Jessica Kilroy- Keeping it Real

January 21st, 2010

Jessica Kilroy is known for her soft voice, intense physical drive (we’re talking rock climbing and hot-shot fire-fighting) and killer songwriting. Ambitious by nature, Kilroy credits her upbringing as the foundation for what in recent years has been an annual string of accomplishments. Having picked up the guitar at thirteen, her first album, "Before Dawn" was recorded in 2003. In 2005 she was invited to play at the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville after grammy-nominated songwriter Skip Ewing heard her solid performance, angelic voice and original music, calling her “a 21st century Emmylou Harris." She won the Owl Lounge Songwriting Competition in 2006; her 2007 sophomore album, "Big Dreams" featured original Americana and bluegrass. Jessica won the 2008 NW String Summit Band Competition with her bluegrass trio, and was invited to perform on the main stage in 2009. Also in 2008, Kilroy was selected for the Horse & Writer Invitational Scholarship Award, which included a week of one-on-one mentorship from five of Nashville's top hit songwriters. Last year she was selected as a finalist for the Telluride Troubadour Competition and performed a solo set on the main stage.

Now 29, Kilroy has fought forest fires across the nation, aided abandoned / orphaned children in Mexico, climbed Zion and Yosemite, trekked across southeast Asia to scale limestone cliffs, and learned the legends of her ancestors while playing Celtic folk with local fishermen on the Irish shoreline. She has also traveled the U.S. performing with such diverse acts as Tony Trischka, Darrell Scott, Guy Davis, Walt Michaels, Trampled by Turtles, The Drew Emmitt Band, Yonder Mountain String Band, Bill Nershi, Po Girl, Ben Sollee, Califone, and The McCoury Brothers.

Kilroy has also performed with many folk and bluegrass legends, including Darrell Scott, John Lowell, Tom Chapin, Ben Winship, Pete and Anne Sibley, and Steam Powered Airplane, and has shared the stage with Doc Watson, Jean Ritchie, Ruby Dee, Tom Faulkner and the Snake Handlers, and The Wilders. The RollingZone recently sat down for a relaxed chat with the talented singer-songwriter.

RZ: Can you share your songwriting process?

JK: It’s like I write the story — it’s a movie in my mind. I’m very visual. I see an entire cinematic scene. I’ll see it, but have no words. Then I try to figure out the point —what am I trying to say and why does it matter? If it doesn’t matter I don’t continue. I feel music has to have substance, and if I can’t write substance I’m not fulfilling what I was gifted to do. I sometimes write with Ben Bullington and if he can’t get something he’ll walk around from room to room. It’s kind of a motion thing... almost like, if the creative juices are dried up in one place they’ll be there in another room. Besides, you use different parts of your brain by moving.

RZ: You’ve also written with hit writers in Nashville — how was that?

JK: Awesome; I’ve been to Nashville four times. I won scholarships in both 2008 and ‘09 for one-on-one mentoring with top songwriters. I got to know these people on a personal level because I wasn’t star-struck. They’re poets; it’s all about phrasing something in a sentence instead of a paragraph. I wrote with one guy who would spit out line after line....you could see him editing in his mind. He’d sift through it and come out with a genius line and I’d think; wow, how did you do that! I absolutely love writing. It’s tons of fun.

RZ: What are some songwriting elements that can be taught?

JK: The best thing I learned is: what are you trying to say with the song, and why? Before that experience I would have all sorts of strands of ideas; I didn’t have the craft honed.

RZ: How has your material changed over the years?

JK: When I first started it was coming from being a frustrated teen-ager. I’d had a lot of surgeries when I was young and couldn’t do physical activities. I had patella-femoral syndrome — a condition that caused my knees to dislocate constantly. I had to pay close attention to every step I took — hard for a person with a lot of drive. I wanted to be a dancer but couldn’t do that. I bought a guitar from a thrift store and taught myself to play. I learned patience, and how to write.

RZ: You’re so soft-spoken; on the other hand, you’re known for that intense drive.

JK: My soft sound came from singing at night while growing up. We didn’t have TV and we had an early curfew, but I’d stay up writing and playing. My dad pioneered some of the first ascents of the Tetons and other mountain ranges in the west; he was a very driven mountaineer / rock climber and would say; ‘don’t let anyone tell you you can’t do something.’ He instilled a stubborn drive in me. Climbing is a huge part of my life. I’ve been a guide and an instructor. Climbing in the vastness of Yosemite and in Utah, you’re by yourself — it’s a vast feeling that’s a big part of my sound.

RZ: What made you choose to be a firefighter?

JK: You’ve got two choices here [in rural Montana where she grew up]: the Forest Service or a logging company. I chose the Forest Service. I’d wear neoprene braces under my outfit and got really good at it. I did it for three years and then got a job on a hot shot crew. The fire job gave me a lot of material for songwriting. Whatever job I did, I was singing along as I hiked. I had to quit after six years; that was my career, but I couldn’t do it anymore because of my knees, so I joined The Three Rivers Wilderness program for at-risk kids. I’d stay at the base camp, and do music gigs at night.

RZ: Do you think some of your altruistic motivation comes from your physical difficulties growing up?

JK: I hadn’t thought about that, but yes. When I was younger I felt completely helpless in my own body. You know you can do things — but your knees, which you need to walk, to climb, to do anything — just don’t work. I was in braces from fourth grade until college, walking like a goofball. Everyone called me gimpy. But I developed the ability to interact with people and laugh at myself, a good quality, I think. I became strong instead of a victim. The kids I worked with in Mexico hadn’t had the opportunity to develop that perspective.

RZ: Did you go to Mexico with a particular group?

JK: I went with a group of college kids; we went to the New Life Ranch in Sonora. I wanted to give of myself because so many people had given of themselves to me. These kids were abandoned and hadn’t had the chance to become empowered.

RZ: Seems like a large proportion of musicians are involved in ‘giving back.’

JK: The creative side maybe puts you in touch with more compassion than the average person connects to. I’ve always had an innate desire to give because I can.

RZ: Who were significant influences in your development?

JK: Listening to Joni Mitchell and James Taylor, I felt I wasn’t alone in the world. In high school listened to Sonic Youth, Bjork, Tory Amos. Focusing on bluegrass / Americana, I was into Dolly Parton, Patsy Cline, Willie Nelson, and Emmylou Harris cuz that’s what my mother listened to. My dad was into folk and played blues harmonica. That influenced me, too.

RZ: You also have a soulful sound; did that come from hearing your dad play blues?

JK: That, and teen angst. Also, I lived in California outside Oakland during middle school and I’d go to a holy roller church where there were rhythm instruments in all the pews. Most of my friends were black and hispanic; I’d wake up to old R&B, something I wouldn’t have gotten in Eureka, Montana. I was introduced to soul in California, surrounded by African American gospel singers.

RZ: What’s your favorite road experience?

JK: During my second year at the Common Ground-on-the-Hill Folk Festival (in Westminster, Maryland), I was listening to bluegrass players practicing and asked to sit in. I told the banjo player I thought he was the best I’ve ever seen, not realizing he was Tony Trishka, a huge name in bluegrass, even before Bela Fleck.

RZ: What is the most exciting person / group you’ve played with? How about crazy experiences?

JK: Playing with the McCoury Brothers was a highlight. One of my very first shows I didn’t know the etiquette thing... this guy in Missoula asks to join me on stage. His name is Thunder, a hairy beast of a guy, and he starts playing horrible jam riffs. The place was packed with college kids who’d come to hear me play. The club owners were giving me dirty looks and the cut off gesture — it gets worse. Thunder invites two other friends up there, then they drag a third person off the street onto the stage. I didn’t know what to do. The owners told me they ‘didn’t intend for this to be some hippie open mic night.’

RZ: Do you talk in between songs?

JK: Yes; I like to tell the background story. In Nashville everything is so different — they want you to be a certain way. I try not to talk there because it’s not fans, it’s industry professionals who have seen everything and just want to hear what you’ve got to offer.

RZ: Tell us about your side project, Pterodactyl Plains.

JK: It’s myself, my boyfriend, Kier Atherton and a wonderful cellist from Missoula, Bethany Joyce. We’re working on “Raven,” which will be released next month.

RZ: “Raven” is a departure for you, isn’t it?

JK: I’m very excited; there are so many elements I haven’t been able to use before: there’s a soul element and a tribal-like rhythm. It’s ‘Indie-folktronic — electronic mixed with folk music, like mixing New York with Montana. There’s also an element of almost whispering, which is what I like anyway.

RZ: You’re reserved vocally; how do you use your physical development in performing?

JK: During high school my dad took me climbing and taught me to use my whole body. Standing during a performance is better than sitting, which can be hard on the neck and head. If you’re standing you don’t look at your hands so much, and you pull your shoulders back.

RZ: Where are you living now?

JK: I haven’t lived anywhere since 2006. I’ve been traveling out of my Subaru, which died. Now it’s a Celica. I do a lot of couch surfing. I keep on the move trying to keep things rolling. Things really just got going in 2008.

RZ: What’s on the immediate horizon?

JK: Traveling and recording is what I’m doing this winter. Kier and I are touring Europe March through May. Then we’ll be on the east coast in June, then probably touring out west.

Don’t miss Jessica Kilroy in concert with Ben Bullington Saturday, January 23rd at 8 pm at Wild Joe’s Organic Coffee Shop. Tickets will be $13 at the door.

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