“Being able to create and sustain life is a magical thing,” she confides, “But the magic is dimmed by living in a culture that seeks to control bodies. It can feel like a pregnant person’s body is a public commodity. Some of the dissonance in the album is meant to reflect that.”
 
When it’s done, Parrott hopes to leave a listener without “the barrage of opinions and messaging you receive living in a pregnant body in Texas in 2022,” and more with the ability of the “Lil Greek Chorus” to support, transform, and uplift.
 
“Pregnancy Choir” by Jenny Parrott is scheduled for release on Nov. 4, 2022 via Rachel Rachel Records.
 
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Jenny Parrott
“Pregnancy Choir”
(Rachel Rachel Records)
Nov. 4, 2022
 

Track Listing:
 
01. Tree Funeral
02. In 6 Rows
03. Runnin’ To You (YOUTUBE | SOUNDCLOUD)
04. Origin
05. Rain
06. Sharp Sound
07. Make Me Love
 
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Jenny Parrott | Live
 
09/23/2022: Austin, TX @ Hole In The Wall (Residency, RSVP)
 
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Jenny Parrott | In The Press
 
“A soaring solo effort...” — KUTX, Austin (NPR)
 
“There is nothing to not like about Jenny Parrott.” — Folk Radio UK
 
“As if the singer-songwriter scribed the lyrics while sitting on a cloud.” — Austin Chronicle
 
“Potent songs with a smoldering drowsy flow.” — Americana Highways
 
“A wonderfully rich amalgam of American roots music styles.” — Rock N Reel (UK)
 
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More by Jenny Parrott | “I Thought” | From 2021’s The Fire I Saw
 

[VIDEO]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKqZPwOoCLk
 
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“A soaring solo effort... Turns the heat way up with intricate synth-work and some of her finest vocal performances to date,” says NPR member station KUTX, Austin in its “Song of The Day” coverage of the title track from Jenny Parrott’s The Fire I Saw, out today. Hear “The Fire I Saw (Is There Anyone To Meet Me?)” here.
 
“Queer artist Jenny Parrott doesn’t need a seat at your table,” says Adobe & Teardrops, a publication committed to representing voices in the Americana world that are too-often overlooked: Women, BIPOC, and LGBTQ+  individuals, in its “I Thought” video premiere coverage and wide-ranging interview with Parrott. Check it out here.
 
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The bathroom at the Hole In The Wall club in Austin, Texas is the setting for the self-directed “I Thought” video by Jenny Parrott.
 
“The bathroom there is like a character,” Parrott says. “A place where women, femmes and non-binary people go to hang out, to fool around and party, and to get away from men for a second.” Parrott says that the video also shows “how violence and love can be all around, and how it can be very hard for many of us to know where the safe spaces are, or who is a safe loved one.”
 
“I Thought” also stars dancer Terrance Carson of Ballet Afrique, Ally Means on Viola, and Carrie Jane Fink as Parrott’s partner in the clip.
 
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Jenny Parrott | Links
 
ASSETS : WEBSITE : FACEBOOK : TWITTER : INSTAGRAM : YOUTUBE : BANDCAMP : SPOTIFY : APPLE
 
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Josh Bloom at Fanatic Promotion | Contact
 
WEBSITE : FACEBOOK : TWITTER : INSTAGRAM : YOUTUBE : SOUNDCLOUD : SPOTIFY : BLOG : E-MAIL