Crossing Jordan is a cakewalk next to Jill Hennessy's latest career move: Jumping from acting to music.
The 41-year-old Edmonton-born star is about to release her debut album Ghost in My Head -- and she has no illusions about how it will be received in some quarters.
"I know there's going to be a lot of skepticism," admits Hennessy from her family's "little beach shack" on the Jersey shore. "People will say, 'Oh, it's a TV actress with a vanity project.'
"Not many people know that I actually started off as a musician. I would play on the streets in Toronto for money. Music's basically where my heart has always been, to be honest. I was just lucky that acting took off. Music provides me with much more profound and personal satisfaction."
Profound and personal is what she's aiming for on Ghost in My Head.
Recorded in Austin, Tex., with a crew of sidemen who have played with the likes of The Flatlanders and Alejandro Escovedo, it's a set of self-penned roots ballads reminiscent of southern singer-songwriters like Lucinda Williams and Mary Gauthier -- both of whom she cites as "huge inspirations."
This weekend, Hennessy returns home to play the Edmonton Folk Festival. But first, she opens up about life after Jordan, singing vs. acting, and what it means to play her hometown.
It's been almost four years since Jordan wrapped. Have you been working on music since then?
Actually, I started working on the album about a year before the show wrapped. During my hiatuses, we'd fly to Austin and record. In fact, I was in Austin when I found out the show wasn't coming back. But I don't feel like I've taken a break from anything; I feel like I hit the ground running, to be honest. I've shot three independent movies. One was at the Toronto International Film Festival last year and the other two will probably be there this year. I also found out I was pregnant at that point, and that's no break at all, man. And I've been doing live shows -- the main focus for me right now is to play as many live shows as possible.
You've said these songs all came to you between 2005 and 2007. Was there something that happened in your life that sparked them?
Definitely. I had wanted to write for a very long time. And it was always an incredibly daunting prospect -- quite terrifying, to be honest. And then I went through a couple of situations -- one of extreme loss -- where my real life became more terrifying than the prospect of writing something down. And it actually turned out that writing these experiences on a piece of paper helped me get through some pretty difficult situations. So the songs literally were a form of therapy.
Why is singing more gratifying for you than acting?
You're up there telling your own stories. These are your experiences. Basically, you're standing there sharing them with people. And they're nice enough to listen. I consider myself successful if anybody shows up to listen, because you never know.
What's your long-term goal -- to play music full time?
In a best-case-scenario fantasy, if I could do music full time, I would be thrilled. But I feel really lucky to be given any sort of acting work, so I can support my family.
What does it mean to you to play the Edmonton Folk Festival?
Don't make me cry. It's a pretty deep experience, man. It's something I had been praying for a very long time, to be honest. The guys in my band have all played there, and they love the experience. So when it came through, I was overjoyed, obviously. I was born there, and I still have a lot of relatives there. But we moved about three months after my twin sister and I were born. So my memories of Edmonton are of going to visit my grandparents, my mother's parents. I can remember eating perogies with fried onions and bacon and a dollop of sour cream. I can remember playing in the backyard and going fishing with my grandmother. My memories are so wonderful and very warm. So it's gonna be a really intense experience. It's thrilling to me that they want me to perform.
When will you know you've achieved what you set out to do with music? When Dylan covers one of your songs?
Oh my God (laughs). Yeah, I think you just about said it right there. If somebody like Dylan or Ian Tyson or Bruce Springsteen ever said, 'This girl can write,' that would be killer. And who knows -- maybe Bon Jovi will come knocking, since he just lives across the river here. But honestly, if anybody in Canada were to buy my album and think, 'Hey, she can sing,' that would mean a lot to me.
darryl.sterdan@sunmedia.ca
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