Andrea June and I are offering our full length album, a compilation of the EPs “Red Lights, Money and Wine,” and “Never Mind the Moon,” for free to new facebook fans.
All you have to do is visit our fanpage here, “like” us, and tell your friends to check us out, too!
Then, Andrea will send you a code for getting the full digital album for free!
We have a new music player on the facebook page, too, where you can preview the songs.
A big thank you to the Vancouver Island Music Awards – jurors, organizers, and supporters!
Auto Jansz, Female Songwriter of the Year Nominee
Andrea June, Female Vocalist of the Year Nominee
The Awards Gala Event will take place April 21st.
Join Auto Jansz & Andrea June, with Marina Marina at The Orange Hall
$10 at the door.
Red Lights, Money and Wine gets a great review in this month’s Focus Magazine! Follow the link here, or read it below!
Monday Magazine, Victoria’s arts and entertainment weekly, also gives Auto a shout out in Editor Grant McKenzie’s weekly column! Find this week’s Monday here.
She takes to the stage with her trademark bowler hat, tomboy attire, guitar, and a shy smile. Everything seems to conflict. But, when Auto Jansz starts to sing, it all makes sense. She sings of everyday things, everyday people, telling their stories with heartfelt honesty, poignant music, and a sure, clear voice.
Jansz grew up in a musical household. Her mother Julie loved to sing Irish rebel songs, with Jansz’s father Errol accompanying on guitar. Her father eventually taught her everything he knew about guitar from his days as a professional musician in Sri Lanka. Jansz jokes about the experience, “He said, ‘Here are your basic chords…now bugger off and figure it out for yourself!’”
She did just that. In the 1990s, she performed professionally with an all-girl punk band called Bitter Sweet in Manitoba, and for the last ten years, she has toured North America with the award-winning Folk/Roots band, Barley Wik. She’s now a solo Folk/Roots artist. Says Jansz, “It’s down-to-earth music for me, and that’s like how my heart beats.”
Her new album, Red Lights, Money, and Wine, is filled with extraordinary stories of ordinary women from Canada’s past. Why women? As Jansz explains, “I guess my focus on women is that it just doesn’t get told. It’s just not passed down. There’s lots of ‘man’ history out there….[but] a lot of our stories get shuffled away.”
The album’s title track depicts the dying days of bordellos in Winnipeg at the turn of the last century. The conflict between the past and the present was difficult for Jansz, who admits, “It was a hard thing with Red Lights, Money, and Wine, ’cause I’m sort of honouring that tradition, but I know how unhealthy it can be as well…I want to respect these women, but I also see what’s going on in my hometown as well…It’s a heartbreak.” The haunting minor chords and touching, understated vocals say it all.
But it’s not all tragedy for Jansz, who also pokes some fun at herself and her dad in “Ten Pound Trout.” It’s the true story of how, after hours of fishing with her dad and no bites, with the loons catching fish and laughing at her, a ten-pound trout just jumped into the boat. It sums up her philosophy of life, “If it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be. If you’re going out to catch fish, and you’re gonna catch fish today, you will. If you don’t, well I guess you’re eating something else for dinner!”
Auto Jansz will be performing with Andrea June on Oct 14 at the Orange Hall, 7:30pm, $10 cover, with special guest Marina Marina. www.autojansz.com.
—Lisa Szeker-Madden
Check out Murray’s behind the scenes footage of the upcoming music video Rattlesnake Rose!
The final product is coming soon. . .
Performing with Jennifer Louise Taylor and Andrea June this March 19th. Check out Shows for more info.
