Most know Karen Jonas as a singer-songwriter in the Fredericksburg area. But the alt-country darling is also making a name for herself as a poet.
Her first album, “Oklahoma Lottery”, dropped in 2014. In 2021, she expanded her artistic endeavors when she published her first volume of poetry titled “Gumballs”.
Now Jonas is back with a second book of poetry, called “Poetic Evidence, tales of a modern romantic.” Like her first book of poetry, “Poetic Evidence” is a direct and unfiltered view of Jonas’ life, with poems about her role as an artist, relationships, sex and whiskey.
“There’s dating and relationships and a little heartbreak and also some random tidbits about figuring things out in the world,” she said.
IF YOU GO
Karen Jonas: Sunday Aug. 3, 6-8 pm Curitiba Art Cafe, 919 Caroline St, Fredericksburg
Simultaneous to “Poetic Evidence,” Jonas is releasing a new single, “Arson Games” and will be at Curitiba Art Cafe on Aug. 3 for a reading and, perhaps, some singing.
While song lyrics and poems share some characteristics, Jonas considers them different — if complementary — art forms.
“The poetry starts similarly (to lyrics) as an inkling or an idea,” she said. “Maybe everything doesn’t want to be a song. I guess you could write songs based on these poems but I think a written and read format sometimes just feels more relevant… Songs have a certain structure and requirements as to how they’re going to work. Poetry feels very free.”
One difference between hearing a song and reading a poem is the visual aspect of the poem on the page and its division into lines and verses. “Poetic Evidence” makes good use of spacing, margins, and left/right page orientation to draw the reader’s attention to the pace and meter of each poem.
Karen Jonas’ new single, “Arson Games,” represents her first song after the departure of longtime guitarist Tim Bray.
“That’s something I enjoy playing with,” Jonas said. “Sometimes it feels like a different tone comes from the right side of the page than the left side of the page, or the contrast of the two feels important. I think it’s pretty but more than just being pretty, it is intentional for which words are where because there’s some pattern about it that I enjoy. I try not to just decorate the page with words. It creates a moment.
“Maybe I learned in songwriting a little bit where you leave a little space or you change the tone or there’s a moment in between, and these are ways to do that on a page.”
Jonas’ poems, which she says are one step past a journal, reveal some changes in her personal life.
“The single,” she said, “is me trying to bring that poetry energy to songwriting, trying to overlap.”
Her musical journey saw a major change this year with the departure of longtime musical partner and guitarist Tim Bray, who worked on all of Jonas’ recorded work and added his distinctive style to many of her songs.
The new single “Arson Games” marks a shift in style, with use of a drum machine and less of the familiar twang that Bray contributed to her previous work.
“I find that my musical style evolves pretty regularly anyways,” Jonas said. “Tim has done so much work for what we’ve been doing. I endlessly appreciate all the efforts he’s put into our project. He’s always been an imprint on the albums and has such a unique style to his playing. So, naturally we will notice his absence but I hope that what I find to do moving forward feels equally complete.”
“Poetic Evidence” continues the poetry journey Jonas began four years ago to document her thoughts and feelings since that time.
“The amount of hours I’ve put into this is pretty excessive,” she said. “I’ve enjoyed so much finding the rhythm of the words and the sideways rhymes and structure of it. It’s just really made me happy for six months fussing with this. I hope other people find the wit and the joy amidst the sadness such as life as they read it.”
