3 questions (with jess klein)

a cross-over episode to end the season

Dec 18, 2024

Transcript

hey yall! hard to believe it, but here we are at the end of season 3 of Fax Of Life. it’s been a year to remember for all kinds of good and hard reasons.

before we get to the episode, i just want to remind yall that there are two more anti-holiday shows - thursday dec 19 in boston, which is basically sold out. and saturday dec 21 in brooklyn, which is deeply not sold out. what. is. going. on. brooklyn???? tickets are here.

meantime, now is a great time of year to turn your free access into a paid subscription or gift a subscription to a friend or neighbor. the neat trick is that there is no difference in the free and paid content. i hate that kind of thing. BUT by subscribing you help support my work, and we show substack that Fax Of Life is a robust and excellent community.

thanks for listening this year. it’s a real joy to know people are digging these Fax. after today’s episode, the 49th!!, i’m taking a short hiatus and will return with new episodes in march!

Share Erin McKeown's Fax of Life

today’s audio is “little white dove”, written by my friend jess klein. this was a live performance with our friends beth amsel and rose polenzani that became an album called “Voices On The Verge”. it came out on october 2, 2001. so, uh, it landed in a very stressed out, tense, new world. it was our only record.

i met jess… in 1997 or 1998… i’m not exactly sure where. maybe boston? maybe at the legendary club passim? maybe through the man that became both of our first manager? it doesn’t matter! what matters is that jess has always been one of my favorite people to spend time with, whether it was backstage on a multi-artist bill at a big theater; in a van for hours and hours driving across the country; or staying over at my house after a local gig.

her songs have always been kick-ass, her performances always on point. and for whatever reason i always see her, start laughing, and don’t stop. as you’ll hear in the following conversation, jess has a pod too, which i love listening to. even though we have texted and commented back and forth on each other’s work for years, it had been a long time since we got face to face to catch up. making a crossover conversation for our pods was the perfect excuse to see, and laugh, with my old friend.

usually i edit these conversations for length, but in this case i decided not to. please enjoy this long chat between friends. i hope it’ll get you through your present wrapping or drive to the in-laws. and make sure to stay til the end when jess sends an awesome fax, and we close with another Voices On The Verge song, which features jess playing clarinet.

and now, me and jess klein…

ps - and unto us was gifted an immaculate bluetooth microphone. happy holidays!

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