|
All news is attributed to the source from which it was received so that readers may judge the validity of the statements for themselves.
Have Joan Jett news to report? Email us at jettfc@aol.com, and please include the source of the information so it can be validated.
JOAN JETT shows how age doesn't dull a good rocker
from: fresnobee.com
by Mike Osegueda
Long before Ashlee Simpson dyed her hair jet black and tried to convince the world she could rock, JOAN JETT was trotting the globe with her black locks and proving that women could rock just like men.
Now in her mid-40s, Jett's not trying to retire to the old folks' music circuit yet. She hopped on the mainstage of this year's Vans Warped Tour to prove to the kids of Simpson's generation that women have been rocking like men for a while now.
"It makes me excited about the music scene again," Jett says. "To see all these vibrant bands."
While she's old enough to be the mother to the 20-something bands that the Warped Tour is crawling with, that's hardly Jett's role.
Jett might be a godmother to grrrl rockers everywhere, but on Warped Tour she's just one of the gang. She enjoys barbecues with other musicians -- many of whom weren't even born when she made her cover of "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" a classic in 1981.
Sure, she tells stories and gives advice -- of course the new-school punks want to hear what it was like for Jett to produce "(GI)," the infamous debut (and only) album by Los Angeles punk band The Germs -- but she's just going along for the Warped ride like everyone else.
Ask her why the Warped Tour, and she's quick to respond with a question of her own.
Why not?
"The attractive part for me is that this is the kind of music I love," Jett says. "This is what I grew up with, the whole punk rock vibe."
It was the powers-that-be at Warped Tour who recruited Jett. Her label, BLACKHEART RECORDS, regularly supplies bands to the tour. In the past, Jett has done a couple of dates.
This year, she was asked to play the whole thing by Kevin Lyman, the Warped Tour founder.
"I think he likes to have bands out doing Warped that sort of show the kids where the music came from," Jett says.
About Jett, Lyman recently told The Miami Herald: "She's still very relevant. She's schooling younger bands on how to play live."
Coming into Warped Tour, Jett said she no idea how she and her Blackheart band would be received by the mostly teenage crowd.
"I figured some of the kids are gonna know our music," she says. "There'll be some kids who might know my name but have never experienced what my music is about.
Her half-hour set is a mix of older material and songs from her new album, "SINNER." So far, she says, everything is going over real well.
Parents often can be found at Warped Tour, watching quietly while their kids have fun, or sometimes enjoying a veteran band such as The Offspring, which was a headliner last year.
Jett, however, is perhaps the best generation-neutralizer that the Warped Tour ever has booked.
"A lot of the kids, they come with their parents, and that's pretty cool," Jett says. "The kids are into it, as opposed to being like 'ewww.' A couple of the parents have come to me and said, 'This is the first year I've been able to enjoy some of the music, too.'
"Hopefully we're making new fans and showing them something they haven't seen."
|
| |
This Week:
No shows scheduled this week.
Click on the LIVE DATES link for upcoming shows |
Item Of The Month:
|
