By ALEXANDREA BAILEY
editor@portisabelsouthpadre.com
According to The Art Lounge, Jen Mulhern, aka Jenuine Cello’s, Homecoming Concert introduced an “electrifying energy” into the air and was awarded a well-deserved standing ovation.
On Saturday, Oct. 5, the concert kicked off The Listening Sessions’ third season.
The Listening Sessions are intimate gatherings at The Art Lounge, where music lovers can hear the work of Mulhern, a cellist living on South Padre Island.
Growing up in San Antonio, Mulhern was inspired to play the cello from a young age. In the sixth grade, she discovered the instrument during a school presentation, where students were tasked with deciding which extracurricular to pursue. The school choir, band and orchestra performed for the children.
She had been exposed to the workings of music before as her aunt had directed a choir, and Mulhern had experimented with the piano a bit, but the inspiration she felt watching a string quartet for the first time on her school’s stage was something new.
“I was really drawn to this big, bassy presence,” Mulhern said of the cello. “I saw it as an opportunity to play an instrument, but also do something that was a little bit different.”
After joining the school’s orchestra, she began practicing the cello as much as possible. There was no need for bribery from her parents; they didn’t even have to ask her to practice, she says. It was a love affair from the beginning and Mulhern was dedicated to her craft. It wasn’t for naught, as she excelled faster than the normal beginner. The orchestra director advised Mulhern’s parents that she should begin private lessons. So, Phyllis Kline, cello instructor, was introduced into young Mulhern’s life.
She attended weekly lessons at Kline’s home until she graduated high school. These private lessons differed greatly from orchestra practice and helped her progress as a soloist. Mulhern describes Kline’s way of teaching as patient but still challenging enough to push her to the next level.
“There’s always a way to problem solve. Just break it down one step more,” Mulhern recounted.
After graduation, Mulhern pursued a higher education at Texas State University in San Marcos, TX, earning a degree in Music Performance.
Around 2005, right after college, feeling a calling, she began accumulating students as a private cello instructor in Austin. She did so as a way to “give back.” Teaching was her day job, and she’d instruct about 35 students weekly, ages four to 70. She says she reflected a lot of Kline’s teaching in her lessons.
“[Teaching] is definitely a part of making sure you’re nurturing and cultivating the next generation of musicians,” Mulhern said. “You want them to be as excited as you were.”
Along with teaching, Mulhern also did a lot of performing during her time in Austin as a freelance cellist. She took on a series of monthly shows at Café Crème, creating her stage name, Jenuine Cello. Mulhern also performed several times at South by Southwest and was hired as a supporting artist for musicians like Michael Bublé and Amy Palmer. She even played alongside the Gorillaz at the X Games two years in a row.
“I think Austin was a great place to show me all the different aspects of what a music career could look like,” Mulhern said.
However, she knew that change was on the horizon.
“I always knew that I was going to make a move away from my comfort zone,” she said.
Mulhern had visited South Padre Island a few times, performing solo gigs at popular hotspots like Laguna BOB. Living the fast-paced life of Austin, Mulhern didn’t have as much opportunity to connect with fellow artists as she desired, so she appreciated the Island’s “small-town charm.”
“Here, there was a community of musicians that was really attractive, and you know, people who knew when the sun rose and when the full moon was, and what the tide was like,” she explained. “People come down here
sometimes to heal, sometimes to get some space, sometimes to vacation. But a lot of people who come down here – they know they have something to add to this community.”
In 2016, after experiencing the loss of her mother and Austin’s rising cost of living, Mulhern sold her home. In 2017, she embraced a fresh start and moved to the Island on the first of January.
“I think sometimes when you are grieving, you understand how short life is,” Mulhern said.
Five years later, the first seeds of The Listening Sessions were planted when Shelly Hamsa opened The Art Lounge in May 2022. Mulhern played at the lively grand opening and was struck with inspiration.
“I looked around and I was like ‘Nice space,’” Mulhern recounted.
Around that time, Mulhern recalled a desire expressed by her fans to have a place where they could really “hear” her, without the background noise of restaurants and bars. She thought The Art Lounge was the ideal venue to accomplish that, and brought up the idea to Hamsa, who was quickly on board.
Their shared vision was a concert series where people could focus on the subtle nuances and lean into the silent space. The first listening session was held four months later. Since then, it has “continually evolved and transformed,” according to Mulhern, as the spirit of collaboration blossomed.
Mulhern began bringing in other artists to join her in The Listening Sessions. Many were her former colleagues from Austin and San Antonio.
“Anybody I knew that could do a neat variety of classical plus contemporary, I was like ‘Come down here, I want you to play with me,” Mulhern explained.
On Oct. 26, her first guest of the season will be John Pointer, a solo guitarist, cellist, vocalist and beatboxer. Mulhern and Pointer met while she was a part of a string quartet that played alongside a Spanish ballad trio: Trio Los Vigilantes. Pointer had also been a vocalist and beatboxer for The House Jacks, a group Mulhern says has a similar style to Pentatonix.
“I’ve never performed with him in this capacity, but we felt that it was going to be a cool pairing, to have somebody who is a multi-instrumentalist,” Mulhern said. “We have two hours of complete variety. It could go anywhere. It could be classical duets with cellos. It could be a beatboxing duet at some point.”
Other collaborations slated for this season of The Listening Sessions include veteran performer Brett Marshall, long-time friend of Mulhern, electric violinist Omar Phoenix and singer-songwriter from Lubbock, Tx, Jenni Dale Lord.
Throughout The Listening Sessions’ ongoing evolutionary journey, Mulhern’s goal with the project has remained the same: to invoke frisson, aka musical chills.
“It is when you are listening to music and get completely swept up by it. It’s something that feels emotional but is also physical. It’s simply just like electricity moving through you,” Mulhern explained “As a musician, if you’re giving those out, then you feel like you’ve repaid all the ones you’ve received.”
The Art Lounge is located at 33256 State Park Rd 100 #102, South Padre Island. The Listening Sessions’ schedule is posted on theartloungespi.com under the “upcoming events” tab. Nine more sessions are scheduled for this season. More information on Jenuine Cello, including merch sales, booking information and past performances, can be found at https://www.jenuinecello.com.
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