Jess Nolan + ZG Smith at The Monarch

Name: Jess Nolan + ZG Smith at The Monarch
Start: 2024-07-28T19:00:00-04:00
Location: 1318 Bardstown Rd., Louisville, KY, United States, Kentucky 40204

Schedule

Sun Jul 28 2024 at 07:00 pm

UTC-04:00

Location

1318 Bardstown Rd., Louisville, KY, United States, Kentucky 40204 | Louisville, KY

Join us for a special night in the listening room with Jess Nolan + ZG Smith!
Public Invited & Welcome
Doors 7pm / 8pm Music
The seeds of Nashville-based singer-songwriter Jess Nolan’s sophomore LP ’93, out this fall via Righteous Babe Records, sprouted in the height of 2020. Nolan, a member of Jenny Lewis’ all-female touring band, is an in-demand co-writer, vocalist, and touring musician for artists like Katie Pruitt, Joy Oladokun, Lydia Luce, and more.
In the midst of the initially involuntary stillness, she planted a backyard vegetable garden, moved her involvement in mentoring young female songwriters online, and traveled back to her New Jersey hometown to stay with family for weeks at a time. In the face of uncertainty, strong, deeply-rooted feelings came pouring out, resulting in 10 poignant reflections on rebirth, reconnection, and mindfulness.
With an intention for listeners to feel grounded from its first moment, ‘93 is meant to be a meditation, bringing a sense of rootedness in its execution. In an age of autotune and click tracks, Nolan and her co-producers, Will Honaker and Ross McReynolds, pursued a much more collaborative, organic approach. The atmosphere of the album came from an open and spiritually full place. “Writing this album was a declaration that I will not give up on myself. Only from that place can I fully show up for those around me. I have so much gratitude for this process of making songs and sharing them. It mimics the natural cycle of things… life, death, life,” she says. “I see this record as a true reimagining of myself musically and personally.”
ZG Smith is the Los Angeles-born, Nashville-based son of an English professor mother and a shipwreck diver and underwater archaeologist father. For over ten years, he fronted the band Smooth Hound Smith who headlined tours in the US, Europe, and the UK and supported artists like The Chicks, Collective Soul, Trombone Shorty, Jamestown Revival, and many more. Following the release of their third album in 2019 and a month-long European tour in February 2020, the band’s eventual hiatus caused Smith to refocus towards other artistic pursuits. “I started seeking out music again like I did when I was younger. I realized that I had been so focused on Smooth Hound Smith and had been trying to push the band forward, that I stopped listening to music just for enjoyment. Because of the pandemic, I had time, so I dug a massive hole in my backyard, leveled it off, and laid a patio of over 1,200 bricks, all by hand. It took me about a month. I would just be out there all day in the sun listening to North African desert blues, EDM, ‘90s hip hop, or bizarre, outsider folk music. A lot of that stuff really informed the music I ended up creating months later.”