It’s here! FIRST RAIN has arrived!

Come listen to our newest album, First Rain, a mix of beautiful homegrown folk and soulful jazz. I believe we’ve made a new genre, Swedish farm jazz :) and I would like very much to share it with you.

This was an amazing collaboration with some great musicians: electric & acoustic guitar wunderkinds Jeff Miley and Larry Koonse, stand-up bassists Darek Oles and Dylan Johnson, percussionists Brian Kilgore and Darrell Voss, and my wonderful sister Britta singing harmonies.

With beautiful string overlays by Ken Hustad and Brynn Albanese and engineers Chris Roberston (Blue Universe Recording) and Nolan Shaheed (No-Sound Studios) to capture the perfect sounds, First Rain is our personal stamp on jazz standards and bossa nova grooves with folk interpretations…I think you’ll enjoy it.

Buy the album now at CD Baby or iTunes

Listen this Memorial Day weekend, May 29 on public radio’s A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor… We’ll be broadcasting live from Wolf Trap in Vienna, Virginia. Check out Prairie Home’s station finder for more details. I’ll be performing as well as other special guests, the grandfather of the singer-songwriter era Tom Rush, brilliant acoustic duo Gillian Welch & Dave Rawlings. And of course the amazing Guy’s All-Star Shoe Band, Tim Russell, Sue Scott, and Fred Newman.

Listen to “Lazy Afternoon” from the show…
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A little bit of both, jazz and folk, in First Rain. JazzTimes’ March 2010 issue (under the Vox section) reviewed First Rain. Christopher Loudon’s review was very nice and highlighted the album’s “quasi-pastoral themes” and my “dew-soft arrangements.” I scanned in a copy since I couldn’t find it online yet. Also, LA Times jazz critic Don Heckman included First Rain as part of Jazz Times’ Critics Picks 2009 list for new releases.

American Songwriter’s March/April 2010 reviewed First Rain as well. David Mead’s Under the Radar column was very gracious and thought the “melodies unfold like Virgina Woolf’s best sentences, patiently building to an expected climax before transcending it like a sweet exhalation of air.” Whew, so beautifully written.

Much appreciation to both Christopher Loudon and David Mead for their wonderful reviews. Thank you.

“April Afternoon,” the first song from Inga Swearingen’s new album First Rain. Featured in the video are Jeff Miley on guitar, Dylan Johnson on bass and Darrell Voss on drums. Directed by Barry Goyette.

Inga Swearingen performs regularly on the live radio broadcast show, A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor, which can be heard on public radio stations throughout the world. She also appeared on the Prairie Home’s 30th Broadcast Season Celebration DVD, along with the superb cast, gospel star Jearlyn Steele and country band BR5-49. Sign up for Inga Swearingen’s mailing list for upcoming shows and other updates.

Listen to Prairie Home performances online…

At New York Town Hall on Dec. 1, 2007, with singer/songwriter legend Joe Ely and his pal, Joel Guzman, Inga swings “I Hear Music” and pays tribute on guitar to Joni Mitchell with “The Crazy Cries of Love,” a song for lovers in apartment buildings. She gets the audience to sing along to a Bobby McFerrin-style a cappella version of “Blackbird” in two-part harmony.

Listen to “The Crazy Cries of Love” (81 minutes)
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At Tanglewood — Koussevitzky Music Shed in Lenox, Mass. on June 28, 2008, with The Del McCoury Band and poet Donald Hall, Inga drifts melodically over Mr. Hall’s poem “Summer Kitchen” and weaves the Flower Duet from “Lakme” into a summer camp diary script. With her acoustic guitar, Inga plays her composition “Two Trees,” which will be on the upcoming album due in October.

And again, at Tanglewood on June 30, 2007, with unpretentious superstar James Taylor, Inga sings her arrangement of “Skylark” with bassist Gary Raynor and cellist Owen Young, described as Stravinsky-esque with a repeated bass line and cello motive.

Listen to “Skylark” (34 minutes)
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