Jennifer Tefft – Xperience Monthly – an Interview by Niki Kaos

Jennifer Tefft Interview.

RRX: Jennifer Tefft’s heartfelt and dynamic alt-rock voice has been a favorite of mine since we met in Troy. Watching her career grow has been an inspiration to me. Time to find out what’s been going on lately.

You have this down to Earth vibe, but you’re also professional and creatively focused. A balance you pull off well. You’ve made a career from your music. Something I honestly didn’t have the guts to do.

I love the fact that you believed in yourself enough to go for it. I know there must be a lot of headaches behind the scenes that your fans don’t experience along with you.

JT: It’s a day-to-day battle. One day it’s “Awesome!” “I achieved something!” “That’s going to turn out good.” And the next day it’s like, “I suck.” (laughs)

RRX: How do you balance the business parts with the highs of something like being awarded New England Music Performer of the Year?

JT: There’s a constant reassessment. Am I doing this the right way?  Do I want to drop all these cover tune gigs so that I can really focus on the originals thing and be considered a serious original artist, which was my goal all along? But then I look at my bank account, and I’m like, nope. Can’t do that.

It’s a definite balance to make sure that I leave time to write and to do the original stuff. I just get so drawn into the business side. Booking gigs. Promoting gigs. Then I haven’t made any music in three days, and that’s ridiculous.

I’ve gotten much better about blocking out my time. And when I do that, I lose myself for a few hours. Whether it’s learning a new cover song, or working on a new tune, or trying to polish something I’ve already written.

RRX: What is it like for you working in the in the world of sync licensing?

JR: When I first started doing that, I got lucky. Early 2000s, when it wasn’t as open a market as now. You had to have an agent that could get you those placements. It was awesome! I had already written the songs, and they were just picking them off the albums. I did pretty well for several years.

As album sales income dried up for a lot of people, sync became a much more popular target for artists. Now everyone and their brother has a sync service, right? The market is just flooded.

I took a course a few years ago on how to pitch directly to music supervisors. I got a couple of one-on-one sit downs over Zoom. The amount of material they get daily is mind boggling. They get so much stuff, you still really need someone there to push your stuff who has a personal relationship.

It’s like any other aspect of the music business, it comes down to personal connections. I go through phases, where I’ll work hard on that, and have some success. I have two different people I’m signed with now. I got a placement last summer on a song that was 20 years old. A really cool Hulu series. The money was a good up front sync fee, but by the time everybody got their piece, it was like $900 for me.

RRX: And a LOT of work, right? A lot of investment into that relationship building.

JT: Yeah! It’s totally about that. And that’s something that I’ve been bad at over my career. Most people would meet me and say I’m a big extrovert, but I’m really not. It’s very hard for me to network, especially to sell my own stuff. If you’re representing someone else, that’s a different thing.

But just recently, in the past few years, I’ve said, you have to put your big girl pants on. Call these people. Talk to these people. Go meet these people. (laughs) I hate that part of it. Because I also don’t like talking to people who think that the only reason I’m talking to them is because I want something. Sometimes you just want to have a conversation with someone and have them think it’s a genuine conversation.

RRX: It’s tricky. Part of what I admire about your tenacity through such a challenging business.

Your new band line-up looks exciting! Some new players on the roster?

JT: My guitar player has been with me since 1994. We’ve been together forever. And I think if he left… I don’t know what I’d do. The new guys, I’m really excited about. And we’re having so much freakin’ fun!

It hasn’t been fun for me for a while. I needed to make a change a long time ago, and it was just so hard for me to do it, but it was just time. It needed new energy. We’re still really good friends. My former rhythm section, they’re like brothers to me and I still talk to them all the time.

Drummer Christopher Georgenes and I had been connecting over Facebook for years, and he just genuinely liked my music. I got to know him as a drummer, and he’s amazing. He’s one of these people who must sleep an hour a night because he’s got so much going on. He’s always learning.

My bass player, Stephen “Sharky” Beccia, is a friend of another bass player who was sitting in with us. He sent me to Stephen. The first day, I was like, “That’s the guy”. We all have a great chemistry between us personally and musically. The vibe is magic.

RRX: It sounds like the boost you needed to get excited about music again.

JT: It was. And I’m grateful for my previous rhythm section and all the music we made together. It was just time to mix things up and come from a different angle.

RRX: You have a lot of fans here in the 518. What’s your connection to the Capital District?

JT: Back in the late 90’s we did a tour, and it was the first time we played in Troy, at Positively 4^th St. I was like, this is gonna suck. Sunday night. We pulled into town. Tumbleweeds blowing down the street.

We got in and set up, and the place just filled up immediately. With all these people who were there to listen to new music. They just embraced us, like we were friends. It became more than just a regular gig. It became family. The same people would be there, they would bring friends, and it would be packed every time.

Art, and all you guys have always been so supportive. And www.radioradiox.com plays my music when I submit it for airplay. I’m going into friendly territory. When I go to the 518, I feel like I am heading home.

RRX: That’s great to hear. I’m so proud of our music scene.

JT: It’s really special.

RRX: Here’s something I’ve been dying to ask you for a while. What was it like singing the National Anthem at a Red Sox game?

JT: Well, the Red Sox game was fun. That came after the very first time I ever sang the National Anthem in public, for a Patriots game at Gillette Stadium, which is 60,000 people.

I’ve always been a Patriots fan, and it’s been on my bucket list. When I got that call, I said sure, I can do that. Leading up to it, I’ve never been so terrified in my whole life. I’d wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat.

But there was a switch that flipped the day before. Somehow, I managed to find my peace and calm. And my kids were on the field with me, cheering me on. It literally was like being a rock star for 90 seconds because everyone just loses their mind over it.

RRX: What’s coming up for Jennifer Tefft Music?

JT: I figured we need a new name for the band because it’s new people. It’s Jennifer Tefft and The Strange. They picked that. And they ARE all strange. So, it works. (laughs)

We’re doing one song with my friend Monk Dwayne, who is one of the most talented people I’ve ever met. He’s a great writer, producer, and performer. And I’m planning to do an EP by the end of the year. If all goes well, we’ll head down that path.

I’m in talks to sign with a new manager soon. I’ve been doing this forever, and it’s time to get someone to help me, because I can’t do this alone all the time. I’m hoping to get out there, do some regional touring and make some really good music.

RRX: I love that!

I’m looking forward to your solo show coming up Friday, May 12^th 7pm at The Storefront @344 2^nd Street, Troy, NY. Readers can visit http://www.jennifertefft.com to buy tickets, hear your music, and keep up with your latest events!