''Set Me Free'' is a 2014 album by

Jennifer Knapp Jennifer Lynn Knapp (born April 12, 1974) is an American-Australian folk rock, and contemporary Christian musician. She is best known for her first single "Undo Me" from her debut album, ''Kansas'' (1998), and the song "A Little More" from her ...

, released on

Righteous Babe Records Righteous Babe Records is an American independent record label that was created by folk singer Ani DiFranco in 1990 to release her own songs in lieu of being beholden to a mainstream record company. History Righteous Babe Records was originally ...

. The

folk rock Folk rock is a hybrid music genre that combines the elements of folk music, folk and rock music, rock music, which arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the American fo ...

album is the second full length released by Knapp after a public declaration that she is a lesbian and choosing to market her music outside of the

Christian music industry The Christian music industry is one aspect of the broader music industry, with a focus on Christian music and subgenres such as gospel music, southern gospel, contemporary Christian music, contemporary worship music, and even traditional church m ...

. The album has received positive reviews.

Production

She initially

came out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...

in 2010 and released '' Letting Go''. The album was created at the same time as Knapp's memoir ''Facing the Music'' and the creation of the non-profit Inside Out Faith, which seeks to bridge the gap between sexual minorities and religious communities. The album includes semi-autobiographical material about Knapp's coming out as well as her life growing up in

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to ...

and some of the material written on the record dates back to 2007.

Reception

The editorial staff of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

gave the album a 3.5 out of five stars, with reviewer Timothy Monger calling the album "rustic ndintrospective", praising the diversity of the songwriting as "a mix of dark, introspective ballads awash with country and blues tones as well a couple of flat-out barnburners". ''

Metro Weekly ''Metro Weekly'' is a free weekly magazine for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community in Washington, D.C., United States. It was first published on May 5, 1994. ''Metro Weekly'' includes national and local news, intervie ...

'' writer Chris Gerard compares the music favorably to

Emmylou Harris Emmylou Harris (born April 2, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter and musician. She has released dozens of albums and singles over the course of her career and has won 14 Grammys, the Polar Music Prize, and numerous other honors, includin ...

Sarah McLachlan Sarah Ann McLachlan OC OBC (born January 28, 1968) is a Canadian singer-songwriter. As of 2015, she had sold over 40 million albums worldwide. McLachlan's best-selling album to date is '' Surfacing'', for which she won two Grammy Awards (ou ...

, and

Lucinda Williams Lucinda Gayle Williams (born January 26, 1953) is an American singer-songwriter and a solo guitarist. She recorded her first two albums: '' Ramblin' on My Mind'' (1979) and ''Happy Woman Blues'' (1980), in a traditional country and blues style ...

, characterizing it as "an engaging collection of melodic folk-rock".

Track listing

All songs written by Jennifer Knapp, except where noted #"Remedy" – 3:35 #"Set Me Free" – 3:04 #"Why Wait" – 3:13 #"Neosho" – 3:37 #"What Might Have Been" – 4:50 #"Mercy's Tree" – 2:57 #"The Tale" – 5:30 #"So Happy" – 3:38 #"The End" (Amy Courts and Knapp) – 2:44 #"Sweet Love" (

Anita Baker Anita Denise Baker (born January 26, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter. She is one of the most popular singers of soulful ballads, especially renowned for her work during the height of the quiet storm Quiet storm is a radio format and ge ...

, Gary Anthony Bias, and Louis A. Johnson) – 3:11 #"Come Back" – 4:20

Personnel

Jennifer Knapp –

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or witho ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

;Additional musicians *Justin Cary –

upright bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...

*Amy Courts –

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are u ...

*Thad DeBrock – guitar *Jen Gunderman –

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a musica ...

*Robbie Hecht – backing vocals *Micah Hulscher –

Fender Rhodes The Rhodes piano (also known as the Fender Rhodes piano) is an electric piano invented by Harold Rhodes, which became popular in the 1970s. Like a conventional piano, the Rhodes generates sound with keys and hammers, but instead of strings, th ...

, piano *Lindsay Jamieson –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

*Will Kimborough – guitar *Shannon LaBrie – backing vocals *

Doug Lancio Doug Lancio is a guitarist and record producer, based in Nashville, Tennessee. He has worked with a wide range of artists including John Hiatt, Nanci Griffith, Patty Griffin and Bob Dylan. Biography Questionnaires Lancio was a member of the ...

– guitar *Jacob Lawson –

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

string String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestr ...

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

Joe Pisapia Joe Pisapia (born July 25, 1968) is an American record producer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, who was formerly a part of the band Guster and k.d. lang and the Siss Boom Bang. In the past he has also released albums with his band Joe, Ma ...

–

pedal steel guitar The pedal steel guitar is a console-type of steel guitar with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings to enable playing more varied and complex music than any previous steel guitar design. Like all steel guitars, it can ...

*Lij Shaw –

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

;Technical personnel *Amy Brown – mastering assistant *Joe Costa – mixing *Yvonne Costa – executive production *Jim DeMain – mastering *Betsy Frazer – design *Fairlight Hubbard – photography *Michelle Maloof – executive production *Kara Wettersten – executive production

References

External links

Press release from Knapp's site announcing the album
{{Authority control 2014 albums Jennifer Knapp albums Righteous Babe Records albums Pop rock albums by American artists