Castle ambitious about her artistry
Toronto musician wants her songs to get the attention
Jennifer Castle When: Sunday at 8 p.m. Where: Brixx Bar & Grill, 10030 102nd St. Tickets: $10, through ticketfly.com Jennifer Castle doesn’t court the spotlight. She’s there for the songs.
Yet the spotlight found the Toronto musician. Thirtytwo minutes of music, in the form of a 2014 album called Pink City, led to lots of critical love and online buzz, and for good reason. The album, Castle’s fourth, has wry warmth and a little something magical about it.
Don’t be surprised if you see the album as a Polaris Music Prize nominee in a few months.
Let’s learn a little bit more about Castle through some key words. Gardening: Up until recently, Castle made a living as a gardener when she wasn’t playing music.
This year, Castle is busy enough with music she won’t be digging in the dirt and watering plants.
Listen closely and you’ll hear tidbits about the job in her lyrics. On How or Why she sings, “digging holes in December means tulips in May.” Live shows: “(Touring) is nice because I often I think when it’s happening that I’m just there for the songs I’ve written, which is a really intimate feeling for me.
The songwriting is just a thing I’ve done on my own for so long without people listening, that sometimes it’s interesting to think that’s the vehicle for which I get to travel.” Writing: “I’m kind of new to even accepting that what I’m doing is called writing. I don’t know why.
It’s hard to describe the things that you do normally all the time and then people start telling you what you’re doing. I’m just in that moment; I feel.
Sometimes when people tell me they’re glad I was there or they had been listening to the record I don’t know if I ever really process that. It’s crazy that there’s a connection, but it’s amazing.” Owen Pallett: The composer and violinist did string arrangements for Pink City. Homebody: “I am a homebody, so it’s good for making music. I’m alone a lot, or I try to carve that out and I’ve pretty naturally done that for a long time. Writing music and playing music are just kind of a part of the day.” Ambition: Castle doesn’t crave attention, but that doesn’t mean she lacks ambition. She’s deeply ambitious when it comes to songwriting.
“I want the words to be alive if I’m going to use them. I have high expectations of language in general,” she said. “I think it’s possible to write well, so I am ambitious as a person doing it. Like a craftsperson, I would hope to be a g Choosing music: “You don’t make very much money and it creates struggles. I want to ask writers all the time, ‘How do you do it and why?’ Or any advice; I’m always looking for advice. Why would anyone do that? The world’s a machine, why be sensitive?”