Jeanette Stewart, who performs as Jean Boots, said songwriting seems to come rather freely to her."I could probably make about four more EP's right now if I had enough money to either buy some recording equipment or pay someone to record me," said Stewart who will be part of a songwriters' circle and performance at 5th Avenue Cup & Saucer in Yorkton tonight. "I began writing songs under my current incarnation as a musician in 2008. There are plenty more songs. They never stop coming out. It's almost a problem, as I don't ever really have the time to fully develop the ideas or capture the material I'm writing. The catalogue of songs has resulted in a debut EP recording for Stewart as Jean Boots.
"This EP was recorded with Orion Paradis at Soul Sound Studios in Regina," she said. "I got on the bus from Saskatoon with an acoustic guitar and went straight to his studio. We recorded five of the six tracks. The fifth, 'Postcard' was recorded in Vancouver, BC above a tofu factory with a recording engineer who has since relocated to Oklahoma. Carl Johnson of the Library Voices heard the track we made and booked the time with Orion. Carl has been a great friend to me as I've tried to sort this music thing out. I'm lucky to have friends in some Saskatchewan bands I admire and that are accomplishing many things with their music."
In terms of her style, Stewart said she struggles to define it herself.
"The latter is a bit of a difficult question," she said. "I play in a few different projects which range from folk rock to dance music. My solo performances change between the inevitable singer-songwriter-acoustic-guitar stuff to full-on punk rock with a band. I like to play electric guitar with a lot of reverb on the guitar and vocals.
"An artist named Best Coast just became internationally popular this year - people compare me to her. The best compliment I ever got was that my band sounded like Sonic Youth."
Stewart's personal influences are certainly diverse as well.
"My number one musical influence would have to be Neil Young - he's influenced everyone in Canada I think, either unconsciously or consciously," she said. "Every single busker in this city plays Keep On Rockin'. I was in the mall yesterday and Neil Young was playing. He's ubiquitous and still making great albums.
"Along with Neil I'd say I'm influenced heavily by the entire, incredible Canadian indie rock scene, Stevie Nicks, Sonic Youth and the bands that came out of the Halifax Pop Explosion of the 1990s. I wouldn't be playing music in front of people if I hadn't seen Julie Doiron perform."
Stewart's music has also developed through most of her life.
"My mom put me in piano lessons when I was three-years-old," he said.
"When I was in eighth grade I picked up my dad's Yamaha acoustic and began learning chords. I started playing guitar because I couldn't put the piano in my bedroom and I wanted to accompany myself singing for hours and hours.
"I started performing musical theatre somewhere in between those years, probably about fourth grade, and sang and played piano in local music festivals. Music was a huge part of my life throughout my school years and I thought about becoming a piano teacher.
"In grade nine I got a bass guitar and my friends and I made a garage band. It was literally in my family's garage. I also did the typical singer-songwriter girl thing throughout high school. People recommended Canadian Idol to me a lot. I tried and never got in, but the drummer in that garage band did and I saw what that experience is really like. I'd rather do whatever I want to even if it never gets me the same level of notoriety or recognition."
For a time Stewart actually turned away from music, but her true passion finally won out."Somewhere in between high school and now I went to university and became a journalist," she said. "In between my internship and last year of university I went on tour with a band called Slow Down, Molasses and realized it's possible to play music on any level, whether or not you are famous or turning a profit at it."
Then a journalism career door opened, and Stewart took it.
"Later on when I was working for CBC Radio I realized I actually needed to play music to exist. I'd be completely crazy if I wasn't doing this now," she said. "I had basically been starving my creative side into non-existence and it all bottled up inside of me for four years until it started to bubble out uncontrollably. I'd be in the broadcast booth and singing into the microphone instead of voicing my script clips, so I took off to the west coast and decided to play music. That trip only lasted for a month - I spent the entire time learning Bruce Springsteen covers and didn't make any music friends - and I came back to Saskatoon and unsuccessfully tried to be a waitress/musician. That didn't work and my current editor intervened and gave me a job freelancing at the newspaper."
Stewart said while she may love performing music, it's not the best career to pay bills by."I think it's difficult to be a full-time musician in this province unless you live off grants or tour constantly. I make a living writing full-time for The StarPhoenix. I'm lucky to be able to have both outlets, and my employers are incredibly supportive of my musical pursuits," she said. "I don't want to leave because of the great friends and support I have here, but there is always that question of whether a bigger city could make for a bigger career."
That said Stewart said she is creating some amazing memories with her music.
"A major highlight was opening for Buffy Sainte-Marie this summer at the Gateway Festival in Bengough, SK. She was incredibly kind to me, and said 'keep singing girl' after I got off stage," said Stewart. "The festival was an amazing experience. I got to perform alongside Elliott Brood, one of my favourite Canadian bands. I'd seen them numerous times before the festival and it was so mind-blowing being at the same event.
"Carol Cairns, the artistic director of the festival, is really a genius and recognizes the potential for a small community like Bengough to be revived through arts and culture. I think that's part of why I'm doing this Saskatchewan tour.
"I played with Belle Plaine at the festival, and to me the idea of traveling to communities like Yorkton (with Belle Plaine) is incredibly exciting. Maybe people won't like what I do because it's not what's on the radio, but maybe it will make other people realize that music is in everyone and you can create and be part of a scene anywhere you are.
"In Bruno - where we play on this tour - the mayor's husband opens concerts with accordion solos. Bruno has become known by musicians across the country based on the work that artist Tyler Brett has done in hosting shows and events in the community. Everyone wants to play there."
As for her recording, Stewart said it is a different process for her.
"Recording is much different than performing," she said. "The more musicians you have the more expensive it is to record. I haven't been able to get my full-band thing down to tape yet. I think when we do that it will be quite exciting. A great record is really the way to get yourself out there and to travel places to play music. If you make a good recording and people hear it online or something, they will come to your show."
And Stewart said given the fact it was her first effort, the EP is a solid calling card of what she does musically.
"I'm happy with the work Orion did with me," she said. "I've had lots of positive feedback. It's my first release, and honestly it's a very simple thing."
