13
Jul
2004
Lennon hates playing acoustic. It makes her "scared to death," she said in a recent interview with the River Cities' Reader. "I have terrible anxiety. I don't like being alone."
So, naturally, she ended last year with an acoustic tour. And in September, her own John Galt Entertainment will release into stores Career Suicide, an album primarily of Lennon and her piano.
The title is ironic for the woman the All Music Guide describes as a "headbanging hottie." Although she'll be doing a rock-and-roll show when she visits Quad City Live on Thursday, Career Suicide is an unlikely (and perhaps unwise) detour for an emerging hard-rock artist.
There was a load of publicity when the then-teenaged Lennon released her first record, 5:30 Saturday Morning, on Arista three years ago. (The "hottie" tag was part of the image her label was trying to create; the record's cover features a topless Lennon showing her bare back.)
Arista did a great job getting the word out about this young artist, but the label is known for R&B, not breaking acts with ferocious guitars. "They're not a rock label," Lennon said. "They don't know the contacts at the rock stations."
So Lennon parted ways with Arista and hit the road. "We've been touring straight for three years," she said. The incessant playing is an acknowledgment that without the backing of a major label, hard work is the only way to make a name for oneself. "We play with anybody, anywhere," she said.
The independent route, she argues, is probably better business at this point, as bands are often caught in limbo with label mergers and roster purges. "The state of the industry's pretty bad," Lennon said. "It's almost safer not to be on a big label."
An acoustic album, of course, is exactly the type of thing a record label would never suggest or support for such a relatively unknown performer unless it wanted to transform her into a crooner. And Lennon wasn't sold on the idea, either. "I wasn't a big fan," she said. "If everybody likes this, what about the rock stuff?"
But Lennon (whose last name is Murphy) writes on the piano, so Career Suicide made some sense. It goes "more in-depth into how the song was done," she said. And the results have been good: "We lost no rock credibility."
The album reveals a versatile singer who can summon the full-bore emotion of a balladeer and the sly bitterness of a Fiona Apple. Lennon doesn't sound the least bit out-of-place belting her songs with only her piano accompanying the voice.
Lennon released Career Suicide on her Web site (http://www.lennononline.com) last year, and she already has another rock record - I Am - in the can. It will be released in Japan and Brazil in late August. She's still working on a deal for U.S. distribution. "I just want it out," she said. "I am so proud of this record. It's more me. It's more real."
The title is ironic for the woman the All Music Guide describes as a "headbanging hottie." Although she'll be doing a rock-and-roll show when she visits Quad City Live on Thursday, Career Suicide is an unlikely (and perhaps unwise) detour for an emerging hard-rock artist.
There was a load of publicity when the then-teenaged Lennon released her first record, 5:30 Saturday Morning, on Arista three years ago. (The "hottie" tag was part of the image her label was trying to create; the record's cover features a topless Lennon showing her bare back.)
Arista did a great job getting the word out about this young artist, but the label is known for R&B, not breaking acts with ferocious guitars. "They're not a rock label," Lennon said. "They don't know the contacts at the rock stations."
So Lennon parted ways with Arista and hit the road. "We've been touring straight for three years," she said. The incessant playing is an acknowledgment that without the backing of a major label, hard work is the only way to make a name for oneself. "We play with anybody, anywhere," she said.
The independent route, she argues, is probably better business at this point, as bands are often caught in limbo with label mergers and roster purges. "The state of the industry's pretty bad," Lennon said. "It's almost safer not to be on a big label."
An acoustic album, of course, is exactly the type of thing a record label would never suggest or support for such a relatively unknown performer unless it wanted to transform her into a crooner. And Lennon wasn't sold on the idea, either. "I wasn't a big fan," she said. "If everybody likes this, what about the rock stuff?"
But Lennon (whose last name is Murphy) writes on the piano, so Career Suicide made some sense. It goes "more in-depth into how the song was done," she said. And the results have been good: "We lost no rock credibility."
The album reveals a versatile singer who can summon the full-bore emotion of a balladeer and the sly bitterness of a Fiona Apple. Lennon doesn't sound the least bit out-of-place belting her songs with only her piano accompanying the voice.
Lennon released Career Suicide on her Web site (http://www.lennononline.com) last year, and she already has another rock record - I Am - in the can. It will be released in Japan and Brazil in late August. She's still working on a deal for U.S. distribution. "I just want it out," she said. "I am so proud of this record. It's more me. It's more real."
