The Garment District is the music project of multi-instrumentalist Jennifer Baron, founding member of the Brooklyn band The Ladybug Transistor. Jennifer reached out to me about a new single, “Left on Coast,” from an upcoming album from the band called Flowers Telegraphed to All Parts of The World, which is due out via Happy Birthday to Me Records on September 22, 2023.
Writing about Jennifer and The Garment District is a bit difficult because her project encompasses so much. She’s an accomplished musician, and she’s far from the only one who is playing on the new single and album. Jennifer’s first cousin, Lucy Blehar, also supplies lead vocals, and numerous other musicians from Jennifer’s tight-knit circle contribute.
Flowers Telegraphed to All Parts of The World was recorded in a friend’s home studio in Western Pennsylvania during the pandemic. Jennifer plays multiple instruments on the album, and it’s interesting to note that her family’s musical roots in Western PA stretch back quite some time. Her great-grandfather immigrated to the area from Zagreb and formed a family band with her grandfather, great-aunt, and great-uncles, who performed in steel towns. Jennifer continues her family’s music-making legacy by working with her cousin Lucy in The Garment District.
I can include much more information about the upcoming album, but I’ll save that for a review I plan to do closer to the release date. In the meantime, check out the new single “Left on Coast,” which also features a fun music video. “Left on Coast” has a radio-friendly sound that should immediately appeal to many listeners, but it’s not bubble-gum pop. The song is nearly five minutes long and has plenty of textures reminiscent of a bygone era of psychedelic music.
The keyboards are very noticeable on “Left on Coast,” along with the beautiful, ethereal vocals that call to us through the haze. The song is catchy but not simple – it veers and loops, feeling mysterious and never pretentious. Perhaps Jennifer and her band are channeling the spirits of her ancestors who played venues throughout Western PA in the past.
Jennifer Baron wrote the music and lyrics for the song and plays guitar, electric piano, organ, and tambourine, and provides backing vocals. Lucy Blehar is on lead vocals, Corry Drake is on bass, Sean Finn plays drums, and Greg Langel provides the outro guitar.
“Lyrically, the song ‘Left on Coast’ is loosely inspired by my love and admiration for the visionary photojournalism and creative process (including his love for jazz music and obsessive drive toward documentation) of W. Eugene Smith (1918-1978), who worked on colossal projects in Pittsburgh and New York City, two cities that play major roles in my life,” Jennifer told me. “The song started as a demo I recorded at home with layered electric guitar parts and a drum machine.”
Jennifer said she’s inspired by the wide range of analog instruments she has collected. For example, “Left On Coast” features a 1967 Vox Super Continental Organ, Wurlitzer electric piano, Fender Vibrolux Reverb guitar amp, Rickenbacker 360, Epiphone Dot, and more.
“One of the things that helped me achieve the fuzz guitar sounds I was seeking for this song are the 1960s and early 1970s guitar pedals I borrowed from my friend Gregg Kostelich of the iconic Pittsburgh garage band, The Cynics, who runs Get Hip Records,” Jennifer said.
Jennifer told me another extremely rewarding aspect of creating the song was working with her cousin, Lucy, who provides the lead vocals. Jennifer’s always been drawn to the concept of family bands, as she plays in The Ladybug Transistor with her brother, Jeff, and what can happen between close relatives who collaborate on creative endeavors.
“For the two of us, we are able to sing backups and harmonies and double certain lines together,” Jennifer said, referring to Lucy. “Since we have a very close bond, a very organic and natural way of working in the studio, and love collaborating in that setting, when a song calls for it, we can expand melodies and harmonies that I write in advance on keyboards when making demos.”
Jennifer also provided the lyrics to “Left On Coast.” Here they are:
The Flower District wakes at dawn
Musicians stumble out of the loft
Into the streets to find sleep
Long shadows of November are here
Casting their doubt on neon marquees
Stood at the window fixing his lens
Clutching a camera through the haze
He saw death in the automat
He put his finger in the slot
I’m recording the radio when you leave
I’m recording underneath the stairs
I’m recording my life
You just happen to be in it
You’re sending radio telegrams
So you can hear your name on air
I’m recording the radio when you leave
I’m recording underneath the stairs
I’m recording my life
You just happen to be in it
“Left on Coast” is fun, playful, and it feels vintage but still forward-looking. I’ve been listening to The Garment DIstrict’s album from 2014 If You Take Your Magic Slow, and I’ve been very impressed. Jennifer is clearly a talented musical mind and a creative full of the joy of art-making. Check out The Garment District wherever you listen to music, and consider pre-ordering the new album on Bandcamp if you like what you hear.
Pre-order Flowers Telegraphed to All Parts of The World by The Garment District here. Support The Garment District by finding them on Bandcamp, their linktree, or social media (Instagram, Facebook).
Parting words: “My imagination makes me human and makes me a fool; it gives me all the world and exiles me from it.” – Ursula K. Le Guin
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