Jonatha Brooke

Education

Jonatha Brooke attended Shady Hill School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the Commonwealth School in Boston. She graduated from Amherst College in 1985.

Career

Beginnings

Jonatha 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.{{cite news | access-date = September 18, 2009 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121026143313/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-758967.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = October 26, 2012 | access-date = September 18, 2009 | access-date = September 18, 2009 | archive-date = August 14, 2007 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070814132910/http://www.postgazette.com/magazine/20000102onarts3.asp | url-status = dead

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," according to one account. 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." Their songs adroitly avoided "heavy-handedness" with a certain "winning buoyancy of tune and/or spirit" with "sophisticated harmonic changes whose intriguing hooks come at you cockeyed and sideways more often than they swoop down from the heavens."{{cite news | access-date = September 18, 2009 | access-date = September 18, 2009}}

Solo career

In 1994, Brooke pursued a solo career. Her followup 10 Cent Wings

Going Independent

The changing dynamics of the music business in the middle 1990s had a "sell-or-perish" pattern featuring a "leaner, meaner record industry," as one critic described the industry in the 1990s. "I was in the middle of a national tour [for 10 Cent Wings] when MCA dropped me," Brooke recalled. "One second you're a princess on the throne, and the next week no one will return your phone calls," she commented to a reporter.{{cite news | access-date = September 18, 2009

She recalled: "I realized nothing had changed. I didn't have a contract with MCA Records, and I didn't have tour support, and I wasn't going to get to make a video, which they had promised. The shows were still sold out, my audience was still there and they didn't care whether or not I was part of the Universal conglomerate. That was a really empowering and reassuring time."

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.{{cite news | archive-url = https://archive.today/20130131142708/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/40741183.html?dids=40741183:40741183&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Apr+21,+1999&author=MIKE+BOEHM&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=Do-It-Yourself+Career;+Setbacks+Can't+Stop+Singer+Jonatha+Brooke+From+Reaching+Her+Fans&pqatl=google | url-status = dead | archive-date = January 31, 2013 | access-date = September 18, 2009

Critics wrote mostly positive reviews. One described her as a "down-to-earth poet" with "an apparently inexhaustible supply of anecdotes" and "flawlessly crafted lush backdrops for songs that mused wistfully about love and destiny," although "emotions were often obscured by the complex arrangements and gorgeous vocal harmonies."{{cite news | access-date = September 18, 2009 | access-date = September 18, 2009 | archive-date = February 22, 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120222042140/http://www.postgazette.com/pg/04114/304862-42.stm | url-status = dead

The 2000s

Brooke's next album, Steady Pull (2001) reflected "relief and optimism." Later, her song "Your House" was included in the ABC series entitled Once and Again. Brooke was featured as a guest vocalist with artists such as Lisa Loeb, Chris Botti and Patty Larkin, and has co-written tracks for Joe Sample's The Pecan Tree.

In 2002, she moved from California to New York and married manager Patrick Rains.{{cite news | access-date = September 18, 2009

In 2003, Brooke revamped 1995's song "War" as a protest against the Gulf War.{{cite news | access-date = September 18, 2009 | access-date = September 18, 2009 | archive-date = February 22, 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120222042145/http://www.postgazette.com/pg/07116/780992-42.stm | url-status = dead

Some Brooke songs have been sung or covered by other artists. Her tune "Because I Told You So" from Ten Cent Wings was covered by Nick Lachey on his 2006 album What's Left of Me.{{cite web | access-date = September 18, 2009 | access-date = September 18, 2009 In 2008, Brooke appeared on the Tinker Bell movie soundtrack with the song "Be True." The movie's soundtrack was released on October 14, 2008, a week before the DVD release and contains songs from and inspired by the film. In February 2008, Brooke recorded The Works which was her seventh solo release.{{cite news | access-date = September 18, 2009 | access-date = September 18, 2009 | access-date = September 18, 2009 | access-date = September 18, 2009

One reviewer lauded Brooke's "forceful, girlish voice" and described her tune "My Sweet and Bitter Bowl" as a "driving opener" and "standout" and described the entire suite of songs as "solid." The critic described the album as a "Brooke record" not a "Guthrie one". Another critic described the album as "Woody Guthrie's lyrics" with "an urbane new voice within Brooke's sleek, winking alt-pop ... if the Dust Bowl troubadour had matriculated at Amherst, he'd sound just like this."{{cite news Brooke was a judge on the 10th and 11th annual Independent Music Awards. She was also a judge for the 5th and 9th Independent Music Awards. According to Brooke in an interview, her favorite collaboration with other artists was the song "Forgiven" with Chris Botti (in Chris' 2002 CD The Very Best of Chris Botti).

The 2010s

In 2010, Jonatha Brooke performed as the opening act of the French tour of Nolwenn Leroy, singing songs in English and in French, and joined Nolwenn Leroy for some duets.

In February 2014, Brooke opened in her one-woman play My Mother Has 4 Noses off-Broadway at the Duke Theater in New York City. The play, written by Brooke, recounts in words and music Brooke's relationship with her mother, who suffered from dementia. It earned favorable reviews, including a "NY Times Critics' pick" designation. She released a CD of the same title simultaneously which one reviewer described as "an intimate, string laden album full of warmth and sadness."

In October 2016, Jonatha released the album Midnight. Hallelujah. Recorded at Sweetwater Studios in Fort Wayne, Indiana, 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.

In February 2019, Jonatha Brooke won Overall Grand Prize in the 15th Annual IAMA (International Acoustic Music Awards), as well as Best Female Artist with her song "Put the Gun Down".

Brooke released an EP, Imposter, in 2019. In an interview for the EP, Brooke revealed that she now lives in Minneapolis.

Discography

References

References

1. "Picks and Pans Review: Plumb : People.com".
2. Paul, Verna. (November 29, 1997). "Reviews and Previews".
3. (March 1, 2001). "Jonatha Brooke and Bob Clearmountain Teaming Up for "Steady Pull"".
4. (June 17, 2008). "Jonatha Brooke set to release album of Woody Guthrie lyrics".
5. E-Online (July 22, 2008) [http://uk.eonline.com/uberblog/b147502_sting_matthews_mayer_gamer_tibet_beijing.html Sting, Matthews, Mayer Gamer for Tibet Than Beijing] {{webarchive. link. (July 24, 2008)
6. "Judges".
7. (June 26, 2009). "The Independent Music Awards Announces Judges for 9th Annual IMAs | MicControl".
8. "She & Him, the Black Keys, Mark Hoppus, Aimee Mann and Bettye LaVette Join Judging Panel for the 9th Annual Independent Music Awards @ Top40-Charts.com - New Songs & Videos from 49 Top 20 & Top 40 Music Charts from 30 Countries".
9. [http://www.independentmusicawards.com/ima/judges/11th-annual-ima-judges/ "11th Annual IMA Judges]. Independent Music Awards. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
10. "Independent Music Awards – Past Judges".
11. (November 10, 2008). "Popdose Interview: Jonatha Brooke".
12. (February 21, 2014). "A Daughter's Loyalty Shines Through Song". [[The New York Times]].
13. Collins-hughes, Laura. (February 21, 2014). "Jonatha Brooke's 'My Mother Has 4 Noses'". [[The New York Times]].
14. Raible, Allan. (February 23, 2014). "Music Reviews: The Latest From Phantogram, Guided By Voices, Suzanne Vega & More".
15. (March 25, 2014). "In Performance: Jonatha Brooke". [[The New York Times]].
16. (April 14, 2019). "The naked truth about Jonatha Brooke's new made-in-Minnesota record".