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Sep 14, 2016 Jason Webley By Christopher Roberts

Amanda Palmer has teamed up with previous collaborator Jason Webley for a new EP entitled Sketches for the Musical JIB. It’s available to download now on Bandcamp and can also be streamed below. The EP will also be available in a limited edition of 1,111 colored 10-inch vinyl via Webley’s website. The vinyl includes two extra songs not available on the Bandcamp version and those songs have also been sent out to Palmer’s Patreon supporters, who helped fund the EP. The songs were inspired by playwright Michael McQuilken’s upcoming musical, JIB: or The Child Who Went Forth To Learn What Fear Was, which is scheduled to premiere in Philadelphia this November.

A press release describes the musical as such: “JIB - which takes its title from the shows protagonist - is an immersive rock musical and live film that follows the trajectory of a female singer-songwriter, and is a true multimedia work that explores the interconnectedness of inspiration and the unseen forces which guide our lives through her rise and fall.” The musical is currently in the middle of a $50k Kickstarter campaign.

JIB‘s writer/director McQuilken has been a touring drummer for both Palmer and Webley and the touring film/theatrical director for Palmer. Webley and Palmer previously co-wrote the conjoined-twin concept album/musical Evelyn Evelyn. McQuilken asked the duo to write song for the musical that he will fully arrange for the live stage band in the final production. Palmer and Webley wrote and recorded the songs in August.

Webley had this to say in a press release: “Michael had created an unusual rock star in Jib, and a lot of the arc of her character needs to come across through these songs. Jib is obsessed with a book of fairy tales that her father left her before he died, so each one of the songs center around a different Grimm’s story. Finding the right balance so these songs were fueled but not overwhelmed by these stories was tricky. It has been a long time since Amanda and I last really wrote together for Evelyn Evelyn, and I had forgotten how awesome of a collaborator she is. She’s such a good songwriter and the hardest working most demanding dance partner I’ve ever had the pleasure of writing with.”

Palmer said this: “Jason is one of my favorite collaborators, especially because of our matching oddball backgrounds in punk and theater.”

McQuilken commented: “Having Jason and Amanda’s songs to complete this project is incredible. Their intelligence and artistry have lifted this project, defined the musical voice of the title character, and brought the entire cast to tears more than once—WE FUCKING LOVE THESE SONGS. I feel like I’ve just been given a box full of adorable baby sloths.”

Don’t forget that Amanda Palmer is on the cover of Under the Radar’s current print issue, the music and politics themed special 2016 Protest Issue.