Attempting to record while pregnant, Jenny Parrott said, “Let’s see what I can do with only vocals,” resulting in ambient, experimental “Pregnancy Choir”.

 “It’s a beautiful, literate window into a parent’s soul,” says musician Brennen Leigh, songwriter for legends Lee Ann Womack, Rodney Crowell, more

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Jenny Parrott self-portrait with baby Juno

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Fellow Feminists Speak About Jenny Parrott’s “Pregnancy Choir”

“Illustrates voices in our heads and voices all around us.” — Rachael Price (of Lake Street Dive)

“A beautiful, literate window into a parent’s soul.” — Brennen Leigh (Singer-Songwriter)

“Strange and beautiful echoing vocals that wrap around your heart.” — Raina Rose (Songwriter)

“Radical! High concept and beautifully feminist.” — Mary Ellen Iatropolous (Literary Scholar)

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Jenny Parrott | “Origin”

 

[VIDEO]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAOq6Ag3X8s
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“With ‘Origin,’ I’m thinking of where I came from, who I want to be, and how to end cycles of abuse, so Juno and I can be free,” Jenny Parrott says about the “Origin” segment of her upcoming eight-minute audio art piece “Pregnancy Choir,” out now. “It’s a dark topic, but the music is light and airy and gentle.”
“Pregnancy Choir” was recorded using only Parrott’s voice during pregnancy with baby Juno.
Documentarian and mixed media artist, Jillian Godshall has created an animation for “Origin,” explaining the piece by saying, “I relate to Jenny’s expression of the many voices we hear throughout pregnancy and parenthood. As a recent mother myself, I found it overwhelming to have so many people share their opinions about my body and my baby.
“I created the animation for ‘Origin’ as a reminder to return to the voice within. Incorporating images inspired by medieval and renaissance art, ‘Origin’ is an invitation across time to tap into the divine feminine.”
Of the track “In 6 Rows,” Parrott explains, “It’s about the urge to mask difficult emotions being a people pleaser and managing others’ expectations of you, especially as a pregnant person, where people are even more heightened in their policing of bodies, culture, behavior, etc. There’s something kind of primal to do with soil and growth and rebirth.”
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Jenny Parrott | Live
11/11/2022: Austin, TX @ Hole In The Wall (Residency)11/12/2022: San Marcos, TX @ House Show (114 Wilson St.)11/13/2022: Austin, TX @ Manor House (2502 Manor Rd., 3PM CT)
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Jenny Parrott
“Pregnancy Choir”
(Rachel Rachel Records)
Out Now

 Streaming Link:

STREAM IN FULL

Track Listing:
 
01. Tree Funeral
02. In 6 Rows (STREAM)
03. Runnin’ To You (STREAM)
04. Origin (YOUTUBE)
05. Rain
06. Sharp Sound
07. Make Me Love

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Jenny Parrott | In The Press

“Soaring.” — KUTX, Austin (NPR)

“There is nothing to not like.” — Folk Radio (UK)

“Potent songs… Smoldering.” — Americana Highways

“Wonderfully rich.” — Rock N Reel (UK)

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Jenny Parrott | About

 
Austin-based artist, songwriter, and new parent, Jenny Parrott has released “Pregnancy Choir,” an eight-minute musical poem presented over seven tracks.
 
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 out now via Rachel Rachel Records.
 
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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