Jens Rybo, a Swedish-American singer-songwriter from Cambridge, Massachusetts, is releasing his first solo debut album, "Letters from America," in September/October 2023 after 45 years of songwriting.
Recorded in 2021-23 by co-producer and musician Jeremy Waybright, the album contains songs about times in Scandinavia with only one TV channel available, sociological and psychological observations about the state of humanity, doubts and joys of single-parenting, and some re-writing of the Bible. Themes of love, longing, and lostness, in other words.
Originally from Göteborg, Sweden, Jens played in local bands in the 80s, most notably Nio Liv (Nine Lives), who was part of the 80’s Swedish punk & New Wave scene, and who toured the country extensively. They released one album and two 45s before they folded in 1988. Jens was also one of the forces at Nonstop Records, a Göteborg record company that released a lot of great Swedish music from the 80s, most famously the compilation album GBG Punk 77-80, a collection of local punk anthems.
After moving to the US in the 90s, Jens became a mental health professional, and worked for 23 years as the Executive Director for Tunefoolery Music, a non-profit organization for musicians in mental health recovery. In his spare time, he plays with Tail, an Americana/Roots cover band that released an album Cake on Cake in 2010.
In the fall of 2023, Jens plans to perform live with his backup band Trillium (Tail members Theresa Thompson - also his wife - on violin and Jeremy Waybright on bass and hi-hat).