About That Song: Jenner Fox
About That Song #82
In our special series, singer-songwriter Sarah Morris interviews artists about the songs that shaped them.
Hi! I’m Sarah Morris. I’m wildly in love with songs and the people who write them. There have been a few songs in my life that have been total gamechangers—songs that made me want to be a songwriter and songs I’ve written that made me feel like I am a songwriter. About That Song is a space where I can learn more about those pivotal songs in other writers’ lives.
For our 82nd edition, I was happy to connect with Jenner Fox! I talked to the Pacific Northwest based artist about songs and experiences that set him on his artistic journey and the making of his amazing new album.
Jenner Fox. Photo credit: Ian Stevens.
Sarah: Hi Jenner! I had the wonderful opportunity to meet you a few Mays back, on a soggy Saturday, in the direct middle of Texas, at Songwriter Serenade! (Fun fact, Jenner is the third About That Song guest I met that day. It was a good day!) Recently, the social media algorithms did the good work of letting me know that you have a new album in the world, the gorgeous Anything. This felt like a perfect opportunity to reach out and learn a little bit more about you and the songs that have shaped your musical journey.
Do you remember the song that made you want to be a songwriter? Can you tell us about that song?
Jenner: The first thing that comes to my mind as a very impactful moment was when I first saw Anaïs Mitchell perform. Are you familiar with Anaïs Mitchell?
Sarah: Oh, I am!
Jenner: Yeah, you must be, of course. I had no idea who she was. I was living in Austin, and it was a collaborative show with Patty Griffin.
Sarah: Oh, jeez!
Jenner: I knew Patty, but I didn't know Anaïs, and she just completely blew my mind, specifically when she played that song, “Now You Know .” I immediately needed to go home and figure out how to play it, and unpack it—to learn the words. I couldn’t stop listening to it. It resonated with me in a way that made the world feel 3D and full of color. It was so simple, yet also contained so much mystery and a kind of poetry.
It’s just, “Hey, you wanna know why I was crying? This is why”—that’s basically the arc of the song—but it travels in such a way that every line is surprising. It makes me want to continually chase that standard.
Sarah: Her writing is incredible. I love that you stumbled into that night. Once you began writing songs, did you feel like a songwriter immediately? Was there a song that you wrote that gave you that “I’m a songwriter!” moment?
Jenner: Good question! When I first started, definitely not. I think I wrote a song when I was in middle school. My middle school girlfriend, after two weeks, broke up with me and I wrote a terrible song, as you do.
Then, when I was 15, I wrote a song that people asked to hear again, which is a cool story—it actually ended up being on my first record that I made many years after I was 15. It was called “Hattie’s Song.” Another song I wrote for someone I’d crushed on. She lived far away. I wrote it for her, then visited her and played it for her. She said, “Oh, can you play it again? I want to show my mom.” So her mom came in and I played it again. And then her grandma came in and I played it a third time.
The romantic attempt was unsuccessful, but the song landed in a cool way and I continued playing it.
Jenner Fox. Photo credit: Ian Stevens.
Sarah: Songs are often going to live past the love interest that inspired them, I think. It’s interesting because most writers I talk to say it takes them a while before they feel they can wear that title. But if anyone's around me and they’re in doubt, I’m very clear with them: “Did you write a song? You’re a songwriter. Done.”
I met you a few years back at the Songwriter Serenade competition—do you remember any of the songs you sang that day and, if so, can you tell us about it?
Jenner: I remember singing a song called “Baby Names.”
Sarah: Oh yes, that was so good!
Jenner: It was on an album called Good Luck Road, and the genesis of that song had two parts.
First, during the pandemic, I lived with two roommates and one of them was sort of on a journey of finding herself and really felt she wanted to be a mother, but she didn’t have a partner at the time and it was this desire she couldn’t make happen. So then she wanted to adopt a cat, then wanted to buy a motorcycle—she was sort of in this seeking phase. When she wanted to adopt a cat, we had a house meeting and it turned out that another one of our roommates was allergic to cats. The cat idea was shot down and she was pretty crushed. I remember her saying, “I just want something to love.” This lived in the notebook for a while and ended up being part of the chorus of the song.
The second part is that I was made aware through my wife that there are lots of people who, from young ages, have running lists of baby names. It cracked me up and blew my mind.
It was just that idea of, oh yeah, it's pretty normal that people have years- or decades-long lists of baby names.
Sarah: Amazing.
Jenner: Did you have baby names? Are you a baby name lister?
Sarah: Oh yes, I did. Though none of them became the names of my actual children.
On your new album, I want to ask you about “The Open Mic.” I sing all the time, and yet to me, open mic nights and karaoke are two of the scariest things. Can you tell us about that song?
Jenner: I totally agree with you that I would be way more nervous to perform at an open mic. There’s something about the energy at an open mic. People are just laying their souls bare, in incredible ways. I feel like that’s a song I’ve been trying to write for years. I started trying to write it in Austin when I was doing the open mics there. Then I lived in upstate New York and there was this incredible open mic there. I wanted to write an homage to those because they were the most fertile place for me as a writer.
I’d sit there and write images of these people and what they were doing and imagine their lives while watching, but I failed a bunch of times at writing this song. Finally, Jeremy, the guitar player in my band, came up with that triumphant guitar part and managed to shoehorn that into the open mic feeling—awkward and cringey, but also so triumphant.
Sarah: Yeah. The act of witnessing someone taking that sort of leap never fails to leave me in awe. Before we go, I want to talk about your new album’s title track, “Anything.” There are many things I love about this seven-minute song. For instance, just about anytime you sing the word “I.” And also—there are not many songs with rabies in the first verse, you know? Could you tell us about that song?
Jenner: This record was a departure for me in writing style, in that it was the first band record. On previous records, songs were specific portraits of something. A lot of writing this record was coming up with a compelling musical idea, either in a jam with the band or…this one was a little song snippet I stole from my wife, actually.
It’s a song she made up on piano. I started saying stuff and it sounded good. Then, it was a matter of taking a step back and thinking okay, what’s it about now? Then continuing to freestyle things. The song was sort of just following the rhymes. Then all of a sudden it was okay, this is this strange person who’s longing for some missed connection.
And yeah, it was honestly just about letting the song go where it wanted to go, which is part of the reason for calling the record Anything. A nod to this letting-go process, a little bit in the writing. The rabies thing makes people giggle every time I sing it in the show, which is fun. It's just this weird fever dream.
Sarah: Well, the weird fever dream lyric reads beautifully. Then your performance of it, I think, is where it goes next level for my listening ears. Bravo to you and bravo to your wife!
Jenner: Thank you!
Sarah: Thank YOU for chatting with me about THAT song. Congrats on your new album, Jenner. I’m wishing you a wonderful summer, and I hope our paths cross again soon.
Listen to “Anything”
Anything Album Credits
Aaron Guest: piano, Wurlitzer, organ, vocals
Aaron Moore: electric & upright bass, trombone, vocals
Benji Nagel: dobro, lap steel, weissenborn, vocals
Jenner Fox: acoustic & electric guitar, mandolin, vocals
Jeremy Elliott: acoustic & electric guitar, mandolin, vocals
Stephanie Walbon: vocals on “Water Settles”
Jordan Cunningham: acoustic guitar on “Heart Tattoo”
All songs written by Jenner Fox, 2025, BMI
“The Open Mic” & “Running Out of Road” co-written with Jeremy Elliott
“Anything” & “Water Settles” co-written with Natalie Akers
Mixed and Engineered by Jordan Cunningham
Assistant Engineered by Jordan Campbell
Mastered by Adam Gonsalves
Cover art generated using Midjourney
Design by Natalie Akers
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sarah Morris. Photo credit: Tom Smouse.
Sarah Morris is a superfan of songs and the people who write them, and a believer that certain songs can change your life. A singer-songwriter / mama / bread maker / coffee drinker who recently released her fifth album of original material, she’s been known to joyfully sing with people in her Big Green Bathroom.
