Singer-songwriter strikes gold with collaborations on Good Things
The Chronicle Herald
Aug 29, 2009
By Stephen Cooke
GOOD THINGS really do come in threes for Saint John singer-songwriter Jessica Rhaye this month. Not only is she celebrating the release of her third CD - titled, appropriately enough, Good Things - she also just marked her third anniversary with high school sweetheart (and current manager) Mark Marshall.
Mind you, the three years of wedded bliss followed nearly 14 years of dating, before Rhaye decided sheíd better pop the question.
"It wasn't like I got down on one knee and proposed or anything," explains Rhaye, who performs her tender and personal compositions on Wednesday night at The Carleton in Halifax.
"I think we were just sitting around the living room one day and I just mentioned that we should probably get married; it had been long enough and we should probably tie the knot.
"His response was, 'Yeah, OK.' I know it's not terribly romantic."
Rhaye laughs that she can't even get a good song out of such an important moment, but adds that she's been able to mine her life for enough compositional gold on Good Things, which takes a much more intimate and revealing approach than her sophomore 2006 release Short Stories.
"I think I've matured. Every artist that puts out a new record grows and has different experiences in life. I just find them and write about them," says Rhaye.
"I'm very happy with where I am in my life, in my marriage and in my relationship with my family, in my work as a graphic designer, and the record comes across as a really positive one. The title Good Things really reflects that.
"The recordís also geared more towards how I perform on stage, and how the songs come across live. I wanted to be able to have something I could sell off the stage to people that wasnít too different from what they just heard."
Rhaye's voice and guitar are front and centre on Good Things, but it's far from sparse-sounding. Recorded at Soundark Studios in Sydney with Ed Woodsworth and Jamie Foulds, the CD boasts a roster of guest musicians like multi-instrumentalist J.P. Cormier, keyboardist Kim Dunn, and Dave Gunning on acoustic guitar and backing vocals. Gunning is also one of Rhaye's many songwriting collaborators on the project, joining Saint John composer Ken Tobias, MIR's Asif Illyas and even her own mother Cynthia Grimmer, who assisted on the atmospheric Shadow Man.
One special collaboration involved revered Canadian song scribe Ron Sexsmith, who helped sculpt Good Things' title track.
"I just absolutely love his music and who he is as a person, so when I first met him it was first as a fan," enthuses Rhaye.
"I wondered if he'd even like what I'd sing or what I'd play, but once I got in the room with him - and it's the same with J.P. or Dave Gunning or Ken Tobias - we're just people talking about music.
"Usually when I co-write, they're songs that I started to write and couldn't finish for whatever reason. I've learned a lot about song structure. They'll act like a song doctor and point out a chorus that I might not have thought of. It's really just having a second pair of ears hearing your ideas. Co-writing has turned out to be a very good experience, and one I thought I wouldnít be able to do because songwriting is so personal for me."
With three albums to her credit over the past decade, Rhaye says she's gained a lot of confidence in her songwriting abilities in the decade since her self-titled debut, and doesn't get flustered or star struck when she sits down with high calibre talents like
"I've always had a good time co-writing, and I've always gotten a good song out of it too."