We’re pleased as can be to welcome pop rocker Jenny Owen Youngs back to St. Louis this Wednesday, September 21st. She’s playing at Old Rock House (doors 7p, show 8p) with Hank & Cupcakes and Sam Bradley. Jenny answered some of our questions about life, guitars, and the fear of Twitter abandonment.

We’re glad you’re on your way back to town. Will your upcoming St. Louis concert be the first headlining gig here?

Yes! This will be my first St. Louis headline show and I am PSYCHED. I’ve come through before supporting Greg Laswell and MAE in the past.

I noticed something interesting while attending your shows: you always seem to attract diverse demographics of fans. What do you think makes your music accessible and/or universally adored?

I’m not sure what accounts for this crowd diversity but what I hope comes across in the songs, above anything else, is humanity. And as humans, who can’t relate to that?

I have to tell you, I’ve made that basement EP version of “Last Person” the first track of about every mix compiled since that record came out. And no joke, it becomes each mix recipient’s favorite song. Tell us about how and why the Last Person EP was made.

Well we wanted to put together an EP to back up the launch of “Last Person.” About a year beforehand, I’d made a little four song collaborative recording with Jukebox the Ghost previewing our tour together, and we’d done the whole thing as five people in one room, arranging the songs and recording the instrumentals in single live takes in Dan Romer’s basement. I loved the vibe of those recordings, and so we figured why not approach a few songs from Transmitter Failure in the same way for the LPEP.

Is the new single, “Great Big Plans”, going to be a part of your third full-length album? How much, if any, is this new body of work going to differ from 2009’s Transmitter Failure or Batten the Hatches?

“Great Big Plans,” which I recorded with afore-mentioned singer, songwriter and producer Greg Laswell, will not be part of the record. I’m a deep believer in record unity, so the new album will be a body of work created with Dan Romer. I hope that Greg and I will do more work together in the future though!  We approached the new album with the intent to explore grittier percussion and drum sounds, and to strive for a more live sound while still maintaining Dan’s studio precision. Hopefully that’s what will come across. Also it’s louder and faster.

Our friend Beth was wondering if you had a favorite guitar of all time for sentimental or other reasons. Now we’re wondering, too.

Like…of my own guitars? I’d say my SG. It’s from the early seventies…P90 pickups…The sound is so meaty, for lack of a better word. But you know, they’re all my favorites.

You were recently listed in Paste’s 50 Musicians Worth Following On Twitter. What did that do to your follower count and how are you dealing with this sudden rush of 140 character fame?

I think I landed around 1,000 new followers from that feature! God bless Paste Magazine. I think harder about what I’m going to say because I fear all these new people will find me boring and unfollow me. Ultimately that makes me tweet less. I have some abandonment issues.

We ask this question a lot but always get interesting answers: What advice do you have for artists who are looking into touring for the first time? What do you wish someone had told you?

Hmm…”Don’t be an idiot”? I think that’s what I wish I could tell myself but it probably doesn’t apply to everyone! Be prepared. Eat as well as you can. Get some sleep. Work out whenever possible. Keep your body healthy and your mind will follow!

What are you reading right now?

A Heartbeat and a Guitar: The Story of Johnny Cash and the Making of Bitter Tears. It’s all about Cash making a record that focused on the plight of Native people at a time when those sympathies were unpopular – 1965, when Johnny was at one of his career peaks. The record was banned, no radio station would play it even though he was one of the biggest stars in the country at the time. Really really interesting. I recently read Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and A Good Man Is Hard to Find (Flannery O’Connor). All highly recommended!

 

OKAY, CONTEST TIME: Jenny herself offered up a limited-edition, hand-screened 18×24″ tour poster, her latest album, and some buttons and stickers of the awesome variety to one lucky fan just for making their way to the show on Wednesday. Here’s how to get at these gems:

1) RSVP to the event on Facebook right here (your RSVP is an entry into the giveaway).

2) Go to ORH for the JOY show. IWTAS will pick a winner at random around 8:30pm and we’ll post the winner’s name on our Twitter and Facebook accounts. We’ll also probably make a little sign with your name on it (neat!) at the merch booth in case you are too engrossed in the show to check your phone (and we hope that’s the case).

Good luck and happy listening, St. Louis.