August 28, 2009
Kinds of Pain.
To begin with: Thanks everyone so much for coming out to the benefit show the other day. I've never had so much cause to reconsider my otherwise misanthropic relationship with humanity. Good show, and good show.
More importantly: Please visit the link above for unbelievable auctions, all set to benefit the Kris Jensen Memorial Fund. Auction includes huge gift baskets donated by Kill Rock Stars, Marriage Records, States Rights Records, Audio Dregs, and Parenthetical Girls, as well as an amazing volume of MEGA RARE test pressings from K Records, and arts and services from a wide array of Northwestern luminaries. You owe it to yourself to buy some of this stuff.
Other matters of consideration include the following:
* Parenthetical Girls will still be performing at Bumbershoot on Sunday, September 6th in Seattle. We are considering this our reunion show, as it has been some time since our last performance, and stands to be the final show Matt Carlson will likely play as an official member of Parenthetical Girls. Thank you, Matt, for all that you have brought to--and generously left with--this band. It will never be the same.
* I, Zac, have written music for and will be performing as part of an experimental theater piece entitled "The Dorothy K,"--written and directed by our good friends in the Seattle-based theater company Implied Violence--which will be premiering as part of the New isLand Festival on Governor's Island in NYC throughout the month of September. If you're rich, pretentious, and have a strong stomach, I suggest you join us.
* We just finished shooting footage for a new video. But the song's not altogether done yet. It's never really been said that the music comes first with us anyway, now has it?
* We've got some new things coming out relatively soon, though dates are still a little fuzzy. It's about time that we said something concrete about these matters, however.
#1: The Scottish Play: Wherein the Group Parenthetical Girls Pay Well-Intentioned (If Occasionally Misguided) Tribute to the Works of Ivor Cutler, as released by Tomlab (October?).
#2: A split seven-inch of Morrissey covers with our good friends Xiu Xiu, as released by beloved British powerhouse Upset The Rhythm.
#3: Something called Privilege. Stay Tuned.
* R.I.P., Ellie Greenwich.
All the news that fits,
Zac Pennington
Parenthetical Girls.
August 8, 2009
Kris Jensen Memorial Benefit
Please visit KRIS JENSEN MEMORIAL FUND for our AMAZING art and music auction! One-of-a-Kind P.Girls wares!
UPDATE:
Jensen Family Benefit featuring Built To Spill scheduled for Sept. 17th at Neurolux in Boise, ID!
On the evening of Sunday, August 2, four members of Rachael's immediate family were involved in a fatal car accident while traveling home from their annual family reunion. Her father and two brothers were rushed to an intensive care facility, and are now in the early stages of their recovery. Tragically, Rachael's mother Kris Jensen, passed away.
Rose-hued and grief-sick hyperbole aside, Kris Jensen was without hesitation one of the most impossibly kind, thoughtful, beautiful, faithful, and self-less people I have ever had the privilege to know. The joy and exuberance with which Kris Jensen greeted her life and those whom it touched was something that I could almost scarcely imagine, and something that will be sorely missed by the countless people Kris had an immediate impact upon. This is the worst thing imaginable.
Beyond grief however, there are some practical matters to attend to--and I'm happy to distract myself with the illusion that there is some progress to be made in a situation like this. The accident and its medical aftermath will leave the Jensen family with a tremendous financial burden--one that we hope to help relieve. With the help of the folks in YACHT and AU, I'm presently organizing what I hope proves to be a series of benefit concerts to assist the Jensen family with their financial strain. The first of these concerts will take place in Portland on August 25th at Holocene (thank you so much, Holocene!), and will feature Yacht, Au, Copy, and May Ling ($5-$15, sliding scale). The show will also feature an Art and Service Auction as organized by the extremely talented Sarah Meadows.
There is also a plan for a benefit at the Flying M in the Jensen clan's hometown of Nampa, ID--set to feature AU and Boise indie pop linchpin (and Rachael's brother's band) The Very Most--on the 29th of August. More benefits to come, I'm assured.
All proceeds from the shows and auction will benefit the Kris Jensen Memorial Fund, a trust organized to assist the surviving members of the Jensen family with the mounting financial strain of their medical care. For those unable to attend, contributions to the fund can also be made via Paypal by clicking on the following link:
All contributions are gratefully appreciated.
Thanks also to our good friends in Los Campesinos!--Kris' favorite band-- who have graciously offered to turn their August 21st performance at the El Rey Theater in Los Angeles into a benefit for the family.
On behalf of the Jensen family, thank you all so much for your assistance and support during this difficult time. It really means a lot to them.
gratefully yours,
Zac Pennington
Parenthetical Girls