jesse lenat

Meditative, introspective, melancholy,outraged, joyous and foot stomping: Jesse Lenat is, at heart, an observer and learner. With subjects ranging from his fellow man, to discarded furniture, to the birds in the sky, he seeks to understand the world through observance and personal interaction with things usual and quite unusual. Through his music, Jesse reflects on these experiences, while placing them in a format in which they can be shared. Though his perspective is fresh, his themes are universal. The commentary is always wrapped in a musical package that is appealing and, comfortingly familiar. See for yourself.
For the past ten years he has made his living acting on the stages of New York and across the country at some of the finest regional theatres as well as for film and television. Most recently jesse had the opportunity to collaborate on a musical with john mellancamp and stephen king. Other stage highlights include the hit musical "rent," the acclaimed off Broadway musical, "Floyd Collins" in which Jesse is featured on the cast recording singing the ballad of Floyd Collins (Elektra/Nonesuch), pulitzer prize winner susan lori-park's "Fucking A" with Mos Def, and a new working of Sam Shepherd’s "Tooth Of Crime". For this production, Shepherd teamed up with Grammy winning producer T-bone Burnett, who wrote the music. During rehearsals, Burnett and Lenat stuck up a friendship. When T-bone heard parts of many unfinished songs (that Jesse had been accumulating) he told Jesse that he had "some good stuff there, and now you just have to finish them‌" That, for the past 5 years, is exactly what he has been doing. "Field Recordings" was his first self released solo accoustic album. All material for this (self produced & recorded) release was captured live on a digital mini disc recorder in natural environments on his travels through New York, California, and Texas. For the past three years jesse has made his home in new york city where he has put together a kick ass band and has begun to play regularly in the area. there music lives in the world of wilco, bob dylan, david gray, jeff buckley, emmy lou, and steve earl with definite nods to woody guthrie, hank williams, ac-dc,and johnny cash.