A live session + interview with the artist in celebration of her debut solo album ‘The Agonist’

———————————————————————————————

Let us begin with a big YEEHAW!

Back in September during AMERICANAFEST, I had the amazing opportunity to bounce down to Nashville to reunite with Bdbk BFFs I Know We Should and host a series of live sessions at the matriarch-powered honky-tonk heaven that is Dee’s Country Cocktail Lounge.

Over two days, I had my T.J. Maxx cowboy boots blown off by talent from across the country, and the fun kicked off on Thursday afternoon at about brunchtime with our first of seven acts, Leslie Jordan.

After an eight-year run in Grammy-nominated Christian worship duo All Sons & Daughters, Leslie made the choice to hard-pivot away from that world and released her solo debut The Agonist—her first foray into folk/Americana—back in April.

While I’m a firm believer that every song has a story, the inspiration for Leslie’s album is especially unique. For The Agonist, Leslie didn’t just draw upon her own emotions and experiences. Instead, it was the unearthed words of her estranged grandfather that she worked with. Taking the poems and journals passed down to her and her mother after his death, she took a journey into the head and heart of a man who was previously a mystery, immersing herself in his hopes, dreams, regrets and recollections and then spinning them into art of her own.

In the video above, Leslie plays three songs from the The Agonist (“Athensville”; “Love Me for a Little While”; “Sometimes, Sylvia”) and talks about the intimate, revelatory and redemptive nature of this project—how writing this album helped her understand and appreciate the complexities of the grandfather she never knew, discovering more about her family, and herself, along the way.

———————————————————————————————

Follow Leslie Jordan at @lesliejordanmusic and add the music to your Spotify playlists!

Follow I Know We Should at @iknowweshould and subcribe on YouTube.

Credits: Brad Wagner – Video // Juan M Soria – Audio // Jamie Robertson – Lighting // Anna Lindqvist – Production Assistant // Arieh Samson – Production Assistant