Making Jane

Parallel Times. Dizzying constellations of notes netted within the soundboard of the harpsichord, quill-plucked and sent spinning in darting arcs and ascending steps. . . Harmonic fog adrift from which notes slip out in silvery streaks, gleaming with passion, while some, disconsolate, fall into dark silence snuffing out their glow. . . Cymbals sizzle and resonate, ceding space to the crackle of shells shaken. Wood, skin, clay all brushed, touched and tamped, honed into accents and beats, breathing between the firefly flurries criss-crossing through their time…

Ladies and gentlemen, scoot over, there is something fiery in the world of blues, bursting into flames, and sooner or later we’ll all be catching. But do not be fooled, JLH know their way around the field, from the drums to the vocals, it is all quality that only years of experience can provide. Not only does Jane Lee Hooker take on classics, they’ve been influenced by the greatest in Blues and with its debut album, the band flaunts it hitting all the right notes. A badass punk rock sound, with the smoothness of blues, the five member group has it all, bringing an old school vibe that is nothing but refreshing for the blues rock scene. These New Yorkers are making noise, and it will just get louder, hence the ! in No B! Jane Lee Hooker takes on classics like “Mannish Boy” by Muddy Waters, one of its biggest influences, while staying loyal to the original version. The group’s style is still palpable; just the same when it comes to her its take on traditional songs. “Wade in the Water” was given a killer guitar riff halfway through, and “Didn’t it Rain” has a very particular sound, the old and the new mixed and matched.

Cult heroes Jane's Addiction are the Grateful Dead for the should-I-be-a-punk-or-a-hippy-or-metal-head-or-just-get-high-and-become-one-with-the-music underground; so Kettle Whistle, the band's collection of live recordings, a few new songs, and B-sides from their two albums, would be as must-have for fans as all those Dead bootlegs–even if it sucked. This is definitely an album for the converted, and the extended jams and live ramblings would be hard to endure without a frame of reference. The electronic filler and robotic knob-twiddling on the new songs, "Kettle Whistle" and "So What," suggest that Jane's Addiction's breakup was well timed, but the demos and live cuts ooze the band's tremendous energy and chemistry. In the 1988 demo of "Ocean Size," Perry Farrell's charismatic, raspy howl mingling with Dave Navarro's screeching guitar sucks you into the music and sends you to an alternate groove-plane.

After a Sold out Anniversary tour “Celebrate 20 Years” in the summer of 2018 Jane and her team decided to put on a one off Christmas Concert at the First Direct Arena in Leeds to finish of the year with some festive fun. We hope you enjoy this concert film as much as we enjoyed making it. We performed a selection of Christmas classics as well as the best bits from the anniversary tour…

Breakup albums have their own top shelf in the popular music canon, from Bob Dylan's Blood on the Tracks to Kanye West's 808s and Heartbreak. Staying-together albums, on the other hand, are more rare and more difficult to execute. Maybe that's because overcoming hardship and working through differences require diligence and daily renewals of faith, more subtle and internally directed practices than the emotional release separation allows. On her fourth album (and third with her stalwart band, The Party Line), Nora Jane Struthers walks listeners through the first year of her marriage to her bandmate, multi-instrumentalist Joe Overton. She points to every rock and buried tree root, and shows how mutual care and openness got the couple to the first summit on their path.