
Jonatha Brooke in concert at SubCulture in New York City, January 19, 2015
Photo by Frank Beacham
Jonatha Brooke is 59 years old today.
A folk rock singer-songwriter and guitarist from Massachusetts, Brooke’s music merges elements of folk, rock and pop, often with poignant lyrics and complex harmonies. She has been a performer, writer and artist since the late 1980s, and her songs have been used in television shows and movies.
Brooke and fellow Bostonian Jennifer Kimball began playing music together in the 1980s after having met at Amherst College. They performed regularly during their college years. Their folk songs were marked by "witty wordplay and sumptuous pop harmonies," according to one music critic.
Brooke was sometimes grouped with emerging 1990s talents such as the Indigo Girls, Sheryl Crow, Shawn Colvin and Mary Chapin Carpenter. She continued to write and perform although there was a brief hiatus in which she focused on ballet.
In 1989, the duo played the coffeehouse folk circuit and radio as The Story and were described as an example of the "folk-rock singer-songwriter aesthetic." That year they created a demo called Over Oceans. They were signed to the independent label Green Linnet which, in 1991, issued the duo's debut full-length album Grace in Gravity.
Later, Elektra Records signed The Story and re-issued their debut. Their second album, The Angel in the House, was released in 1993, highlighting their intricate and sometimes dissonant harmonies. One music critic described their approach as "levity" between heavy songs about "God, church, death, female oppression, self-suppression, mothers and daughters."
In 1994, Brooke pursued a solo career. Her first solo effort, Plumb (1995), won mixed reviews, but the followup, 10 Cent Wings, was received more favorably and earned critical commentary such as "sly phrases and lush pop arrangements that made The Story so enjoyable."
Soon, with changes in the music business, she was dropped by MCA. While in her early 30s without backing from a major label, she became known as an industrious "cutting-edge world of do-it-yourself" marketer by using the internet creatively to reach out to fans.
She recorded "Jonatha Brooke Live" (1999) on her own label Bad Dog Records. At first she sold via the internet. She packaged and mailed about 2,500 copies and autographed each one for a personal touch.
In February, 2008, Brooke recorded The Works, which was her seventh solo release. This effort was inspired by the music of late folk legend Woody Guthrie. Brooke was invited by Guthrie's daughter, Nora, to sift through the private archives and hunt through Guthrie's unreleased material for possible adaptations.
Brooke said she was "smitten" with Guthrie's work and going through it was like "going to church." She liked his poetic love songs like "My Sweet and Bitter Bowl" and spiritual deeper tunes like "My Battle" and loved Guthrie's "full spectrum of craziness" as she described his writings.
Brooke's The Works featured talented musicians including keyboard player Joe Sample, bassist Christian McBride, drummer Steve Gadd and pedal steel guitarist Greg Leisz.
In 2014, Brooke performed in a musical play she wrote called “My Mother Has 4 Noses” in New York City. The play was described as an “end-of-life love story.”
In October 2016, she released the album Midnight. Hallelujah. Recorded at Sweetwater Studios in Fort Wayne, IN, and mixed by Bob Clearmountain, the collection features a broader mix of instruments than her previous two albums. Brooke supported the release of the album with tour dates across the United States.
Here, Brooke performs “Linger” in 2001 on David Letterman’s show