A deep sense of warmth and comfort permeates Far Gone Lullabies, the fourth album by Canadian singer-songwriter Jessica Rhaye. The stunning collection showcases Jessica’s soaring, winsome vocals, as well as her versatile songwriting, including co-writes with Canadian indie staples such as Ron Sexsmith and Royal Wood. Confident, yet relaxed, Far Gone Lullabies is the work of an artist who has come into her own. Its nine tracks display a playful range, from the folk-singer/songwriter influenced opener It is All Right, to the closing cover of Four Strong Winds, Jessica’s bright, driving take on the Canadian songbook staple. Folk-flavored, with threads of pop woven through, Far Gone Lullabies is Jessica’s third album produced and engineered by the award-winning duo of Ed Woodsworth and Jamie Foulds. It follows up her multi-award nominated Good Things (2010) and her sophomore Short Stories (2006), which saw her nominated for a Canadian Folk Music Award for Contemporary Singer of the Year. In a career that has spanned more than a decade, Jessica has played three continents, performing for everyone from Prince Charles to music-industry royalty as a Folk Alliance Official Showcase Artist in Memphis in 2010. That same year she graced the Atlantic Canada House Stage at the Vancouver Winter Olympics, and the East Coast Music Awards Concert Series in Sydney, N.S. Her list of nominations runs long and deep, including a Canadian Folk Music Award and multiple East Coast Music Awards. She has won numerous Music New Brunswick Awards, and made the Canadian Music Week National Songwriting Finals in Toronto, as well the shortlist for several other Canadian and international songwriting competitions, including, the John Lennon Songwriting Contest. Jessica has taken her music far from home, singing in Niger, Africa, at the Francophonie Games, and touring the U.K. with Matt Andersen and Dave Gunning. A versatile live performer, she has graced stages big and small, including the famed Mariposa Folk Festival, a solo show in Hollywood, and a showcase at the Toronto International Film Festival. Her songs have graced the small screen, too, featured on the CMT reality series Unstable and CBC Television’s Heartland. Jessica was also a featured vocalist in the theme song for Taste Buds on TVO Kids. With so much experience behind her, Jessica is at a place where she can let go. This time around, she had to. With two small children at home, the old luxury of time was simply not available. While some friends expressed doubts that Jessica could keep recording once she became a mom, not creating was not an option for her. And motherhood has proven a source of inspiration, a new kind of love to draw from, a fresh perspective on life. “We can take it slow, watch our children grow, they can spread their wings, we’ll watch them fly,” she sings on We’ll Get By. But motherhood did mean having to find a new way of working. Jessica wrote and co-wrote most of Far Gone Lullabies in precious stolen moments just before and shortly after Ryder, her two-year-old son, arrived. Recorded after his birth, her previous routine of working for weeks in a remote recording studio was not an option. So she brought the studio to her, with producer Ed Woodsworth setting up in the living room of her 100-year-old house in Saint John, New Brunswick. Sessions that would previously have lasted weeks were condensed into mere days. And, indeed, time is one of the album’s motifs. “I hear a clock and it begs for my attention,“ she sings over the opening strings of You Know Me Better. “I turn away and pretend that I’m not listening.” She gave herself permission to let go, her voice roaming far and wide, from the sweet soar of Ice Flow, written by Saint John music-scene staple Brent Mason, to the delicious harmonies in the album’s opening track, ‘It Is All Right.’ “I didn’t think about it,” she says. “I just went for it.” There’s a little more vocal grit on this album, a little more honesty. “I can hear the tired,” Jessica says. “And I feel the record has more life because of it.” The relaxed approach extended to her collaborators, too. Of course, when you are working with some of the top artists in Canada, it is easy to have faith. Canadian pop luminaries Ron Sexsmith, Royal Wood, Kevin Fox and Steve Poltz all co-wrote tracks on Lullabies, and some added backup vocals. Jessica encouraged her producer and fellow musicians to bring their own interpretations to the project, with Gordie Sampson adding guitars from his Nashville home, and the Juno-nominated Saint John String Quartet lent a luxurious richness to the mix. Dennis Ellsworth and Slowcoaster’s Steven MacDougall lent additional harmony vocals to the album. “There was a freeing feeling of having other artists just do what they do best,” Jessica says. “It seemed to work, cause everything turned out better than I ever imagined it would.” ALBUM CREDITS: Jessica Rhaye - Lead Vocals Ed Woodsworth - Bass, Electric Guitar, Organ Brian Talbot - Drums Gordie Sampson - Accordion, Mandolin, Acoustic Guitar & 12 String Acoustic Monster Saint John String Quartet - David Adams, Sonya Adams, Chris Buckley, Laura Chitty Jamie Robinson - Electric Guitar (Track 3) Bruce Bouton - Pedal Steel Guitar (Track 2) Royal Wood - Vocal Harmony (Track 1) Steve Poltz - Vocal Harmony (Track 2) Jamie Foulds - Vocal Harmony (Tracks 2, 5 & 7) Ron Sexsmith - Vocals Harmony (Track 3) Dennis Ellsworth - Vocal Harmony (Track 5) Steven MacDougall - Vocal Harmony (Track 6 & 9) Produced by Ed Woodsworth Engineered by Jamie Foulds Additional Recording by Dean Drouillard, Mathieu Benoit, Chris Modl and Jon Matthews Executive Producer - Mark Marshall Recorded at Soundpark Studios, Sydney, NS by Jamie Foulds www.soundpark.ca Saint John String Quartet Recorded at Fluid Audio Group, Saint John, NB www.fluidaudiogroup.com String Arrangements by Jamie Foulds and Ed Woodsworth Additional Recording at Gordie Sampson's place, Nashville, Dean Drouillard's Loft, Toronto, Big Grey Sound Studio, PE, Chris Modl's place, California Mixed at Soundpark Studios by Jamie Foulds and Ed Woodsworth Mastered by Joao Carvalho at Joao Carvaloho Mastering, Toronto, ON Art Direction & Design by www.JessicaRhayeDesign.com Photography by Kate Braydon Illustration by Pamela Marie Pierce