PORT TOWNSEND — A life-threatening house fire, a beloved father, a community of musicians: They’re all on Janna Marit’s forthcoming album.
If it’s finished, that is. Marit, a cabaret singer married to pop singer Simon Lynge, has embarked upon a www.Kickstarter.com effort to raise the funds to complete the recording of a CD many years in the making — and the deadline is next Monday, Aug. 20.
Marit and Lynge met in Southern California in 2002 after she heard him sing; they met again at a songwriting retreat in Big Sur, Calif., two years later, after Marit had begun penning original songs.
She had decided, back in January 2000, that she had to wake up, as she puts it, and follow her dreams of a life in music.
This awakening came after a terrible house fire at her parents’ home in Maine. It led to her moving to Los Angeles, performing in public — and starting the recording of her album in 2006.
Marit and Lynge wed that year, and then decided to move to Port Townsend, where Marit’s family now live.
Three years later, Marit returned to the studio here with her father, Bob Knudson, and recorded him playing the trumpet. She feels intense gratitude for that session; Knudson died in 2009.
“He was a superb horn player. Unfortunately, his playing had become somewhat compromised due to lung cancer,” she said.
“It still sounds great though, and the album will be dedicated to him. He was always very supportive of my music making.”
Now Marit is facing a deadline, due to the Kickstarter.com method of fundraising: She has to gather her sum within 30 days of starting the campaign.
The 30th day is Monday, Aug. 20; Marit must raise $5,850 by then or lose all of the donations.
Complete details about her CD project and a link to the Kickstarter page are available via www.Janna
Marit.com.
So far, Marit’s CD has 11 tracks, all original songs, including two she cowrote with her husband: “Sailor Man” and “Not All Who Wander.”
The pair have traveled the world together, singing in the United States, Europe and even Lynge’s home country of Greenland.
Five years ago, Marit went there for the first time and sang with her husband beside a glacier.
She was pregnant with their first child, so “other than being a little nauseous, it was amazing,” Marit recalled.
Since their son, Django, was born 41/2 years ago, Marit has stayed in Port Townsend much of the time, only now and again traveling with Lynge.
She sang to sold-out houses in last month’s Key City Public Theatre revue, “Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris.”
And she has become part of the musical community, bringing guitarist George Rezendes, harpist David Michael, singer-guitarist Brett Pemberton, multi-instrumentalist Matt Sircely, clarinetist Paul Becker and even children from Leslie Lewis’ youth choir into the studio with her.
After starting the process in Los Angeles, Marit has recorded at Rezendes’ Toolshed Soundlab and Pete Lack’s place, both in Port Townsend.
Marit is offering gifts to her supporters: signed copies of the CD, archival prints of her artwork — she’s also a painter who has done portraits of famed jazz musicians — and a Janna Marit concert poster she painted somewhat in the style of Toulouse-Lautrec.
“You could also get a unique original sketch of yourself,” she said.
“Beyond the art offerings, I will record a cover song of your choice and deliver the song to you,” or for a $500 contribution, the piece de resistance: a dinner prepared in the donor’s home by Marit and Lynge, and accompanied by their serenade.
Most of all, Marit hopes to give her supporters musical delight — and something to think about.
Her songs are observations of life, expressions of curiosity about this society we live in.
“The funny thing about songwriting is that it’s not all that calculated,” Marit said. “Things just come through you.”
Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5062, or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
