Seattle-based singer, songwriter, pianist, and guitarist Jill Cohn's songs pay homage to artists like Joni Mitchell, Sarah McLachlan, and the Counting Crows, with tunes ranging from personal reflections to musical contemplations of domestic violence and vanishing rain forests. Summer 2003 brings the release of Jill's 6th full length CD, entitled "Seven Year Surrender."
Raised in a small town in Eastern Washington, Cohn started singing before she started talking, and music has always been an integral part of her journey. A full-time musician since 1996, Cohn has released six critically acclaimed independent releases and has engaged in seven years of nonstop touring.
Almost immediately, after Cohn embarked on the tour to promote her 2002 release, "Window to the Wise", new songs began to pour out, and she realized quickly that yet another album was soon to be born. She called on the talents of Seattle producer Martin Feveyear, whom she had met while recording at his studio. During the "Window to the Wise" sessions, producer Ethan Allen had mentioned that if Cohn were to record again, that she might want to work with Martin. After Feveyear played some tracks from the yet unreleased "Rosie Thomas" album he was producing at the time, the seed was planted.
It began to blossom when Feveyear was a guest on a track from "Window to the Wise", and came into full fruit when Cohn began writing the new album. She called Feveyear, who enthusiastically invited her back to Jupiter to begin recording "Seven Year Surrender." Cohn says, "We took our time recording these songs, and I got a portable hard drive so I could record in different cities while keeping up with my tour schedule."
The "Window to the Wise" tour brought Cohn full circle on many personal fronts. She recognized early on, that in addition to having fresh experiences to draw upon for songs that these tours were bringing about an opportunity for personal healing and resolution of unfinished business. While wading through the sometimes-murky water of trying to right her wrongs, Cohn realized that these new songs were somehow the completion of a cycle begun with "Window to the Wise." Where "Window" introduced longings, "Seven Year Surrender" takes a deeper look at the actual purpose of why certain situations persist, and how seeking their remedy unfolds a person in new ways.
"Seven Year Surrender" marks several milestones for Cohn. The first is a reunion with Andrew Bush, and recording at Grandma's Warehouse in Los Angeles, the studio where Cohn cut her first release, "13September6." In addition to working with her Seattle band mates, Cohn also called on the guitar talents of Val McCallum (Vonda Sheppard, Jackson Browne), and rekindled a connection with designer Matt Buckmaster (who worked on Cohn's 2000 release, "The Absence of Moving"). Grammy®-award-winning engineer Jim Watts also produces the track, "Guarantee of Grace", which Cohn wrote about her longing for family life.
"Over the years of touring, I have become friends with some of the venue owners, I've gotten to see their children grow, and somehow, I've gotten to have my family through them. On this night, I was feeling a bit melancholy yet grateful about what I do have. It was funny, but those words just came to me, and I kept singing them to myself for weeks during that tour, and finally, when I got back home, I finished the song."
During Cohn's tours, she has gained many new fans and concert opportunities, most recently as a national finalist in Jewel's Soul City Café contest. Her performances encompass a wide spectrum of venues and charitable events, ranging from coffee houses in rural towns to her most moving appearance to date, where she performed her song "Instead of the Innocent" in front of 8,000 people in Seattle's Volunteer Park. Cohn was also picked as an opener for the Girls Room tour, was a top-five finalist in the Lilith Fair Talent Search and has opened concerts for many national artists, including; Jewel, Stacey Earle, Loudon Wainwright III, and Dave Matthews.
"Seven Year Surrender" also marks Cohn stepping back into a larger production role, and it also features several songs in which she is the principal instrumentalist. Surrender, as one discovers over the course of the album's song cycle, is not so much about giving up as it is about opening up, as it joyously probes into a deeper understanding of resolution, compassion and understanding.
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