The Key Studio Sessions: Dylan Jane

In a way, Northeast Pennsylvania native Dylan Jane is making her second go as a songwriter. She grew up playing guitar and listening to records from a range of eras: Bright Eyes all the way back to Carole King. But then schooling led her to teaching, and her songwriting was temporarily put on the shelf until about 2012. “My guitar was getting dusty,” she explains. And she didn’t like that. First came her debut LP: Paint, Clay and other Mediums, recorded in Dupont, Pennsylvania (a small town between Wilkes-Barre and Scranton). She followed it up in fall of 2013 with Songbook Chapter One. As her music began to make its way out of NEPA and Dylan began performing in both Philadelphia and New York, she released her most polished outing to date, last year’s From an Island. With a captivating voice that’s soft and soulful, and a pen that writes story-songs exploring all realms of the human experience – love, betrayal, death, and more – her music instantly hooks you in. This Key Studio Session she recorded with us in early January will do the same.

Joining her in the studio is her Philadelphia band – Phil D’Agostino on bass, Brad Hinton on guitar and Matt Muir on drums. The arrangements are particularly affecting, especially on the understated “Finders Keepers” and the existential anthem “Land and Sea” – which could be Jane’s answer to Bright Eyes’ “Let’s Not Shit Ourselves (To Love and Be Loved).” And while the arrangements put this session over the edge, it’s the songs that make it a winner; exemplified on the untitled opener Jane plays solo acoustic. Listen to the session below, download it for free at Soundcloud and see Dylan Jane and the band live on January 16th at Bourbon and Branch. Tickets and information on the show can be found at the XPN Concert Calendar.