Search - Beki Hemingway, Jonathan Rundman :: Tennesota

The word Tennesota is a geographic contraction, an intersection of two states that don?t border each other. It sounds and looks like a term used before, but yet seems foreign or new. It?s also the title of the soon-to-be-released duo-debut CD by songwriters Beki Hemingway and Jonathan Rundman, and it?s a cleverly appropriate moniker for this richly textured Americana album. Beki Hemingway brings the Tennessee half to the mix, with the newest chapter of her career set in Nashville. The Minnesota remainder is represented by Jonathan Rundman of Minneapolis. These new songs retain the flavor of the towns of their origin, with Hemingway?s breathtaking vocals and lovely, melancholy melodies recalling Music City?s country fringe (Emmylou Harris, Buddy & Julie Miller, etc.) and Rundman?s heartland harmonies and garagey instrumentation echoing his Twin Cities forefathers (Jayhawks, Paul Westerberg, etc.). The blend is tailor made, and even carries hints of the duo?s other less-expected musical commonalities like ?80s New Wave and traditional church hymnody.