Quotes and Reviews

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Fiddlefreak Review of Longing for Heaven

Hard on the heels of their previous release Jewell Ridge Coal, Jeni and Billy have just released another precious mountain jewel, a new collection of original and traditional music titled Longing for Heaven (Jewell Ridge Records 005).

On Longing for Heaven, Jeni and Billy have hit their stride. With its hand-drawn lettering, family photo album and quilt fabrics, the album packaging suggests what’s inside: ten down-home, honest songs that reflect Jeni’s family history in southwest Virginia. Their intertwining two-part harmonies and impeccable picking on guitar and banjo form the perfect backdrop for stories of love and longing, small-town tragedy and the redemption of Jesus. Walk with them, down a coal-littered railroad grade, with gritty union miners on strike, and into a tiny white chapel with a cross on its steeple. Jeni and Billy will take you on a gentle ride back to the green rolling hills of home.

The CD includes three music videos of songs from the record that add to the down-home mood that permeates Longing for Heaven. Shad Cobb contributes his lonesome fiddle on two tracks. Fiddlefreak recommended!

Stuart Mason
Review from Fiddlefreak.com

Jeni and Billy – Longing For Heaven (Jewell Ridge Records)

Last year at Beverley Folk Festival I fell in love.

Sitting in the Saturday afternoon American Party, whisky in hand, buddy by my side I witnessed the force (though force is a far too aggressive word for it) of Jeni Hankins and Billy Kemp (Jeni and Billy).

Jeni and Billy are a too-good-to-be-true duo from Virginia and Baltimore respectively. Except – squeak – they are true (I know because I followed them around for the rest of the afternoon muttering “pleasebereal, pleasebereal, pleasebereal” under my breath). During an afternoon of tongue-in-cheek old Americana from dear Curtis Eller and the amazing Gandalf Murphy, their authenticity shone through like a holy light.

Modest and funny, the duo had the crowd in the palm of their hand with their simple songs of love, poverty and mountain homes. Jeni Hankins has a voice that nobody would describe as perfect but soaked in Godliness and dripping with emotion and Billy is her perfect, unassuming accompaniment.

Their latest album – Longing For Heaven – plopping on my doormat this morning has given me more joy than I can express and if I seem hyperbolic it’s because That’s What They Do To You.

Featuring a number of traditional songs from the Appalachians, some hymns and a couple of original numbers, the record was made “in the mountains of Western North Carolina in the dead of winter.” It’s exactly what this fan needed after I’d bored my household rigid with their debut Sweet And Toxic.

It doesn’t disappoint, from the gorgeous 50s fabric-and-Americana CD artwork (by Jeni, naturally) to the saccharine essay on heaven at the end which, from anyone else would be unbearable but from her is just fine. “Heaven, I imagine,” she says, “will be full of people I love. Not only are there walls of jasper and streets of gold, as they promise in the old hymns, but everyone you ever loved will be waiting for you there.” Sniff.

The original tracks, such as the deliriously catchy If I Ever Get Ten Dollars and While I Stay At Home And Weep (replete with my new favourite word “prayhaps”) blend effortlessly with the traditional numbers (their arrangement of the hymn Longing For Heaven is just gorgeous), feeling like old favourites within about one listen.

This pair does what nostalgia fetishists try and fail at doing and they manage effortlessly simply because they are the real deal.

I have owned this album for less than a day and already I am willing to throw most of my others out (apart from the Springsteen, obviously).

Hazel Davis
FolkingCool.co.uk
Original review location

Jeni & Billy at the 2009 Fox Valley Festival

Jeni & Billy were not only a landmark success with the audience at the 33rd Annual Fox Valley Folk Music & Storytelling Festival, but also had nearly all our veteran performers and volunteers raving as well. I had many of or national & regional performers tell me that Jeni & Billy's music was their most exciting discovery in quite some time. In fact, this past Sunday I attended the WFMT / Midnight Special Folk Festival and Kathy Mattea was a feature performer. Kathy did a number of coal mining songs from her new CD project "Coal" and after the concert I complemented her on the songs and asked if she had met & heard Jeni & Billy. To my surprise she had, and raved about their music & them personally. I believe she said they had crossed paths with them at Folk Alliance & maybe other Festival gigs.

When the Fox Valley performers and audience repeatedly asked me "Where did you find them??" I had to tell them my introduction to their music was a generous gift from my friend Josh. We were working out details for Peggy Seeger at the Festival and Josh sent me a copy of Jeni & Billy's "Jewel Ridge Coal" CD with a note saying "I think you might like what they do." I've always had a deep respect for the "Folk Roots" integrity that Josh has always shown in the choice of artists he represents so even though I was busy & had never heard of them I listened to the CD. I was blown away! I virtually never hire anyone I don't know or at least have seen perform live, but I was so taken with their writing, performance and their strong Appalachian roots style I couldn't let it pass. I email surveyed many of my trusted Friends in the Southeast to find folks who had seen or worked with Jeni & Billy, and I received several unqualified "Go for it!" votes. I'm glad I did!!

Thanks Josh & Jeni & Billy

Juel Ulven
The Fox Valley Folklore Society

Jeni & Billy - Jewell Ridge Coal

As someone with a very limited knowledge of folk music, I found Jeni & Billy’s second album Jewell Ridge Coal to be like Billy Elliot meets the Mamas and the Papas meets Dolly Parton. A little bit bluegrass, a little bit folk, and all original, the music feels simultaneously familiar and completely new.

Acoustic duo Jeni Hankins and Billy Kemp’s unique sound is not only easy to listen to, it creates an atmosphere. Jeni’s roots, born in the coalfields of Southwest Virginia, must have more than a little something to do with their choice of subject matter for the album: the Southwest Virginia coal mining community of Jewell Ridge.

Each track tells its own aspect of the story of this town. Opening with the miner’s tale on track one and covering everything from a union’s anthem, to a drug addict’s tragedy, to marital woes, we see all sides of life in a far-off place. My favorite song, not surprisingly, is the title track. It typifies their sound and is the best use of instrumentation in story telling on the album. Most importantly, it demonstrates how effectively Jeni and Billy’s voices compliment each other.

Theoretically, if you heard Jeni and Billy sing separately you would probably not assume their voices would mesh well but in fact it is the intermingling of their vocals that makes this album for me. Each exemplifying somewhat stereotypical folk tones, their combination creates this powerful and unique flavor, and they sound so natural together, it feels calming and clear. Its as if you were there sitting on a back porch in old-timey South and they were right there with you and just stumbled upon some instruments.

Taking the trip down South with Jeni and Billy to a time gone by is well worth the journey, and I am quite sure you will not only learn a little about Jewell Ridge but also about yourself.

Nicole Levitz. Feminist Review, March 2009

Discovery of the month (or maybe the year) is Jeni & Billy, whose release Jewell Ridge Coal arrived a few days ago. I finally got it in the player yesterday, and have been totally captivated by it. The songs are great and Jeni’s voice makes the hairs stand up on my neck — a pure mountain voice that is beautiful."

Mike Kelsey, WFHB Community Radio, Bloomington, IN

Jeni and Billy's visit to my graduate class on ballads, followed by their wonderful concert later that evening, was a highlight of the summer. Their combination of enormous musical talent with an obvious delight in literary discussion makes them especially effective within such an educational setting.

John Elder, faculty member, the Bread Loaf School of English, Asheville campus. August, 2008

"Jeni & Billy provide acoustic music lovingly dressed with graceful phrasing and old-time charm. It’s soothing, relaxing, heartfelt and richly steeped in the traditions of old-time country and bluegrass. Better yet, it provides many great stories of a “Miner’s Reward” and a “Tazewell Beauty Queen.”

Joe Tennis, Bristol Herlad Courier

Like the old language of ballads, Jeni and Billy share a special language between them. Jeni’s voice is so alive – carrying babies and earth and thunderstorms in her voice – I’ve never seen someone embody a song like she does. It looks like the music is coursing through her blood, it is her life, her ancestry, her movements and this creates an authentic, powerful voice. It’s very powerful when Billy harmonizes with her, like a shadow on the mountain. I like how his hands hang on the notes, letting go of strings, like a drop of water on the underside of a leaf, like an angel jumping from cloud to cloud.

The story of Jeni & Billy's music reflects a deep connection with a sense of home, place, family . . . I want to hold my breath while I listen to them sing, so that I don’t disturb the sacred magic of their harmony. They both sit hunched over their guitars, cradling them, leaning into the music like holding a baby or a cup of tea. It’s fun to watch two people play with words, with music, and truly have fun and enjoy the process. Jeni is all smiles and cheekbones, and a little yelp of glee and joy. You can tell that hearing Billy sing and play brings her great joy. Watching them perform together is pure bliss.

Jan Wellik, San Diego Critic

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