Mason Jennings understands the power of voice and being your own person.

The 28-year-old Minneapolis native clearly has a message to convey with the title of his most recent album. With the release of this aptly titled album, “Use Your Voice,” he encourages everyone to discover and use their voice.

“‘Use Your Voice’ demonstrates the idea of how important it is in today’s increasingly corporate world to use your own voice and not take other people’s word as gospel,” Jennings says.

Jennings is a musician in the purest sense of the word. He has been flattered by comparisons to Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash, and has developed and shaped his music — … la Dylan and Cash — into a style of music he describes as “live and organic.”

“With this album, I tried to make it natural and not perfect. I wanted to just let things happen instead of trying to force them,” Jennings says.

He says he wants to be different than larger, mass-produced artists.

The folk-rocker has been able to stay afloat as an independent artist in the dog-eat-dog music industry, selling more than 60,000 records on his own label, Architect Records. He has managed to be successful as a musician while staying true to his individuality, and some of his success he even attributes to the proverbial Antichrist of the business: file sharing.

“I love file sharing,” he says. “It’s the biggest way my music has gotten out there. … The radio is so singular and so little gets on. File sharing is the best way for artists like me to get our music out.”

Jennings says there is something that sets his music apart from what gets played on the radio.

“My music is very personal to me,” he says. “There is a real sense of intimacy to it and I think that makes it different.”

In addition to selling thousands of records, Jennings has developed a large live following, selling out venues across the country. The goal of the live show is to bring energy to the crowd, he says.

“I see the album as more like a book you can read at home, but the live shows are just full of energy,” Jennings says.

Jennings’ fan base continues to grow, garnering praise from such musicians as The Kings of Leon, Ben Harper, Jack Johnson and Ben Kweller due to his songwriting, his individuality and his simple use of an acoustic guitar and his voice.