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EVENT DETAILS |
Erin McKeown, Jill Sobule
Music: Clubs: pop/rock
When: 11/09/09 @ 8:00pm
Cost: $12
Call: 268-1122
Web: www.myspace.com/erinmckeown
More Information:
ERIN MCKEOWN & JILL SOBULE
Monday, November 9, 8pm
High Noon Saloon
Tickets: $12
Ages: 21+
Jill kicks things off, while Erin closes, and the two of them finish up the evening with a few songs together.
www.myspace.com/erinmckeown
www.myspace.com/jillsobule
Announcing the Clash of the Legends featuring Jill Sobule and Erin McKeown
Catch singer-songwriters Jill Sobule and Erin McKeown this fall as they cross the US together in support of their latest albums. Erin is promoting her soon-to-be released album Hundreds of Lions (out Oct. 13th), and Jill is on the road in support of her newest album, California Years. The album, released on April 14th, was entirely fan-funded -- read more about that on http://jillsnextrecord.com. Their generosity has resulted in an intimate album full of keenly observed story-songs that chronicle Sobule's new life in Los Angeles (after many years in New York) with her trademark feistiness and insightful wit, receiving rave reviews across the board (see below for several examples). Described by the New Yorker as "a feisty post-punk feminist whose work brings to mind a cross between Liz Phair and Gertrude Stein", don't miss Jill on the road with Erin McKeown.
One day about a year ago, singer and songwriter Jill Sobule found herself at a crossroads. She had written a batch of songs that she really liked, but she had no idea what to do with them. Over the course of her long music career, Sobule had already been dropped by two major labels, then found herself languishing on two indies that both went bankrupt. "Needless to say, I was hesitant to go down the label road again," she says.
Sobule became obsessed with thinking about how to release the songs, which now make up her charming new album California Years. Should she give it one last go with the majors? Release the music digitally? Or should she just finance the album herself, and if so, where would she get the money? "How do I pay the rent?" she asked readers of her blog on allthingsd.com. Sobule jokes, "How do I support my gambling and morphine habits?"
After receiving all kinds of useful advice and encouragement, she launched jillsnextrecord.com, where folks could donate cash in exchange for "gifts." A $10 contribution earned you a free digital download of the album; $50 got you an advanced copy and a 'Thank You' in the liner notes; $200 earned you free admission to all of Sobule's shows for the year; and $1,000 got you your own personal Sobule-penned "theme song." Three people who donated $5,000 got Sobule to come play at their house, which she loves to do ("They always have really good spreads"), and the one fan who donated $10,000 got to sing on the album (listen for her on "Mexican Pharmacy"). The website launched in mid-January 2008. By March, Sobule had reached her target of raising $75,000 through donations from more than 500 fans and even a few non-fans. "I got a message from this one guy saying, 'I don't really like your music, but I'm donating because I like this idea,'" Sobule recalls with a laugh.
Because of those generous souls, Sobule was able to finance the recording of California Years. Underneath her (occasional) crankiness and bravado resides a genuine vulnerability that makes Sobule's work so appealingly relatable. Not only do the songs on California Years touch on growing older in the music industry ("a taboo subject," Sobule says) but they also address trying to figure out where you belong. "The album is really about searching and yearning for something," says Sobule who is now in her mid-40s.
California Years is a welcome addition to the Denver native's impressive catalog, which begins in 1990 with the Todd Rundgren-produced debut Things Here Are Different, followed by her 1995 self-titled breakthrough, which includes the pop hits "I Kissed A Girl" and "Supermodel" (memorably featured in the film Clueless ). Happy Town was next in 1997, followed by 2000's Pink Pearl, 2003's independently released The Folk Years 2003-2003, and 2004's Underdog Victorious.
Sobule was so eager for her benefactors to hear that she posted a preview of the songs on the site and solicited opinions from about which ones to include, leading one wisenheimer to remark: "I realize this will be an unpopular opinion, but I've listened to these tracks all the way through and I think it needs more cowbell."
"I agree with him," Sobule says. "You can never have too much cowbell."
praise for California Years:
“California Years is flirtatiously retro pop rock, full of mordant punch lines delivered cold … [Sobule is] older, but so much wiser.” - Rolling Stone
"Like her musical peers Randy Newman and Harry Nilsson, Sobule delves into the pervasive sadness of living with a sense of humor that makes it all okay, even magnetic... she is a highly literate champion of the absurd" - popmatters.com
"Like her late friend Warren Zevon, Sobule has a blade in one hand and flowers in the other, and her songs are always rooted to a simple and effective melody." - allmusicguide.com
"California Years is another indication of the depth of her artistry, at once breezy, effortlessly tuneful, and irrevocably compelling on an emotional level." - CaliforniaChronicle.com
"California Years is a triumphant success not only for Jill, but for the future of independent music." - uncommonmusic.com
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