Jayne Sachs

Jayne Sachs is back and the regional music scene is better for it. The Dayton-Ohio-based singer-songwriter has released an elegantly written and produced CD "Sutures," her first in four years, ending a drought in which she confesses to a touch of writer's block and experiencing the joys of motherhood.

As is often the case with "comebacks," artists usually say, "Well, I haven't really been away." Indeed, Sachs has always kept a presence on the Dayton scene, but has rarely played in Cincinnati the last few years. She admits to having been distracted the last four years giving birth to two daughters. (Actually, one daughter and one son. -J.S.)

"I never really hung it up. I just wasn't doing as many shows," she said. "There was a lot of writer's block from the whole (child rearing) experience and everything that goes along with that."

When Sachs did start writing again, it just came out and, as she says, "It felt good."

The result is an album full of her well written, trademark relationship songs. There is a wonderful range of moods in which she swings from sassy, sexy and self-assured to vulnerable. There is the quirky, the serious and the sultry from a singer who has a gift for sounding both breathy and dynamic.

While it is a personal record, Sachs, perhaps refreshingly, resists overtly writing about her most personal inspiration, her children. Her lyrical fodder is still rooted in the tangled relationships adults weave, and that's why she has again produced an accessible, mature adult rock album.

"My youngest just turned 3 and I found I am not inspired to write about that part of my life," Sachs said. "My kids bring me more joy than anything, but that's not where I write from."

Sachs came on the scene in the mid-'90s with three CDs getting plenty of accolades. It was a time when the women-in-rock scene was blossoming and Sachs seemed to be the next big thing to emerge. It didn't happen, at least in terms of a national record deal. But Sachs said she has no regrets.

"I got a lot of radio play, good national press. The music got into a lot of hands and I had some good supporters. But, no, I didn't get signed and nothing major happened. But it was all real positive."

With her new album, recorded in Nashville, her secret fear seems to be that long-time fans may think she is not rockin' out as hard. Known for great live performances with her band, Sachs wants folks to know the album is "a softer version of the band. We are hearing a lot of comments that there is an energy and rawness live that didn't come out in the album." - by Rick Bird, Cincinnati Post TimeOut, 4-7-05

When Jayne Sachs first appeared on the Dayton music scene, she became a much-talked about artist almost immediately, her infectious Pop songwriting leading many to speculate she'd be just a local treasure for not much longer. While the accolades and awards for her songwriting and self-released albums kept coming, the wide national acclaim never materialized. Their loss, our area's gain. Her fourth release, Sutures, is her first in four years and undoubtedly her best. The time gap between releases was a result of writer's block (and Sachs starting a family), but the block was blasted through in a big way. There's an intangible sparkle that pervades the songs on Sutures, a combination of Sachs' flawless voice, her band's versatile chops and those smart, sassy songs that ring with many layers of melodic splendor. Recorded in Nashville with producer "Lij" (who also worked on her last effort, 2000's Velveteen Girl), the album is sonically major-label quality, which can ruin some records but gives Sachs' material the richness it deserves. Highlights on the disc include the stirring piano-based ballad "When It's Dark," the quirky "Twisted Ballerina" and "Occupy Your Mind," which has the airy rumble of Joshua Tree-era U2. There are also plenty of radio-ready Pop nuggets, including the bouncy "40 Days" and "Push Your Pull," which is begging to be used on some UPN/WB teen drama. Accessible but rarely predictable, Sutures is a mature Pop album that proves that "maturity" doesn't have to be alienating or boring. Grade: B - by Mike Breen, Cincinnati CityBeat, 4-6-05

"I went into the CD totally dry," local songwriter Jayne Sachs said recently, sitting in Oregon Emporium on a blustery February morning. Between sips from her large cup of coffee she discussed the severe case of writer's block she endured before recording her excellent new album, Sutures.

"I'd never experienced that type of dry spell before, and I thought it was over." Sachs said. "I was devastated. I didn't think I had any more songs in me or anything to say. I was writing, but I wasn't happy with how it was turning out."

She credits bass player Scott Shiverdecker with providing the key to moving through the blockage.

"I was worker on an older song, 'Occupy Your Mind', and he suggested I try to sing the hook at the beginning," Sachs said. "It was such a simple idea, but something happened that changed everything and got me out of my writer's block. I don't know why, but it did, and it was a really important transition."

The majority of the material on Sutures, Sachs' fourth full-length album, was written after this in a wave of creativity, and the results are amazing. "Fragile (Drops of Anesthesia)", "Twisted Ballerina", "When It's Dark" and other cuts are powerful and self-assured, betraying no signs of their painful beginnings.

Sachs' captivating power-pop songs received an added emotional boost from Nashville-based producer Lij, who provided lush but subtle arrangements.

"Lij is a very hands-on producer." Sachs said. The guys had a hard time seeing where everything was going. But now they've all said that Lij had this vision they couldn't quite see, but they are so happy with how it turned out."

"I'm just happy to write again and to be able to perform," Sachs said. "That's really what drives me. The writing, the performing and recording are all really important to me, and if I didn't have one of those things in the equation, I don't think I would do it.

"I wish I was one of those people who is happy just to write, but when I write a song I always visualize performing it," she continued. "When I perform it, I visualize being in the studio with it. If one of those elements was missing I don't think it would be enough for me to continue." - Rock Insider by Don Thrasher, Dayton Daily News, 2-25-05

One can't help but be inspired when talking to Dayton's veteran singer/songwriter Jayne Sachs. On Sutures, her fourth record to date, she exposes herself through 11 hope-filled tracks layered in intelligence and beauty. Referred to as the "queen of indie pop" by her fans, Sachs lives up to the hype and delivers a mature and extremely personal record that current fans will embrace and new fans will love.

"The title, Sutures, means mending what was to what could be, and I think that sums up the record for me," Sachs said.

12 years ago, Sachs was a 97X-posure winner and labeled "The Best Unsigned Band" in the country by Virtually Alternative magazine. Sachs has come a long way since then in both her songwriting and her life.

"This album was the first time ever I thought to congratulate myself for making it through things that I have gone through and making it to where I am today," Sachs explained.

This theme of self-praise and hope is most evident in the record's finale, "Celebrate Yourself." This is a slow, acoustic-driven pop song with an ear-pleasing melody and smart, open-ended lyrics such as, "Lay your head down on your ashes."

"'Celebrate Yourself' was the last song I wrote for the record," she explained. "The ashes refer to the hard times in our lives and how they have shaped us and made us who we are."

With a big heart and an honest pen, Sachs tells stories of triumph such as in the song, "Give Me Your Eyes," a dynamic song about Johnnie Wilder, Jr. (formerly of the 1970s/80s band Heatwave) and his life after a car accident left him paralyzed.

"I met Johnnie and was just really taken back by him as a person," she recalled. "'Give Me Your Eyes' was written after watching Johnnie and his wife together and is about being in a relationship with a quadriplegic and how they can still complement you and give you what you need, just in other ways."

"Give Me Your Eyes" is an emotionally uplifting highlight on the record. It begins with a finger-picked guitar and synth accompanied by Sachs' soft-spoken voice floating from speaker to speaker, singing "Give me your eyes/ I won't blink."

The album explores other areas of relationships and change. On the title track, a catchy, upbeat, perfect pop song, Sachs proclaims that, "When two hearts combine for so long you can't leave without leaving some."

"'Sutures' was like the first hopeful relationship song I have ever written and really says a lot about how my writing has changed over time," she said.

After the release of her last CD, 2000's Velveteen Girl, Sachs experienced every artist's worst nightmare, writer's block. She thought she might've been done with music altogether until she wrote the beautiful piano ballad, "When It's Dark," about how in showbiz the word 'dark' means a night where there isn't a show. Her inspiration returned and a flood of songs came as a result.

"Writer's block doesn't mean the artist isn't writing, it just means the artist thinks everything he or she is writing sucks," Sachs said.

A mother of two, Sachs had to really work to find time to write for the record, doing most of it late at night, locked in her closet so she wouldn't wake up her kids, or humming lyrics and melodies at the playground while pushing swings.

"Being a parent and a musician is a challenge because they really conflict with each other," she said. "I really try to find a middle ground."

Sutures will be released on Friday, February 25, at Canal Street Tavern, during which Sachs will be joined by her backing band, Steve Van Etten (guitar), Scott Shiverdecker (bass), and Kelly Morelock (drums). The band has been with Sachs for more than a decade and joined her in Nashville to record Sutures.

"I love my guys," she said. "And we just have such a great understanding with each other." - By Kris Neises, Dayton CityPaper, February 23, 2005

Veteran musician, singer and songwriter Jayne Sachs and her band have produced quality alternative pop/rock music since the 1990s with respect for originality and freedom of expression.

"Other musicians have told me that I tend to break 'music rules' with my writing. I don't know the rules to begin with, so I'm not aware of breaking them," Sachs said. "But every single bandmate I've ever had has said the same thing. It's now been dubbed the 'Jayne thing.' I'll take it. Also, if longevity counts as 'special', we've been together for almost nine years. It's almost unheard of for bandmates to want to play together for so long, especially in support of a singer/songwriter. But Scott, Steve, Kelly and I have a special and important connection, which I think translates to our stage dynamic. It's natural."

Over the years and after performing countless live concerts, Sachs has found music to be her steady, solid foundation in life.

"With every chunk of my life, music has played the leading role in shaping and molding that time period," she said. "Something as quick as a smell or a taste of something can trigger a memory. Music calls up the very emotion of the memory, however bitter or sweet. To me there is nothing like the physical reaction that music creates, even if it feels like a kick in the gut..."

When questioned about the issue of Sachs performing as one of the only long-running female musicians in the Dayton area, she attributed it to musical dedication rather than anything else.

"I never look at it from female eyes only," she said. "As far as my band is concerned, I just consider myself to be one of the guys, or maybe I consider my bandmates to be one of the girls. Yeah, that's better. I don't think any of them have a problem with a female leading the project and fronting the band. There are no negative egos here. Plus, we've achieved a lot of good things, which I think only strengthens the bond and band."

"The thought of living without writing, performing and recording is almost unbearable," she added. "Not to sound dramatic, but I would deeply grieve without this personal relationship to music. A certain something would die inside." - By Leslie Benson, Dayton City Paper

Jayne Sachs is back and the regional music scene is better for it. The Dayton-Ohio-based singer-songwriter has released an elegantly written and produced CD "Sutures," her first in four years, ending a drought in which she confesses to a touch of writer's block and experiencing the joys of motherhood.

As is often the case with "comebacks," artists usually say, "Well, I haven't really been away." Indeed, Sachs has always kept a presence on the Dayton scene, but has rarely played in Cincinnati the last few years. She admits to having been distracted the last four years giving birth to two daughters. (Actually, one daughter and one son. -J.S.)

"I never really hung it up. I just wasn't doing as many shows," she said. "There was a lot of writer's block from the whole (child rearing) experience and everything that goes along with that."

When Sachs did start writing again, it just came out and, as she says, "It felt good."

The result is an album full of her well written, trademark relationship songs. There is a wonderful range of moods in which she swings from sassy, sexy and self-assured to vulnerable. There is the quirky, the serious and the sultry from a singer who has a gift for sounding both breathy and dynamic.

While it is a personal record, Sachs, perhaps refreshingly, resists overtly writing about her most personal inspiration, her children. Her lyrical fodder is still rooted in the tangled relationships adults weave, and that's why she has again produced an accessible, mature adult rock album.

"My youngest just turned 3 and I found I am not inspired to write about that part of my life," Sachs said. "My kids bring me more joy than anything, but that's not where I write from."

Sachs came on the scene in the mid-'90s with three CDs getting plenty of accolades. It was a time when the women-in-rock scene was blossoming and Sachs seemed to be the next big thing to emerge. It didn't happen, at least in terms of a national record deal. But Sachs said she has no regrets.

"I got a lot of radio play, good national press. The music got into a lot of hands and I had some good supporters. But, no, I didn't get signed and nothing major happened. But it was all real positive."

With her new album, recorded in Nashville, her secret fear seems to be that long-time fans may think she is not rockin' out as hard. Known for great live performances with her band, Sachs wants folks to know the album is "a softer version of the band. We are hearing a lot of comments that there is an energy and rawness live that didn't come out in the album." - by Rick Bird, Cincinnati Post TimeOut, 4-7-05