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JOAN JETT, who opens Hard Rock Rocksino on Wednesday, has stuck to her guns, guitar and attitude
from: cleveland.com
by John Petkovic, The Plain Dealer | Photo by Janet Macoska
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Some acts trot out the same formula over and over again. Some change wildly, in search of the next formula.
With JOAN JETT, there is no formula. She's just JOAN JETT being JOAN JETT.
That might sound simple and easy -- until you realize that, with Jett, consistency isn't a chugging guitar sound, it's an irreverent attitude. She's maintained it since hitting the ground running with the RUNAWAYS, regardless of her place on the charts or in the world.
"I have more of a sense of mortality than I did when I was 21," says Jett via phone from her home in New York. "But otherwise, it's still all about rock ‘n' roll and making a connection with people."
Jett and her band the BLACKHEARTS will mark the opening of the Hard Rock Rocksino Northfield Park on Wednesday. She will perform in the Hard Rock Live 2,200-seat theater.
She's not much the gambler: "I'll play some blackjack, but not much," she says. "I gamble in other parts of my life."
Jett was the longest of long shots when she started playing, back in 1975, at the age of 17.
"I saw the RUNAWAYS as a hard-rock band," says Jett. "A lot of people equate hard rock with being masculine, because most girls play pop music or lighter stuff."
"But I didn't give it much thought, because to me it's about playing rock ‘n' roll," she adds. "People like to break it down and put it in some groups -- like punk or rock or indie or whatever. But it's all the same to me -- it's always been that way."
It reflects a larger egalitarian attitude -- one Jett rarely wears on her sleeve or delivers platitudes about. Unlike so many rock stars, she has always found time for smaller bands, from the Germs to Bikini Kill, and releasing records by bands on her label, including the Cleveland-based the Vacancies.
It's how Jett has managed to maintain her perch as a rock ‘n' roll outsider, even when she topped the charts. Even when she became a staple on classic-rock radio. Even when she was anointed the Founding Mother of the Riot Grrrl movement.
"Once you break things down, you realize that we're not that different," says Jett. "I lost my mom in 2010 and my dad in 2007, and it was a wrenching experience because they were my best friends. I was always so close to my family."
"It makes you feel so lonely," she adds. "But you realize that you're not alone, because everyone goes through this, because loss and pain are part of life and the things that make us understand life and understand each other better."
Jett dealt with the loss of her parents, as well as friends and animals, by working on her latest album, "Unvarnished." The disc, her first in seven years, opens with "Any Weather," a power-pop anthem on par with any of Jett's previous hits. The disc explores themes such as the exhibitionism that comes with the Internet, and, no surprise, mortality.
"I started writing to deal with this sense of mortality," she says. "But I was worried about not having anything to say anymore -- and then I realized that the act of doing things and not giving up is an act of rebellion."
Doubt and self-examination might not have been part of the RUNAWAYS. But even early on, Cleveland photographer Janet Macoska saw a free spirit and rebel, not to mention a cool person.
Macoska had a photo shoot with Jett when she was in town with the RUNAWAYS. Actually, it was more like a spontaneous bit of fun more than a standard shoot.
"We were walking to Cleveland State University past this garbage can that was part of some lame-ass campaign that Cleveland had to pick up garbage," says Macoska. "So I was like, ‘Hey, let's pitch in by taking some shots.' "
After tossing some of the trash out of the can, Jett jumped up and started straddling the garbage can -- snap, snap, snap.
"It was typical Joan, a free spirit with rock ‘n' roll in her blood just jumping in and being Joan," says Macoska. "With her, there is no costume -- she doesn't need one because she's so real."
The photo ended up running in Creem magazine and has been beloved by many for its iconic depiction of an iconoclastic.
Jett admits that it might've been a little more than a happy accident.
"I probably figured, people are saying the RUNAWAYS are some trashy girl band, so why not pose with some trash and throw it back at them?" she says. "I just never cared much what people thought."
That's not to say she doesn't care what her fans think -- or see -- especially these days, when she hits the stage.
"Honestly, that's all I care about and why I keep on touring, because the traveling sucks and the other stuff isn't fun," says Jett. "It's about playing and making eye contact, a connection with someone in the audience -- that moment the singer looks at you, and you smile."
"I was that person in the audience," she adds. "And I hope I'm always going to be that person."
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