A Fresh Story, Season 5: Jane Kramer
A Fresh Story, season 5, episode 8
We had the honor of talking to singer-songwriter and all-around amazing human Jane Kramer. Jane discussed how she managed through the breakup of her band, and the loss of her friends, her divorce and finding herself again, and how she ultimately carved out a space for herself in Asheville, North Carolina and discovered her ethereal voice and songwriting ability. We chatted about how she met her husband and her path to motherhood, as well as how fresh starts can be the most beautiful moments in our life. We dive into her music and lyrics, and how she writes about loss, love, and grief.
Jane Kramer, hailing from Asheville, North Carolina, is an accomplished and soulful musician captivating audiences with her folk-infused melodies and heartfelt lyrics. With a voice that echoes both strength and vulnerability, Kramer has become a prominent figure in the vibrant Asheville music scene. Her authentic storytelling and evocative performances reflect the rich musical tapestry of the region while carving out a distinctive space for her in the world of Americana and folk music.
Lauded by UK music reviewer Three Chords and the Truth as sounding like she was “…born to irreverent, bohemian poets and raised in the mountains by Emmylou Harris,” Asheville, North Carolina songstress Jane Kramer has garnered international recognition for the sultry, heartrending originality of her vocals and for the heavy-hitting lyrical eloquence of her songwriting.
With deep roots in the musical traditions, culture and lore of her beloved Appalachia, Kramer’s songs are introspective, gracefully gritty and fiercely memorable. They elegantly sweep listeners down the gravel roads and southern coastal highways, midnight truck stops and lonely motel rooms of hard learning and lead home to the wooded Blue Ridge Mountains with moving acceptance of our flawed human experience. Kramer’s live performances are equally as poignant and engaging; rich with accessible, warm, often hilarious storytelling and gracefully lifting the veil between audience and performer.
After a seven year stint as founding member, guitarist, vocalist and songwriter in the nationally-touring, Asheville-based all female Appalachian Folk outfit, The Barrel House Mamas from 2003-2010, Kramer released her first solo studio album, Break & Bloom, recorded in Portland, Oregon, in 2013. The 2016 release of her sophomore studio album, Carnival of Hopes, put her on the map as a “…a voice that can only be described as one of the purest in modern Americana” (Dave Stallard, Blue Ridge Outdoors,) receiving critical international acclaim and airplay and charting on the Americana and Folk DJ charts. Kramer’s 2019 LP, Valley of The Bones, showed the artist “…refining her natural ability with words to the level of songwriting mastery. She has composed a new collection of songs that beautifully serve the bold, confident intensity of her voice and I could not be more excited about it. Bravo!” (Mary Gauthier) and served to further solidify Kramer’s place in the canon of contemporary southern folk artists from Mary Gauthier to Malcolm Holcombe and Sarah Siskind. Kramer has been touring nationally and internationally for the last ten years, playing for sold-out audiences in listening rooms, theaters, festivals, living rooms, prisons and arts councils alike. This has gained her a loyal following from the southeastern, U.S. where she calls home, to Portland, Oregon to Scotland, U.K to Florence, Italy.
A former social worker, domestic violence crisis counselor and avid humanitarian, Kramer continues to perform and teach about the songwriting process in prisons, shelters for the unhoused, programs for at-risk youth, classrooms and hospitals, sharing her message of music as a powerful tool for healing, connection and compassion.
Whether Kramer is solo, wielding only her EJ Henderson guitar and her most important instrument: her emotive, ethereal voice, or backed by her full band featuring the virtuosic instrumentalists that comprise Asheville’s Free Planet Radio and internationally renowned multi-instrumentalist Billy Cardine (Biscuit Burners, Acoustic Syndicate, Lover’s Leap,) the power and poignance of this truly gifted songstress is deeply felt and long-remembered.
Quoted as “…an artist on the rise” by acclaimed American songwriter Mary Gauthier, Kramer has performed with such well-known artists as Joan Osborne, Amy Ray of the Indigo Girls, The Steep Canyon Rangers, Sarah Siskind, Gretchen Peters, Malcolm Holcombe, Verlon Thompson, Shawn Mullins and Maria Muldaur.
Enjoy this episode with Jane, check out her music, and follow Jane on Instagram. You can listen to Jane Kramer on Spotify here!