We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jenn Jeffers a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Jenn, appreciate you joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

Pass It On is an album about living, loving, and losing in Louisiana during the pandemic years, told through my lens as a black and Southern millennial woman. I wrote this album from 2019-2022, and it speaks across time and place, exploring my connection to my Southern heritage, the beauty of the land I am from, and common human experiences of uncertainty and hope. Pass it On is also meaningful to me as a songwriter because it is also rooted in my experiences of my home in Louisiana. In many ways, through these songs I sought to manifest the magic and mourning of the bayou state.

Jenn, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Dusky Waters is the project founded by singer-songwriter Jennifer Jeffers. Dusky Waters enchants listeners with intricate layers of melodies and stories told through soulful lyricism. Dusky represents the most magical time of day and Waters describes the Mississippi from which she draws strength and inspiration. She grew up on the traditions of gospel and folk music in Little Rock, Arkansas. Her childhood interest in piano blossomed into a close relationship with a guitar and eventually a love affair with a banjo. In her early twenties she moved to the delta region of North Louisiana and began writing songs influenced by its rural beauty and the struggles of being young and restless in a small town.

Living in the delta, Dusky became a part of the duet Silo, where she honed her songwriting skills and the honey harmonies for which she is known. Dusky toured with Silo across the Southeast, earning a following from Folk and Americana fans across Louisiana and the Gulf Coast. Silo’s EP, Tall Tales was met with acclaim by local music critics in Baton Rouge, Jackson, Mississippi, and Jacksonville, Florida.

Dusky’s songwriting is honest and vulnerable to its core. She writes of love and love lost, of the draw of the South, and of the unending quest to find one’s truest self. She draws inspiration from musical powerhouses Elizabeth Cotten, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Nina Simone, and the Avett Brothers.

Dusky keeps her sound fresh with a mix of instruments, non-traditional melodies and experimental harmonies at live shows. After moving to New Orleans In May of 2015, Dusky now performs with the very talented musicians Analiese De Saw (viola), Conner McCready (percussion), Dylan James (upright bass), and Tommy Henson (piano/organ). The band recently recorded its first full length studio album, Pass it On (release date: June 9, 2023) at Annunciation/Platinum Cutz Studios in New Orleans with recording engineer Derek DeBlieux. The band is extremely grateful to the Threadhead Cultural Foundation for grant funding and support with this project.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

When I was 13, I started writing songs because it felt like such a natural way for me to express how I felt. I’m sure we all can identify with being young and having more feelings than you know what to do with. I always had eclectic music tastes in my youth, and sometimes I struggled to find other women who looked like me who were making and listening to the music that I wanted to create. As I grew up and was exposed to more artists-particularly those women of color who anchored blues and folk music in the South, I began to realize that my heroes existed, I just wasn’t exposed to them in my youth. So now, one of the missions that drives my creative journey is honoring those women, like Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Elizabeth Cotten, Big Mama Thornton, through continuing and expanding upon the tradition of black, Southern, singing/songwriting women with guitars and banjos. I hope that other young women will see someone like me and believe that they can create and perform any kind of music they choose.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

For me, music is about joy and connection. I love writing songs and performing, and the most rewarding moments are when I can see or hear people connecting to a song. I think music helps us transcend our individual experiences and celebrate our universal humanity. When I write, I have in mind that I am not only writing for myself, but for those who came before me, walk beside me, and may come after me.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.duskywaters.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/duskywaters/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/duskywaters
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpEqjn0p9ko

Image Credits
Photographer: Mike Furman Photographer: Figgy Photographer: Analiese De Saw