Grey Matter
Grey Matter, an eclectic album by singer|songwriter Joy Zimmerman, explores a life-changing choice, a profession of love, a firefly escaping a jar,
a lamppost keeping our secrets….and much more in between.
Eight of the songs were produced, recorded, mixed and mastered by Fett at Azalea Studios in Nashville, along with one song produced and recorded at Marty Rifkin Productions in Los Angeles. Numerous gifted musicians in Nashville, Los Angeles and Kansas City contributed to this record.
Grey matter
the greyish tissue of brain and spinal cord
the stuff of life that does not fit into distinct boxes
Welcome to an album recorded after my brain hemorrhage, after my hair had started to turn grey, and after I had lived long enough to know many grey layers. Lots of Grey Matter indeed.
Pandora’s Box describes facing a choice that would forever change many lives. Pandora welcomes the singer back, knowing the powerful choice is hers to make. The box is opened, and “nothing will ever be the same again.”
Crazy In Need, co-written with Jan Linder-Koda, tells of a new, life-changing love who is invited to “show me secrets I never knew.”
Reflecting on the discomfort of outgrowing relationships, jobs and circumstances, I was reminded of the fireflies we sometimes left in the jar as kids. Noting that “growing pains are not just for the young”, The Firefly ultimately escapes her jar.
Our secrets and the expression, “between you and me and the lamppost,” gave birth to this song. The Lamppost hears our secrets but keeps them well. But, oh, “if that lamppost could talk…”
Steal My Heart is sung by a girl who has just moved to town and spotted the guy she hopes will win her over. The girl and her fiddle tell this guy: “I think you just might steal my heart.”
Feeling broken, I wondered what would become of the pieces. My hope began with the image of a Mosaic and the questions, “How do we make our mosaic together? How do we shape trial by fire?”
A seductress goes fishing for a mate in You Took The Bait. She is confident that her target will “come back again and again and again and again…”
Most of the Time is the back-and-forth craziness following a major break-up. The age-old dilemma is illustrated in “I don’t wish you ill most of the time; I think of you still most of the time…”
After living through tremendous grief and working with grieving clients, I decide to have a conversation with sorrow. “O sorrow, do not devour me.” O Sorrow traces the tumultuous, difficult and often life-affirming journey through grief.
Watching my friend buy a car and start dating at the same time planted the seed for Warranty. Would you want to ask your new beau, “Do you come with a warranty? Can I get that guarantee?”
All songs written & sung by Joy Zimmerman (BMI)
(except Crazy In Need co-written with Jan Linder-Koda (SESAC)
For more information, visit joyzimmermanmusic.com