MASON JENNINGS TO RELEASE LIVE AT FIRST AVENUEOUT AUGUST 24th, FEATURING THREE UNRELEASED SONGSMason Jennings will release his first live album, Live At First Avenue, on August 24th via Stats & Brackets. The live album was recorded during the last night of his fall 2009 Blood Of Man tour from the prestigious First Avenue venue in his hometown of Minneapolis, MN. The album features three unreleased songs: “Born”, “Grow Old With Me,” and “My Computer Screen.”Jennings latest release comes almost a year after his critically acclaimed and self produced Blood Of Man 2009 LP. Rolling Stone gave the album 4 stars, calling it his “Best Album Yet” and said, “What Makes Mason Jennings one of the best acoustic-based singer-songwriters you’ve never heard of is his ragged, intimate voice and simple ruminations of God, war, hope and gratitude.”In addition to the live record, Jennings will release a new album this September. The Flood is a 15-song record featuring once lost and unrecorded songs that he has written over the past 18 years.“Last winter an old friend asked me about a cassette tape filled with songs that I had given her fifteen years ago. She said she had lost it and was wondering if I had a copy. I called my Dad and he found a box of old recordings in his basement and sent them to me. The tape she was talking about was in there as were a bunch of other ones spanning the last eighteen years. Some were 4 track recordings, some were just recorded into an old voice recorder from Radio Shack. Some of the songs were songs that I have since recorded on my CDs but most were unreleased and many were a complete surprise to me.“I listened to them all and thought it would be fun to re-record some of them to keep them from getting lost again. I decided to do it with just guitar and voice so the songs would be the center point and they would feel cohesive even though they were written over the course of eighteen years,” says Mason about recording The Flood.In support of both Live At First Avenue and The Flood,  Jennings will tour California on an intimate four-city run including two nights at Largo at the Coronet in Los Angeles, CA.TOUR DATESJuly 31st - St. Paul, MN - Lowertown Music FestSeptember 10th - San Francisco, CA - Yoshi’sSeptember 11th - San Francisco, CA - Yoshi’s (8 PM Show)September 11th - San Francisco, CA - Yoshi’s (10 PM Show)September 12th - Arcata, CA - Van Duzer TheaterSeptember 14th - Los Angeles, CA - Largo at the CoronetSeptember 15th - Los Angeles, CA - Largo at the CoronetSeptember 16th - San Diego, CA - San Diego Woman’s Club

Asamoah I am so excited for the World Cup final. What an awesome month it has been. Although, I do miss having the South American and African teams in there. I love their open style of play. I have to say that my favorite play of any of the games came when Asamoah Gyan of Ghana walked out onto the pitch with millions of people watching after he missed the penalty kick that would have sent them to the semi-finals and bravely took the first shot of the shootout and buried it. That was such a powerful moment of human courage and leadership. How can one not enjoy watching Diego Forlan play too? What an amazing player and vibe. Here is a cool photo by Jessica Hilltout from The New York Times and a link to a cool article regarding her new book about African soccer Also, some people have asked me about the new lyrics I have been singing live to my song “I Love You And Buddha Too”. Here They are. I have a feeling this song will continue to change over time….. Oh Jesus I love you And I love Buddha too Ramakrishna, Guru Dev Tao Te Ching and Mohammed Why do some people say That there is just one way To love you God and come to you We are all a part of you You are unnamable And undefinable All we have is metaphor That’s what time and space are for Is the universe your thought You are and you are not You are many, You are one Ever ending, Just begun Alright, all right, alright I love you and Buddha too When Prophets say they’ve heard The one and only Word And every Word is different God becomes an argument And we are left to choose A side or to refuse The whole thing in its humanness Or learn from each with tolerance alright, all right, alright I love you and Buddha too all right I hope you all are doing well. I have been writing a bunch lately and have been enjoying the beautiful summer. I hope you have been too! Love, Mason 7/08/10 World Cup Headquarters, Minnesota, USA