Mississippi Jones may not be the most well-known Seattle band in town, but the group may be one of the most surprising. Fronted by Mississippi Brenna, the flutter-voiced, electric-eyed lead singer, the band plays thoughtful, inclusive music aimed at a diverse audience. And the group has a few shows coming up – Aug. 25 at Vermillion and Aug. 27 at inartsnw. In light of this, we wanted to catch up with the band’s frontwoman to get some insight into her writing process.

Jake Uitti: When you’re singing to an audience, what’s going through your mind?

Mississippi Brenna: I try to grab the energy I wrote the song with and think about what this song could mean for people in their lives and tap into the universality of music, that intangible thing that makes it so connecting.

And also don’t fuvk up.

JU: You seem to have a unique sense of the energies swirling around you at a given moment, what sort of energy do you try to capture when you sit down and write music?

MB: NO More Sad Songs.

There is an element of living in Seattle now where it is so exciting to be part of the change, there is all this new energy coming to the city and interacting, and to not get lost in it you find good things about the day. Things that are good for you and also watching other people enjoy their day. I write songs to connect those good experiences and lift them up so they are easy to see.

JU: Is there a song in particular of yours that sums this up for you?

MB: Jalila.

JU: Can you talk about it a bit?

MB: If you listen to the lyrics it’s a celebration of one person by all the people who care about them. Kind of like love is not this finite resource and we can create more of it by taking it and by utilizing it for expression.

JU: The song is an interesting hybrid of music styles. It’s playful and also a little melancholy. It’s electronic but also guitar forward. Is all this intentional? If so, how do you go about blending styles in your songs?

MB: That is a question for my bandmate Jason. I wrote the basics and then j adds what he likes. Then we go over it together and do some subtractive mixing and add some stuff as well. Clearly this song needed bongos!

JU: And you (and Jason) have some shows coming up. What can you tell me about them?

MB: Thursday at Vermillion is a more chill industry showcase like vibe. There will still be pretty lights and great music, drinks and places to sit and talk or get to the stage.

Saturday we unleash the unholy hell of Halloween in August. You might want to wear a mask and costume to practice releasing your inner demons before October. Kind of like a dress rehearsal and it is at InArts NW, a bastion of independent art creation in our quickly homogenizing hill.