Jill Gewirtz

Biography

Born and raised in NYC, Just Jill was exposed to the creativity of the West Village in the 1970's. She attended Little Red School House and Elisabeth Irwin High School, progressive schools which nurtured her musical evolution and performance. She was told in the 4th grade that she would never be able to play guitar, but she became self taught in guitar in 1987. Jill is keenly able to find harmonies and has found her own voice in acoustic rock.

She is able to convey her observation of human experience, boldly expressing
an honest view. Just Jill returned to NYC after spending 15 years in
Chicago, pursuing a degree in psychology, and has been performing locally
since 1999. She currently participates in Jack Hardy's music circle and
studies with Terre Roche in guitar. Jill is also an avid photographer,
jeweler, and craftswoman.

For more information on Jill, check out her pages at MP3.com.

Comments about 'Been Around':

'Been Around' was written in the wake of the World Trade Center attack, two
days later, when in New York there were 100 bomb scares. The song reflects
the sense of powerlessness and chaos that ensued, with hundreds of people on
the streets, emptying out of office buildings, and awaiting direction from officials so that they could return to safety. The song reflected my disorientation-I had certainly never practiced for this in my life and I'm sure neither had other people. Going down stairwells was a painful reminder of what thousands of people had done only two days before. The bomb evacuation for me had just deepened the wound of the World Trade Center disaster.
- Jill Gewirtz

Jill Gewirtz is a psychologist who was working in an office building 2 days after the attacks. On that day alone there 100 bomb scares in Manhattan, and the city was in chaos. Here she describes what it felt like to be evacuated from her building.
- Suzanne Vega

'Been Around'

[ mp3 sound clip ]

Been around...I run to the bathroom window
been around I see crowds below
been around I run to the ground floor
been around the guard says 'evacuation'

Been around but I've never seen anything like this before

been around I inform the crowd
been around heads lift in disbelief
been around I move through the crowd
been around I inhale the cigarette

Been around but I've never seen anything like this before

how can I contain these feelings of grief
how can I contain these feelings of anxiety
how can I believe what they say is the truth
how can I believe when it's safe to return