“The Sea” by Jean Caffeine
“It’s Not Nice Without You (When You’re Around)” by Jean Caffeine

I no longer recall when or how I first found out about Jean Caffeine, but it had to be around 10 years ago.  She was a folk-ish musician living in Austin and playing a lot of small shows at places like Flipnotics (although once I saw her play at the inside stage at Stubb’s — it was in the days immediately following 9/11, and I remember she cringed whenever she sang lyrics which mentioned things like fire.  But I digress.)  Me and my friend Carrie M became fans of hers and went to most of her shows.  Given the small venues in which she played, it wasn’t long before we were on a first name basis with her, and we’d sometimes see her outside of her gigs.  She had two albums on CD, both of which I own and love, and some older stuff that was only available on tape and vinyl.  She has been a practicing musician since the late 70’s, and knew a lot of the people in the punk movement in New York City around that time.  ANYWAY…

Several years ago she moved away from Austin, spending time in Thailand and Canada (and perhaps elsewhere — I didn’t keep close tabs).  Anyway, recently I found out that she is trying to release a new album, but needed to raise some money to get it made.  So she is offering various gifts to folks who will help her get this album made.  Details are here! I highly encourage you to offer her any support that you can.  Not only will you be helping support the arts, but you’ll get some great music out of the deal as well.

The two mp3s above are songs from each of her two albums that are available on CD.  If you like what you hear, you can buy her previous work on her website: http://www.jeancaffeine.com/