Kaiti Jones
- Folk
- Singer/Songwriter
Kaiti Jones writes songs to make sense of the world, as potent storytellers do. Her songs are a garden that she tends to, rooted in existential angst or failed romances that grow into retrospective anecdotes, sometimes evolving over months or even years. “I often write or finish songs years later, when I’m able to look back with a new perspective and less pain,” she explains. Jones’s sophomore album Tossed, following 2017’s folk-leaning Vows, furthers this practice of introspection and lucid insight. It’s allowed her to confront daunting questions, and as a result, shines a guiding light for anyone who listens.
Jones has immersed herself in music since she was a small child and her curiosity and hunger led her to study the violin, viola, piano, guitar, french horn, and cello. An avid reader and writer, she turned to songwriting when she found out her mom peeked into her diary. “I started writing songs as a way to basically bare my soul, but with the cover of ‘well, you don’t know if this is really about me.’ Since middle school, writing songs has been a way for me to be honest and confessional and also ask questions, on both sides, that might be more difficult to do in person,” she says. “Songwriting has always been my safe space.”
Community and music were significant aspects of her life growing up. Her parents met at a Christian hippie commune in the ‘60s, and growing up, Jones’s house was always welcome to those in need. After studying philosophy and writing in college, she moved to Cambridge to do service work as an AmeriCorps volunteer. She completed her masters at Boston College in social work and now works in community engagement and youth development. Although her writing wrestles with her own quandaries, service and empowering her community are also integral to Jones’ core. Both music and service, at their center, value communication and connection, so it’s no surprise that these two vocations are equally important to her. One is a vessel to vocalize her own story, while the other is a tangible way of connecting and uplifting others.
Jones jokes that her songwriting process is lazy, but it’s perhaps best described by the words of one of her favorite philosophers, Danish theologian Søren Kierkegaard: “Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.” Her ability to save bits of songs for years until they manifest in their finished form demonstrates a steadfastness to her inspired instincts. Sometimes it comes in a flash while driving or right before a show in the green room, while others might take years. “For [album opener] ‘Light On,’ I wrote the chorus like nine years ago. And ‘I Was Wondering,’ I wrote that chorus three years ago. I really liked the choruses but I felt I didn’t have a story to tell at the time, so I sat on those lyrics for years thinking, ‘Someday, you will get to be fleshed out and listened to.’”
Jones doesn’t force an intention with her songs. “I’ve never wanted to have any sort of agenda with my music,” she says. “I’ve always just wanted to ask the questions that I was asking in my life, sing words that felt true to me.” Which, in turn, is why her music feels refreshingly unhurried.
Tossed is a collection of songs from a variety of years in Jones’s life. It was recorded between December 2019-May 2020, primarily in Watertown, Massachusetts at the home studio of Future Teens’ Daniel Radin, who produced and engineered the album. Everything was nearly finished and then the world shut down. After adding the finishing touches during quarantine, the outcome is a sublime bridge of folk and indie rock: blending the same grace and gentleness exhibited by Julia Jacklin with tender, hearty melodies akin to Sharon Van Etten. Pedal steel whirls around Jones’s silvery voice while reeling guitars come to her aid amidst thorny woes.
