Molly Jenson - March 2008 Flower-Powered Artist @ KGRL.fm.

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Official Website: http://www.mollyjenson.com
MySpace Page: http://www.myspace.com/mollyjenson

Molly could have busted out in the music scene on her own, but it was her collaboration with Greg Laswell that gave Molly the necessary push into the right direction. Our Flower-Powered Artist of the Month is no other than one of San Diego’s most promising Indie artist, Molly Jenson.

Molly was born and raised in San Diego, California. She grew up listening to religious music. Instruments-wise she took a bit of piano lessons and learned guitar by herself. Her musical initiation came in from the band she joined when she was 12. Though it was not what inspired Molly to pursue music just yet, it was the first time she tried writing a song. She then sang a solo at church for the first time by age 15 and was involved in choir at her high school for 4 years.

More song-writing frenzy came in around college time. She attended Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego and this is where she met her future songwriting buddy, Greg Laswell. The songwriting skill that Molly possesses during this timeframe was in infancy stage. She had quite a lot to learn but it’s a step into the
right direction.

Molly worked for a company called BandFarm doing merchandise, customer service, e-mail newsletters and online store management for various rock bands. This has been a valuable tool for Molly as she got to meet and work with a lot of musicians, some of which contributed to her eventual career in music.

It was her move from San Diego to Orange County that served as the catalyst for Molly’s musical journey. Not so long after the move, her old buddy Greg Laswell phoned her and asked her to work on a record. It was the chance Molly has been looking for, so she immediately teamed up with Greg and started on polishing the songs she wrote, as well as new songs. With the completed songs in hand, Molly started playing shows in and around the area of San Diego and a few spots in LA.

After a year-and-a-half of writing and recording songs, the collaboration resulted in Molly’s debut, Maybe Tomorrow. This 12-track record was independently produced by Greg Laswell and was released in 2005. The record was met with critical acclaim and resulted in Molly being featured in several publications, including being named as 1 of the 3 best new artists to look out for in MySpace last year. Needless to say, Maybe Tomorrow is still progressively drawing attention 3 years after its release. The most recent of which, was winning the San Diego Music Awards for Best Acoustic.

While there is no full-length yet in sight, Molly is currently busy preparing a new EP. There is also a plan to work with Greg on a duets album. Molly is slowly inching towards making music her full-time career. Right now though, she’s still knee-deep in her three jobs + music career circus. If the new song (Talk Me Out) we captured in video (see video section below) is an indication, then there is a lot to look forward to in the future with Molly.

KGRL is very proud to present our March 2008 Flower-Powered Artist, Molly Jenson. This month’s FPA feature comes with a whole bunch of exciting goodies including: a better-late-than-never CD review of her 2005 debut album Maybe Tomorrow, , exclusive photos, and video stream of Molly’s January 2008 performance at Temple Bar. But of course, there is also a very comprehensive interview with Molly Jenson in video, audio, and transcribed form.

Don’t forget that we are, as usual, giving away 3 signed Maybe Tomorrow CDs! I know that you know what to do, just e-mail us at (contests @ kgrl.fm – remove spaces) and tell us why you deserve to win. Visit the contest page now for more info!

KGRL had a chance to go on a one on one interview with Molly Jenson after her performance in Temple Bar - 01.08.08.

Watch the exclusive Molly Jenson video interview using the player below!
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Molly Jenson Video Interview (Click to launch the player!)
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Listen to Molly Jenson's responses in High Quality MP3 Stream using the player below:

Transcription excerpt from the interview:

KGRL: How long does it take for you to finish writing a song?

Molly Jenson: It depends. Every song is different. I have a song on the piano that's just chords that I have been playing for a year, and I still don't know where to begin. I have another song that I played tonight. It was the new song I played (Talk Me Out), and I had the first two verses and chorus of that song for two years. Then I took it to Greg and we finished it in a day.

When Greg and I were recording, we wrote a song a day. There were a couple of songs that we didn't do that with but pretty much every song we wrote in a day and started recording that day. We'd write a song, record it, write a song, record it. It all depends on whether I'm by myself or I'm with somebody. The last song on my album I wrote in 30 minutes, and kept everything. So, every song is different.

KGRL: You and Anya are friends. We had her as one of our FPAs last year. One of the topics we discussed was Grey's Anatomy. Have you submitted a song for Grey's Anatomy or any other tv show/movie?

Molly Jenson: It used to be my dream to be on Grey's Anatomy, but I feel like the show is going downhill. Obviously it's not even on right now, but this season I feel like it's really going downhill. Once they lost Addison -- down. All it is is affair after affair after affair. Seriously, come on. Come on. I don't really care about being on Grey's Anatomy as much anymore, but I feel like my songs are great for TV and film. They've got that cinematic feel, so I really would love to be on TV. I have one company that says they're shopping my music but I don't know if they really are. If anybody wants to shop my music, feel free!

-> READ the full transcript along with high/low quality mp3 of the Interview by Clicking Here! <-

Three years after Molly Jenson's Maybe Tomorrow was released and here we are reviewing this CD. It’s better late than never right? I guess you agree because you are reading this right now… The songs from Molly Jenson’s first offering were mostly inspired by the relationships she had and thus, the CD contains a bit of variety - slow to fast-paced heavy rocker type of songs. Let’s find out exactly how the album stacks up to KGRL standards.

The elegantly enchanting acoustic guitar & piano-based ballad Give It Time opens the album. With the song’s apparent hook and catchiness, one does not need to give it time to truly appreciate this track. The song is very soothing and relaxing, just the perfect way to open an album. It radiates such a feeling of a warm welcome to the musical realm of Molly Jenson. The electric guitar that is overlaid on the acoustic background works effectively to enhance the track, giving it an edge. This, without a doubt, will leave the listeners expecting much more of the same musical goodness for the rest of the album. Just like Molly says in the song “There’s no use trying to stop this. There’s no use trying to make it go away.” – Indeed, the moment you get hooked to this infectious melody you will have a hard time not putting this song on repeat.

If the first song failed to rouse your musical senses, which is most unlikely, then the next track surely will. Beginning Here is a touching slow ballad that thankfully, while being slow and mellow, does not feel like a drag and devoid of cheesiness. The subtle arrangement works well to accentuate the emotional intensity of Molly’s vocal delivery. Continuing the emotional trance, the title track Maybe Tomorrow comes in next. Like the previous track, Maybe Tomorrow is another slow ballad – classy and subtle. Both tracks do a very good job of reeling you in emotionally. With two very emotional tracks, one after the other, I think I’m going to need a bit of a picker upper.

Luckily the following track, while wallowing in lyrical melancholy, provides a picker upper in terms of the melody and instrumentation. The merry happy song Thinking Of You is sure to be in everyone’s favorites off of the CD – if not, at least it’s in ours. The song arrangement and the excellent use of the band is what turned it into an upbeat track. If played acoustically, I’m sure this track will turn out to be another tear-jerker, not that that’s a bad thing. Lyrics-wise, it is composed of a three-story arc about the crushes and love-life of Molly Jenson: a waiter, actor James Marsden, and an ex-boyfriend.

Acoustic-guitar driven ballad And You Were delights us next. With its stripped-down, acoustically raw and live recording, this song is simply adorable. This short but really sweet track highlights the success in Molly and Greg’s songwriting partnership. Whether you love Pop songs or not, it’s hard not to appreciate this song - this one will surely be on repeat plays.

It’s about time for the record to turn to the heavy side. The Edgy 8 Ball Song represents the needed rock edge. It’s great to hear a rock track in this CD. Where most would offer a CD full of ballads, Molly spices it up with a dose of electrifying rock song. While it is not one of the highlights of the CD, it offers quite a welcome change in pace. Fortunately, the rock does not end in this track as the next one offers another dose of electrifying earcandy.

Alongside You is the rock track that makes it into being one of the highlights of this record. Perfectly rocky and edgy – it won’t fail to raise the adrenaline level and get you dancing to the beat. Alongside You (Part 2) closes the previous track extravagantly. I personally feel that this track could have been included in the previous track (which I did merge for when I play it in the station). In any case, this track provides Alongside You with a classy closure – gotta love that piano solo in the end.

Wednesday comes next as a 1:45 filler track. It is a piano-driven short track that has effects-processed muddled vocals. Too short, I guess, to make anything of lasting impression. Thankfully, the next track is another winner. I’m Sorry For Me plays out as another emotionally intense track in the same structure as the earlier ballad tracks mentioned.

Thank You My Friend follows it up with a lounge-type song with the same effects-processed muddled vocals, as in Wednesday’s, but in a more complete song structure. Sadly, this song does not shine as brightly as the rest of the tracks in the record. It’s a good listen but it doesn’t warrant repeat listens. And finally, as the album started out with a bang it ends with a whimper. Wait For You Here is another stripped-down acoustic ballad solely written by Molly. Unlike the track And You Were, this one is quite bland and disappointingly fails to make the melody something memorable. I was hoping it would somehow pick up but it never dared to tap into the potential.

It is very easy to recommend Molly Jenson’s first record, Maybe Tomorrow, for those who like Indie Pop music. The last couple tracks + a filler keeps it from being a perfect record, but for every weak track there’s 3 great songs to make up for it. Maybe Tomorrow is a flawed record, but for all its weaknesses it still is a very strong first effort. We can only wait or hope for at least a similarly strong follow up.

Maybe Tomorrow CD - Buy It Now (Click Here)!

Tracklist:

Give It Time
Beginning Here
Maybe Tomorrow
Thinking Of You
And You Were
The Edgy 8 Ball Song
Alongside You
Alongside You (Part 2)
Wednesday
I'm Sorry For Me
Thank You My Friend
Wait For You Here

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KGRL proudly presents the Molly Jenson live performance @ Temple Bar - 01.08.08. The streams can be viewed using our embedded flash player. We do hope you enjoy these wonderful videos!

*When The Stars Go Blue is a cover song.
Originally recorded and performed by Ryan Adams.

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Give It Time

And You Were

Alongside You

When The Stars Go Blue

Beginning Here

Thinking Of You

Maybe Tomorrow

Talk Me Out

Feature Credits:

Special thanks goes to Carly Lane and Molly Jenson.