In the prose poem she reads over the hymn “Will the Circle Be Unbroken,” Lou Turner (Styrofoam Winos) confides to painter and musician Peggy Snow of Nashville’s resident weirdo folk collective, The Cherry Blossoms, “I am always thinking of Venn Diagrams.” The visual of overlapping circles weaves across Turner’s brilliant sophomore album, Songs for John Venn, in the relationships between the spiritually transcendent and secular mundane,  the solitary practice of songwriting and the communal experience of music making, traditional melodic song forms and experimental improvisation, and in two eggs frying in a skillet. Though rooted in lo-fi sensibilities, Songs for John Venn is clean and bright and warm, with a loose yet intentional communal folk rock backing band composed of members of Styrofoam Winos and other Nashville musicians, guests  Ziona Riley (vocals on “Widening Venn Diagram”), Dan Melchior (guitar on “Measuring Tape,” album art), and Turner herself, who contributes guitar, percussion, mandolin, bass, and the most transcendent flute. Turner’s voice matches her songwriting—generous and inviting, even sweet at times—think Ruth Garbus, Dory Previn, or Bridget St. John (whose Songs for a Gentle Man inspired this album’s name). But there’s a poetic wryness too, sometimes with a spoken delivery at the end of phrases, reminiscent of Dave Berman or Bill Callahan or Patti Smith.

Lou Turner (aka Lauren Turner) grew up in Texas, playing music in school and at church. She remembers hearing her mother harmonizing along with everything—from commercials, to songs on the radio, to religious hymns. Her listening quickly expanded in high school and college from singer-songwriters like Dylan and Van Zandt to folk and jazz traditions from around the world. She says, “The spirituality I felt in music as a child is still there, but is far more mysterious and boundless, and simultaneously more grounded and rooted to contexts and histories. Spiritual jazz (specifically Alice Coltrane’s Journey in Satchidananda) has become hugely important to me for this reason.” Eventually landing in Nashville, Turner fell in with the underground indie/experimental music scene, in part through Chris Davis’ (The Cherry Blossoms) FMRL presenting series, and in 2018, she started deejaying at Nashville’s freeform radio station with her program Shout, Sister Shout!, highlighting music by under-represented women throughout time and space. As a solo artist and with her band Styrofoam Winos, Turner has opened for the likes of Simon Joyner (who offered a blurb for the record), Kath Bloom, Xylouris White,  Josephine Foster, and many others.

Songs for John Venn was written during 2017-19, a period in which Turner began her day job in a library and became further inspired by libraries as creative, communal spaces “where we each have a little space carved out for ourselves and all of our particular interpretations can coexist and breathe together.” She researched John Venn, credited with creating the diagram in classification, and discovered that he too had grown up in a religious household and served as a priest before deciding to become a mathematician. Feeling a kinship, the symbol became an anchor for her work during this time.  She says, “the theme exists on this record in form as well as content, and the backing artists make up the form of my Venn diagram.” 

“Two Tributaries,” with its Michael Hurley-esque guitar line mimicking the vocal melody, is a love letter to friendships that fall out of touch but remain connected in mysterious ways over time. There’s more Hurley inspiration in the lyrical humor and food content too. “King Edward Ave” is about Lauren’s Papaw who was a cousin of Little Jimmy Dickens, and named his street in Baytown, TX after himself.  She says, “The song is a way for me to hold my memories not just of him, but of that house he shared with my Mamaw, which was humble but radically open to their community and family. I wanted this song to feel as simple and friendly as possible, like a Dickens’ song might.”

“Flickering Protagonist” is a hinging-point, a microcosm of what the album deals with both lyrically and sonically. “It’s personal in the way it reclaims biblical references that I grew up with. I wanted to create my own narrative by juxtaposing and grounding those references with everyday present realities, like grocery shopping or replacing your car battery,” says Turner. In her prose poem read over a free-improv jam that quotes and fractures “Will The Circle Be Unbroken,” she cites the lesser-known verse, “You remember songs of heaven / Which you sang with childish voice / Do you love the hymns they taught you / Or are songs of earth your choice?,” the reference to secular music in a religious hymn further elaborating the overlap she’s exploring. The record culminates with “Widening Venn Diagram,” a love song, written after celebrating an anniversary in November 2018, the day Dylan’s Blood on the Tracks outtakes, More Blood More Tracks (referenced in the song) came out. Carrying us out of the album’s overlapping circle and into the world, Turner muses,“The song is born of a desire to continue to widen the Venn between my loved ones, and myself to see it widen in the world. To continue to be surprised and taken with the sublime in our everyday lives. The accompanying music video was born of eggs and friendships, the most magical-everyday entities we have.”

Songs for John Venn is available April 3, 2020, on professionally dubbed FerroMaster C456TM cassette tape in a limited edition of 200, and on digital platforms.

Selected press for Songs for John Venn:

“Some kind of low-key masterpiece” -Tyler Wilcox, Aquarium Drunkard Review

Dusted, Review, by Jennifer Kelly

The Nashville Scene, “Cream Premiere: Lou Turner Gets Cooking in ‘Widening Venn Diagram’ [Fresh Vid],” by Jacqueline Zeisloft

The Nashville Scene, “Lou Turner Explores Her Own Kind of Spirituality on Songs for John Venn,” by Jacqueline Zeisloft

NPR Music, “Pause and Hit Play Playlist,” chosen by Ann Powers

NPR Music’s World Cafe Live, “It’ll Take More Than a Tornado and a Pandemic to Stop the Music of Nashville,” by Ann Powers

Various Small Flames, “Flickering Protagonist” Video Premiere, Liam Doyle and Jon Doyle

Songs for John Venn Tracklist:

Side A

1. Solar Eclipse (4:48)

2. Two Tributaries (2:21)

3. King Edward Avenue (2:45)

4. Hats on Their Heads (2:52)

5. But the Bees (3:31)

6. Measuring Tape (2:43)

Side B

1. Flickering Protagonist (3:49)

2. Will the Circle Be Unbroken (2:40)

3. Testify (2:45)

4. Alarmist Apology (2:00)

5. Widening Venn Diagram (5:06)

Songs for John Venn Credits:

Engineered by Kate Haldrup and Ross Collier
Additional recording by LT
Mixing on all tracks except “Will the Circle Be Unbroken?” by Kate Haldrup
“Will the Circle Be Unbroken?” mixed by Ross Collier
Mastering by Ross Collier
All songs written by Lou Turner
“Will the Circle Be Unbroken?” samples a verse of the folk song “Will the Circle Be Unbroken?” (public domain)

1. Solar Eclipse
LT: guitar, vocals, flute, bass, percussion
Trevor Nikrant: omnichord, lapsteel
Eve Maret: synthesizer
Anson Hohne: drums, marimba

2. Two Tributaries
LT: guitar, vocals, percussion, mandolin
Trevor Nikrant: bass, drums, lapsteel
Ross Collier: jaw harp

3. King Edward Ave
LT: electric guitar, vocals, bass, percussion
Trevor Nikrant: organ, drums

4. Hats on their Heads
LT: electric guitar, vocals, percussion, mandolin
Trevor Nikrant: bass
Joe Kenkel: drums
Ross Collier: omnichord, therevox

5. But the Bees
LT: electric guitar, vocals, flute
Trevor Nikrant: bass, drums
Dave Meyer: clarinet
Ross Collier: omnichord, therevox

6. Measuring Tape
LT: electric guitar, vocals
Dan Melchior: electric guitar
Trevor Nikrant: bass, đàn bầu
Joe Kenkel: drums
Ross Collier: omnichord, therevox

7. A Flickering Protagonist
LT: electric guitar, vocals, flute, percussion
Trevor Nikrant: bass, đàn bầu
Joe Kenkel: drums, synthesizer
Dave Meyer: clarinet
Ross Collier: omnichord, therevox

8. Will the Circle Be Unbroken?
LT: Poem and vocals
Trevor Nikrant: guitar
Ross Collier: resonator
Joe Kenkel: piano

9. Testify
LT: 12-string guitar, vocals, flute
Trevor Nikrant: bass, drums
Dave Meyer: clarinet
Ross Collier: omnichord, therevox

10. Alarmist Apology
LT: guitar, vocals
Joe Kenkel: synthesizer

11. Widening Venn Diagram
LT: guitar, vocals, percussion
Austin Hoke: cello
Ellen Angelico: pedal steel guitar
Ziona Riley: background vocals
Trevor Nikrant background vocals, piano, percussion
Kate Haldrup: drums