Jen Clapp
see also: Community

Jen Clapp is a singer, songwriter and guitar player living and working in New York’s Hudson Valley. Although she has been singing all of her life, moving to New York City and forming a band there in the early 1990’s proved to be a defining moment for her. Along with Star Drooker and JR Getches she formed the alternative folk-punk-soul band Native Tongue. The band quickly became a fixture in the downtown New York acoustic scene, with a weekly gig at the now-famous Café Sin-e on St. Mark’s Place. There they enjoyed the camaraderie of many talented musicians and songwriters, including Jeff Buckley, Susan McKeown and the Chanting House, and Dorothy Scott. Singing "Black Boys on Mopeds" with Sinead O'Connor during one of her visits and playing a late night set with Bono, the Edge and Little Steven in the crowd were two highlights of their tenure at Sin-e.

Jen is featured here because we shared a song together, co-written with Chris Difford and recorded at Monestevoile in Umbria, Italy, in the summer of 2006. The songs was called 'Making Kitchens' and it featured on a hospice fund-raising cd called 'Songs From The Weald'.

I have to say that Jen has the most wonderful voice ... my backing vocal was thankfully removed from the recording and replaced by her own backing!

See www.jenclapp.com