In the making of her new album World On the Ground, the NYC-based artist collaborated with producer/songwriter John Leventhal: a 5-time Grammy Award-winner known for his work with Elvis Costello, Shawn Colvin, and his wife Rosanne Cash. Working almost entirely on their own, the two musicians crafted a subtle tapestry of sound perfectly suited to Jarosz’s lyrical storytelling. In a departure from the nuanced introspection of her previous work, World On the Ground unfolds as a finely wrought collection of stories from her hometown of Wimberley, TX (population: 2,626), presenting a series of character sketches nearly novelistic in emotional scope. As she inhabits characters both real and imagined—exploring the tension and inertia of small-town living, the desire for escape and the ease of staying put—Jarosz reveals her remarkable gift for slipping into the inner lives of others and patiently uncovering so much indelible insight.