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Jen Cloher On World Cafe

It takes a long time to fly from Australia to the U.S. Depending on how many stops you have and what your final destination is, you're probably looking at 24 hours plus. And similarly, it can take a long time for Australia's finest musicians to fly across the airwaves in the U.S.

Music fans in Melbourne, Australia certainly know of rock and roller, poet and artist advocate Jen Cloher. They've know about her for years, but thanks to her excellent self-titled 2017 record, we're finally getting hip to her on this hemisphere. Jen just wrapped up her first full-band headlining tour of the U.S., and for the most part it was sold out!

In Jen's touring band, and on this session, is Jen's wife and partner in co-founding Milk Records, Courtney Barnett. Yes, that Courtney Barnett. Courtney's explosively successful debut, Avant Gardener, is a record we played lots on the Cafe and she recently did a record with Kurt Vile.

Together, Jen and Courtney are a rock and roll power couple, which comes with its own unique set of challenges, as you might imagine. They started dating before Courtney was famous. But a few years ago, Courtney's career suddenly blew up and Jen had to cope with her partner being on the road all the time enjoying the kind of international success that Jen had been working towards for longer.

We'll talk about how Jen coped and hear her perform one of the songs that experience inspired alongside Courtney who plays guitar on this session. All that and more in the player above.

Copyright 2018 XPN

Talia Schlanger hosts World Cafe, which is distributed by NPR and produced by WXPN, the public radio service of the University of Pennsylvania. She got her start in broadcasting at the CBC, Canada's national public broadcaster. She hosted CBC Radio 2 Weekend Mornings on radio and was the on-camera host for two seasons of the television series CBC Music: Backstage, as well as several prime-time music TV specials for CBC, including the Quietest Concert Ever: On Fundy's Ocean Floor. Schlanger also guest hosted various flagship shows on CBC Radio One, including As It Happens, Day 6 and Because News. Schlanger also won a Canadian Screen Award as a producer for CBC Music Presents: The Beetle Roadtrip Sessions, a cross-country rock 'n' roll road trip.