It's incredibly calming to watch Glenn Jones play acoustic guitar. Whether he's appearing by the train tracks or in one of our Tiny Desk Concerts, there's nothing flashy about his style, only careful consideration as he gently hops over the frets like a lily-padding frog. For this video, Jones simply performs "Bergen County Farewell" in singer-songwriter Meg Baird's living room in Allentown, N.J., where he also recorded his fifth solo album, My Garden State.
Like most of his work, "Bergen County Farewell" comes with a story; it's about saying goodbye to the family home where Jones wrote My Garden State just before he moved his mother into a retirement facility. But there's an odd sense of homecoming here. Life changes, but we move on, and as Jones writes in the album's liner notes, "In 2012, my sisters and I oversaw the sale of my mom's house — a bittersweet little job of work. When we finished, my sister Erin said, 'Well, it's time for some new people to make a life here.'"
My Garden State is out May 14 on Thrill Jockey Records.
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