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Why Jennifer Knapp’s newest album ‘resonates’ with me

On Sept. 4, Jennifer Knapp’s newest recording venture hit the market. In this five-song extended play collection, Resonant, she pulled together some of her favorites covers.

The term “resonant” refers to a deep, clear echoing of sound, and these songs are just that for Knapp. Speaking fondly of these timeless hits from great musicians she likes “to keep in her back pocket,” Knapp shared the origin of the EP at a recent concert.

Back on May 17, 2024, Knapp re-released her first national recording, Kansas, renamed as Kansas 25. This album was a recreation of many of her original hits: Martyrs & Thieves, Undo Me, Whole Again, Faithful to Me, His Grace is Sufficient, and Hold Me Now, just to name a few.

Speaking of the significance of this recreation, Knapp said, “It’s been profoundly moving to witness the ways in which this album has resonated with each of you, shaping your experiences and memories. Your unwavering love and support have reignited my passion for these songs, prompting me to revisit them in the studio.”

After the recording and release of Kansas 25, Knapp hit the road, going on a whirlwind tour across the country for a year. This summer, she finally had a break, returning to her home in Nashville for about eight weeks. After taking the first few weeks to rest from her travels, she began to consider returning to the studio. When talking about this with long-time friend and pioneering voice in Christian music Margaret Becker (affectionately called “Maggie B.”), Jennifer decided to return to the studio to record some of her favorite cover songs and to “play for the joy of it.” Within a matter of days, these songs were produced.

Resonant includes Lucinda Williams’ country and blues hit Can’t Let Go from the album Car Wheels on a Gravel Road. A fun, upbeat tune, this song speaks of the painful struggle of holding on to a relationship that is clearly over. Knapp brings her own acoustic spunk to the song that has spoken to people for more than two and a half decades.

The EP also includes Paul Kelly’s hit Don’t Stand So Close to the Window. In this ballad, the Australian rock singer-songwriter and guitarist tells “Marlene” they need to keep their romantic relationship secretive. If word gets out, gossip will spread, and it will be as devastating as an “Ash Wednesday bushfire.” Knapp explains this is a reference to the devastating bushfire that swept across southern Australia in 1983, which took the lives of 75 people.

Also on Knapp’s new album is Mary Chapin Carpenter’s 1994 song The Last Word. Knapp explained the choice of this song among the many beloved songs on Carpenter’s Stones in the Road: “I like this song because it reminds me of one of the biggest challenges I have — to get the last word.” She went on to explain that when she talked to her mom about including this song, her mother questioned why this one was chosen when there are so many other great songs on Carpenter’s hit album. Knapp said the lyrics remind her of times, as a child, when she would get into fights with her dad, throw her arms back, lean in and try to get the last word (which usually resulted in being grounded longer). Knapp concluded in a recent concert: “I envy the people who don’t need the last word. If I sing this song long enough, hopefully, I’ll be a little quicker to not have to have the last word.”

Knapp also selected Patty Griffin’s Every Little Bit, from her debut album Living with Ghosts. The folk song may be a reference to her divorce in 1994, as Griffin cries out in heartbreak from being left behind. Wrestling with the memories of what once was, she realizes she was “sold by a lie” as she recalls “every little bit” of these recollections.

The richest song on Knapp’s collection is by Tracy Chapman. Knapp retells the time as a teen when she held up a push-button cassette recorder to her little 12-inch, black-and-white television to record Chapman on Saturday Night Live. That recording was influential in the start of Knapp’s love for acoustic music: “There are little bread crumb trails that people leave for me, and Tracy was one of those.”

She went on to speak of this music icon as someone who knows who they want to be and puts that into their work. Knapp affectionately speaks of Chapman’s “subtle theology,” which is commonly woven throughout her great music.

The selected cover for Resonant is the song Unsung Psalm, which expresses a resilient desire to live right even after challenging struggles in life.

In each of these cover songs, Jennifer Knapp brings her own folk-rock groove, upbeat style and creative, alternative sound. As her heroes and heroines before her, she pours out her heart in her music and in these retellings of influential songs from her life and career.

What is it about these five selections? For Knapp, it begins with her love for acoustic music. It is rare for someone to do a pure acoustic album. In the album’s press release, she expresses gratitude for the original performers, “whose character and voices continue to resonate” with her. This recording is about doing something personally meaningful rather than attempting to please others.

However, there is something raw and real about each of the selected hits on Resonant. I wonder if this vulnerability and authenticity is also a part of Knapp’s interest in these songs. As she said, they “resonate” with her.

In her 2014 memoir, Facing the Music: My Story, Knapp explains:

None of us are at the end of what we experience. It may feel like we are at times the target of sorrow or of anger, but these things must pass through us if we want to survive them. We cannot keep joy to ourselves or love hidden away. Nor can we harbor pain so deep that it takes root. We can set the love we have inside our hearts free to be enjoyed by those we hold dear. We have in us the power to reshape.

Perhaps it is that “power to reshape” that Knapp sees in these songs. Regardless, hearing her perform them live in a recent concert and being a fan for many years, the transparency of Jennifer Knapp’s music is what “resonates” with me.

In whatever way we can, each of us would benefit from finding a means of expression about what “resonates” with us and echoing that into the world. We will find there are others out there who will echo it back to us; herein, we find community.

 

Patrick Wilson has served as a pastor 25 years in Dallas and Austin, Texas, and most recently in in Rolla, Mo., where he now leads a community of faith, CrossRoads. He is a graduate of Baylor University, earned two master’s degrees at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and a Doctor of Ministry degree from Logsdon Seminary.