It’s hard for me to stick to just one thing,” says Jessica Risker, who is both a singer-songwriter and a licensed therapist. The balance of running a local counseling practice while making psychedelic-tinged folk “can be hard, but now I’m so happy with the combination. I enjoy putting a lot of different things together in what I hope are fresh ways.”
Her latest thing? A new album, Calendar Year, which drops August 1. Risker will promote the release — her first in seven years — with a show at Constellation on September 5 and another in New York City. She was just starting to gain notice as a musician when new motherhood and COVID forced the hiatus. She’s done a lot of growing in the interim. This album draws material from her life, both as a therapist and a mom, and marks a sonic shift to fuller-bodied, richer arrangements.
It was her other passion, though, that drew her to Chicago: She moved here from Missouri in 2002 to pursue a master’s in counseling psychology from Northwestern. Before that, she’d taken a postundergrad year off to focus on music, but ultimately settled on psychology as a livelihood. “I really have always been interested in making music,” says Risker, 46. “But that wasn’t as clear of a path, career-wise.”
After recording for most of a decade under the moniker Deadbeat, Risker took a leap forward in 2018 with the release of I See You Among the Stars, her first album under her own name. “It felt creatively like it was getting closer to the sound I was hoping to achieve,” she says. Fittingly, her own star began to shine. NPR featured the title track on All Songs Considered, and the popular UK music mag Shindig! profiled her.
The birth of her son in 2019, followed by the pandemic, forced her to put a pause on her next album. It was a tough time to be a new mom. “All the little baby activities that I was really looking forward to were cut off,” Risker recalls. “Everyone had their own types of loss, but that was one I felt really poignantly.” Professionally, she transitioned to online counseling sessions: “As you might imagine, a lot of people were seeking therapy during that time.”
She also started a podcast, Music Therapy With Jessica Risker, to help others cope with the isolation. With an assist from bandmate Joshua Wentz, she recorded more than 100 episodes, chatting with other musicians and fellow therapists about mental health topics such as dealing with seasonal affective disorder and avoiding music industry pitfalls like alcoholism.
Nonetheless, she found free moments to compose about one song a month in 2020 with her guitar and flute. As Calendar Year slowly began to take shape, Risker found herself writing personal, contemplative lyrics that resonated more broadly. “The new album is a lot about the importance of human relationships and feeling connected,” she says. In 2023, she put the podcast on hold to focus on recording the material. Her backing band helped craft a soundscape that includes strings and, courtesy of Wentz, synths and electronics. “He brings this really amazing kind of psychedelic layer to the songs,” Risker says.
With tracks like “RHOJP (Real Housewife of Jefferson Park),” it’s not hard to see where Risker found her inspiration. Frequent walks with her toddler around her Northwest Side neighborhood sparked “Sipping in the Sunshine.” The tune’s serene sound contrasts with lyrics that reflect the dim state of the locked-down world. “It’s not a totally optimistic song, but it’s trying to be,” she says. “You try to feel a little sun on your face, try to make the best of it.”
Meanwhile, “City Hours” ponders the effects of everyone having “a jukebox in your ear,” as Risker sings over its lush hook and bouncy rhythm. She explains: “We’re all kind of lost in our earbuds. We’re engaged but disengaged.”
And right now, Risker is happy to be fully engaged again in pursuing music: “I don’t feel totally fulfilled in my person unless I’m creating something.”