Minnesota’s Mason Jennings has released a dozen albums since his self-titled debut in 1997, and his music brings to mind artists like Leonard Cohen and John Lennon. His songs are poignant and playful, serious and light. AllMusic calls his latest release, Always Been, “a deftly sophisticated album whose straightforward simplicity belies darker emotional truths.” In the words of the website The Current, “it's that raw vulnerability that makes his songwriting incredibly brave.” Here’s how Mason puts it: “Staying open to the feeling of awe, the feeling of being moved by things—that’s the most important part of songwriting for me.” He goes back to a place of innocence in his songs, and the result is striking in its sweetness and its occasional bite.
 
When asked about influences, Mason mentions Fats Domino and Louis Armstrong, Haruki Murakami and Louise Erdrich, Johann Sebastian Bach. “I started making music because music saved my life when I was little—it was something I could go to and always have a feeling of connection, even when times were hard,” he says. “Above all else, I want to make sure I always remember that trying to give other people that sort of feeling is the major purpose behind what I’m doing.”

The LA Weekly calls Phoebe Bridgers “one of the most dynamic young artists in the local scene, whether playing bass in violently theatrical and totally badass grunge-punk group Sloppy Jane or softly strumming an acoustic guitar, her voice vulnerable as her cadence lilts and wades through words about the darkness within herself.” A graduate of the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts, she has been impressing audiences at clubs like the Troubadour and the Roxy. Tonight’s appearance will be her first at the Freight.

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