Jane Kramer Makes a Full Voiced Return to Her Roots with Mountain-made 2nd Solo Album,Carnival of Hopes - Out TODAY Fri, Feb 26, 2016

Photo by: Sandlin Gaither

“The album’s title track pairs with a pretty music video in which images of a turning carousel make way for Kramer singing in a windowsill, interacting with a lover, and unveiling a carousel–a powerful image that holds a lot of emotion–which becomes the motif throughout the entire song.”  -
-World Premier of Music Video for “Carnival of Hopes” at Elmore Magazine

ASHEVILLE, NC (Press Release) -- Vocalist and songwriter Jane Kramer independently release her gutsy and ambrosial second solo album entitled Carnival of Hopes on Friday, February 26, 2016. With deep ties to the area, Carnival of Hopes boasts a sparkling cast of Ashevillian producers and players. Kramer’s longtime friend Adam Johnson ofSound Lab Studios, whose portfolio of clients includes such names as Alison Krauss and Yo Yo Ma, produced and engineered the album.

The ten-song album was recorded at the award-winningSound Temple Studios in February of 2015, while she still lived on the other side of the country in Portland, Oregon. A few months later, after a four-year run spent writing and reflecting on the West Coast, Jane Kramer pulled up stakes and returned to Western North Carolina with a renewed energy to share her new music with the world. The sense of homecoming that rings through was a conscious effort, Kramer says. “I did that because Asheville is my dirt. It’s my home and my culture, musically and otherwise. I missed it and knew somewhere in my bones I would be coming back to stay soon,” she says. 

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Kramer is backed by Chris Rosser on piano and harmonium, Eliot Wadopian on upright bass and River Guerguerian on drums and percussion, the virtuoso trio that comprises Free Planet Radio, as well as master Georgia-based bluegrass musicians/ multi-instrumentalists, Pace Conner (steel string, high string and baritone guitars, ukulele, mandolin, and backing vocals) and Michael Evers(Dobro, banjo, mandolin, and backing vocals) who arranged the songs for recording and perform and tour with Kramer regularly. Virtuoso players, Nicky Sanders of Steep Canyon Rangers and Franklin Keel of Sirius B play orchestral fiddle and cello, respectively, on “Good Woman.” The New Orleans jazz-influenced “Why’d I Do That Blues,” features a horn section comprised of JP Furnas on trombone and Ben Hovey on trumpet.
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She credits her songwriting hero and mentor, Mary Gauthier, with helping her reach for, and express, everything she hoped to communicate with the album. Carnival of Hopes aches and soars with her connections to Appalachian balladry, a force she first encountered at Warren Wilson College and honed while performing with the Asheville-based all-female trio, the Barrel House Mamas, who helped reintroduce Americana music to the Blue Ridge Mountains a decade ago. However, it is as a solo artist where the power of Kramer’s songwriting and world-class vocals truly shine. The songs on the album were all penned by Kramer with the exception of one cover, “Down South,” written by Tom Petty.” 

Kind Words About Carnival of Hopes
“Pulling from her roots as a mountain-made musician, she zeroes in on Americana elements like folksy instrumentation while giving her lyrics center stage… Kramer’s voice is so smooth it melts into her own guitar-playing and violin overlays.” --Elmore Magazine’s Savannah Davanzo

The Bluegrass Situation premiered a stream of the title track here.
“Kramer’s vocal glides between sorghum-sweet low notes and a breathy upper register, maintaining a wink the whole time. But even with its moments of levity and meet-cute two-steps, Carnival of Hopes is sincere.” 
--Mountain Xpress, Alli Marshall

“[Jane] embraces songwriting that runs through a gamut of emotions, with heartache, regret, fear, and hope resounding deeply in her lyrics, and each tune is delivered with a voice that only be described as 
one of the purest in modern Americana... Carnival of Hopes is a steady stream of beauty.” 
--Blue Ridge Outdoors, Dave Stallard

“... you can tell Kramer is having fun singing these songs and that feeling endearingly transcends to the listener. Kramer’s vocals are soulful and textured allowing for a range of emotions to illustrate each beautifully poetic song.” --That Music Mag, Jane Roser

“Jane Kramer says her new album Carnival of Hopes is about facing down inner demons while still clinging to
‘that tiny chirping of light in your bones that somehow keeps you tethered to keeping on.’ And if that sounds like the sort of perseverance Tom Petty writes about, well that might not be a coincidence… 
Jane Kramer Brings Appalachian Past Into Cover of Obscure Tom Petty Song” 
--Ray Padgett, Cover Me Songs premiered “Down South.” Stream it here.

“Jane Kramer is writing and playing classic folk with mountain influences, her strong voice lilting through honest expressions of life, love and the human condition.” --Asheville Citizen Times, Carol Rifkin

“Enchanting and accessible song-crafting; country, honky tonk, blues.” --Rapid River Magazine

“Well produced, highly melodic and beautifully accessible” --Northern Sky, Allan Wilkinson

“Like the title implies, Carnival of Hopes presents a festival of emotions from a woman who is cognizant of the fact that life isn’t all sunshine and rainbows, but one who embraces hope, knowing that through hardship often comes something of beauty.” --The Daily Country, Tara Joan

“...this album has the feel of a country record from the late 1980s, similar to Patty Loveless or Kathy Mattea.” 
--WNC Magazine, Tim W. Jackson

"Jane Kramer makes gorgeous music. With sensual magnetism in her voice, honesty in her lyrics and 
elegance in her melodies, her songs cast a wonderful spell. Give this record a listen; 
you will be taken on a lovely ride deep into the mystical world of an artist on the rise." 
--Mary Gauthier, American songwriter and performer

Learn more about Jane Kramer and her music at www.JaneKramer.net and stay up to date with news at www.facebook.com/janekramersongstress.