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Long-rocking Jett rolls into Dells for May 20 show
from: wiscnews.com
By Ed Legge
Though she clearly does not believe in a mandatory retirement age for rock musicians, JOAN JETT is not opposed to writing and singing a song or two about the challenges of crossing a certain age threshold.
Jett's latest album, in fact - the hard-rocking "Unvarnished," released in 2013 - is peppered with such songs, about mature themes including losing a parent, surviving the end of a long-term relationship and taking stock of one's life.
"I guess rock ‘n' roll is stepping into a new age because now you've got rock ‘n' rollers who are getting older, and how do you reconcile rock ‘n' roll with those subjects (of aging) when we've always associated it with fun, free-living and all that sort of stuff?" Jett, 57, said Monday afternoon during a telephone interview with Dells Events.
"Yes, rock ‘n' roll can be that, but it's also about life, and we're storytellers just like in any other genre (of music). I think it's really important to connect with other rockers and other people who love music and talk about the things we all go through," she said.
Connecting with audiences is what keeps Jett - who along with her band the BLACKHEARTS has sold millions of records, performed before audiences all over the world and was in 2015 inducted into the Rock ‘n' Roll Hall of Fame - touring, even as she enters her fifth decade as a recording artist and performing musician.
That pursuit will bring her to Wisconsin Dells on May 20 for an 8 p.m. show at Crystal Grand Music Theatre, as part of a 50-show tour that runs from next week through November.
"What keeps me going really is the fans and that connection we're talking about, on stage," Jett said. "The traveling aspect has really become tough, so you really gotta have something to look forward to, and that time on stage is really special."
The show at Crystal Grand will offer songs spanning Jett's entire career, she said â€" from such 1980s hits as "I Love Rock ‘n' Roll" and "I Hate Myself for Loving You" to more recent material from "Unvarnished."
"We try to play a bit of everything," she said. "We play the hits because people want to hear them, so we make sure we take care of all that, and we try to do a little bit of every era."
Jett's imprint on rock music spans several eras, most notably the ones before, during and after the advent of punk rock and the "new wave" of music that followed.
As a Los Angeles teenager in the early 1970s, she was a founding member of the ultimately influential, all-girl band the RUNAWAYS, and when that band broke up later in the decade she joined creative forces with songwriter and producer KENNY LAGUNA and formed the BLACKHEARTS.
Touring "relentlessly," according to her Rock Hall of Fame biography, Jett and the BLACKHEARTS eventually struck musical gold with the late-1981 album "I Love Rock ‘n' Roll" and the song of the same name, which became a No. 1 hit and Jett's signature song.
Other hits, including a cover version of "Crimson and Clover" and "Hate Myself" - which more recently has been adapted as the theme song for NBC's "Sunday Night Football."
Ever since, Jett's strong, basic rock brand - black, spiky haircut, low-slung guitar and black leather - has endured and proved incredibly versatile. She has appeared in everything from movies (co-starring with Michael J. Fox in "Light of Day" 1987) to Afghanistan (performing for the troops dressed in a blue burka) to the Muppets.
Her story with the RUNAWAYS was told in the 2010 movie of the same name (she was played by Kristen Stewart), and at the occasion of her and the BLACKHEARTS' induction into the Rock Hall of Fame five years later she was called "an icon."
"She's inspired countless girls to form bands," said her Rock Hall biography.
On stage obviously is where Jett is most at home, which is why she is on the road yet again this summer and fall - including a few dates later this year with fellow Rock Hall of Famers Cheap Trick and Heart.
"That's pretty much how it's been - you make records then you go out and tour," she said Monday. "We pretty much work most of the year - we like it like that, we try to stay busy." |
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