Jayber Crow
The Farmer and The Nomad

By April Wright
Staff Writer

At nearly 20-years-old, I am apparently not above behaving like a middle schooler. When confronted with Pete Nelson and Zach Hawkins from Jayber Crow sitting right in front of me, totally prepped to talk about their career as a band, my heart stopped for a solid second before beginning to beat faster than hummingbird wings.

Eventually, I regained my composure and started asking some actual questions, as opposed to blathering on embarrassingly about how much I loved their first E.P., The Farmer and The Nomad.

If you don't know Jayber Crow, I'm not surprised: they're relative newcomers to the Minnesota music scene. Nelson and Hawkins, two friends who met on an intercollegiate trip to Tanzania, played their first show together in March 2005 at the 400 Bar in Minneapolis. "Zach had about four or five songs written that he wanted to do something with," Nelson said.

At the time, the band was just Hawkins, Nelson and two guitars, sans their trademark mandolin. The first show didn't go so hot, with Nelson and Hawkins trying to settle what they were going to play right up until they got on stage. But things quickly progressed from there.

By the end of 2005, the duo had released The Farmer and The Nomad E.P. Easily one of the best releases of the year, Hawkins and Nelson took a more natural approach to writing and recording. Hawkins describes his lyrics as "place-based," and "influenced by the environment - physical and emotional." Most were written the summer after the pair graduated college and put a lot of emphasis on growing up, and life transitions.

Their sound is simple, usually a guitar, mandolin and vocals. Nelson likes it that way; "We keep coming back to this two guy thing," he said. Originally just two guys and two guitars, they quickly added a mandolin and a sprinkling of other instruments to the line-up.

Their music has always reflected their laid-back attitude in music making. While Hawkins and Nelson both love writing and playing, they haven't taken up an agenda of aggressive self-promotion. "If doors open, we'll go through them," Hawkins said. "I think it's fun to dream about where things could go, but be happy with where you are." Nelson agreed, "We're doing things at our own pace," he said. "I don't think we're gonna force it."

"There's always a balance," Hawkins said. Both musicians are busy with careers outside of music. Nelson is an artist and has shown his artworks in various venues, and Hawkins is also a writer.

Even with their other tasks to juggle, they did what any talented young band would do: took the show on the road. Jayber Crow toured the upper Midwest a fair amount in the past year, playing dorm room venues and porches alongside actual music venues.

After their busy year, Jayber Crow made, in my opinion, the best move possible. They released a live album. The aptly - if a little boringly - named Tour Sampler came out earlier this month.

Tour Sampler enriches the experience of The Farmer and the Nomad. The only real flaw with Farmer was that it wasn't a live show. Jayber Crow's live shows exude a feeling of togetherness and friendship, and no matter how good a studio album is, it feels lacking. That's a non-issue now. Tour Sampler is all over the map in terms of atmosphere and style, but really captures the spirit of a Jayber Crow concert.

The five-song disc features two new songs, a favorite from Farmer and two songs from the band's non-album catalog. "What Poets Know" and "O My God, When I Drop Dead" have been available in studio versions on the band's website and MySpace last year, but were not on Farmer.

"What Poets Know" is a song I've had a love/hate affair with, but upon hearing the live version on Tour Sampler, I decided it's time to put aside the hate and give my heart wholly to this song. When speaking about most of Jayber Crow's lyrics, Hawkins said "the imagery is natural, agricultural." And as a native Minnesotan, that is one of my favorite things about the band. The lyrics of "What Poets Know" reject that somewhat. While keeping the introspection so prevalent in his writing, Hawkins sings about love through the fuzz of a material culture. It's an absolutely beautiful song, too. Nelson and Hawkins' voices meld together on the "ba-ba-ba"s that follow each chorus and the passionate, quietly-intense bridge.

"Intense" is also the word I would use to describe new tracks "Song of the Jack Pine" and "O City!" "Jack Pine" feels almost like a spiritual or a church song with its minor guitars and wailing "ah"s. And the tentatively-titled "O City!" features Nelson on the harmonica. Another slower, sadder piece, "O City!" bridges the gap between their newer songs, like "Jack Pine" and the unreleased gem "The Limited Voice of the American Crow," and their work on Farmer. "O City!" calls to mind cool, autumn nights out in the rural parts of the Midwest. It would have been perfect, except for the whistling solo three quarters of the way through.

The last seven minutes of the E.P. are solid folk-pop gold. "Eugene, Oregon (Manifest Destiny)" is far and away my favorite Jayber Crow song. I love the intrepid sense of discovery and exploration present in Hawkins' lyrics and the way the mandolin dances in between guitar strums.

"O My God, When I Drop Dead" is another song I've played some tug of war with since first hearing it. It sounded a little harsh to me the first few times, but I'm really digging the loose, fun vibe to it now. It's Jayber Crow's closest thing to a party song, and ends the album (a little abruptly) on a high note.

So, the debut is phenomenal and the live CD blows me away. Hopefully, Jayber Crow will become a more famous act in the Twin Cities area. The band isn't poorly connected by any means, they've played shows with Coach Said Not To, Jeff Hanson, Shawn Neary (of Tapes n' Tapes Fame) and Jason Anderson (a.k.a. Wolf Colonel). Many of the groups shows are set up by fans who want them to come play at their dorm, school or house.

But even with a loyal fanbase and a network of fellow musicians, breaking into the tight-knit Minneapolis music community isn't always the easiest thing to do. "We benefit from the goodwill of the music scene," Hawkins said. Nelson agreed and expressed a desire for Jayber Crow to be more infused in the local music scene. "I feel like we benefit from the music scene, but we're not active in it," he said. "I think we've both been wanting to get involved in the scene."