New York City on Thursday and Friday, New Jersey on Saturday, and Upsate New York on Sunday… Jill Sobule is always on a roll and always putting on a show.
Ocean Grove, New Jersey, is home to beautiful beaches, sprawling flea markets, walking tours, and more. Although much of those wondrous happenings are summertime specific and warm weather favorites, this Saturday the shore town is welcoming Jill Sobule for a performance worth the trip in winter weather. Sobule is a musician (and author and off-Broadway star) whose rise to nineties-era stardom had to do with a stint on the Clueless soundtrack and hit songs like the corresponding “Supermodel” and the Ramones-influenced “Bitter.” Her alternative pop art has progressed over time – still dreamy, introspective, and funny, as well as poignant in all the timeless (and timely) ways, but increasingly spacious in both attitude and harmony.
Not only is the indie singer-songwriter taking the stage for a benefit concert supporting Musicians on a Mission, but the show is also benefitting local pantries with canned goods being collected at the venue. The venue at hand is the Jersey Shore Arts Center, an underrated theatre with remarkable history as the ‘old’ Neptune High School, ‘saved’ by the Ocean Grove Historic Preservation Society, and putting the space to good use with the fostering of local arts in mind. There is just so much goodness to this event that is important to note; like the fact that local songstress and Makin Waves Award-winning Renee Maskin is opening for Ms. Sobule, furthering the Garden State excitement and close-to-home talent.
“Opening for Jill Sobule is an awesome way to start the year! I think we share storytelling and humor with a dash of heartbreak in common, so I’m bringing my whole bag of tricks to the show,” Maskin told us exclusively this morning. “I’m very grateful Split Level Concerts invited me to play, and I’m thrilled to contribute my weird brand of Americana to the gig.”
We got to talking even more in-depth with Jill Sobule herself, and we dove deep into this event and the benefits and artistry that runs far and wide within it, as well as within herself.
The Jersey Shore Arts Center is welcoming you on stage this weekend as part of the Split Levels Concert’s Singer-Songwriter Series. There is a lot of ground to cover here, but we want to start off by asking you this: How thrilled are you to be coming back to the beautiful Jersey Shore, during the cool winter months and all? We are glad to have you back!
The Jersey Shore? Who doesn’t love the friggin’ shore? I even put the “Jersey Shore” in my personal favorite song – “Jetpack.” The cold weather? I’ll bring my muffler. I don’t actually have a
muffler… or know what exactly one is.
This performance, in particular, is a vital one for many. This series and show is in partnership with the non-profit Musicians On A Mission and includes the charity benefit of cash donations and non-perishable goods on site this weekend. What can you share about the organization and its importance?
It’s always swell to perform shows at clubs or theaters, but it’s even better knowing that your appearance is somehow also contributing to a greater cause. The Arts Center’s partnership with Musicians On a Mission is just that.
The singer-songwriter genre is a world that is far and wide, broadly covering styles and stories across the globe. You, yourself, are a plethora of style and story, but you own it beautifully – and have for decades. Your reputation is one that is as deep and thoughtful musically as she is clever and fun artistically. As personal and creative as you are, though, what about your writing and recording process has changed, if at all, since you first began your career? Same with your live shows, which are grand in nature – what has evolved on-stage, if anything?
Will you write my bio? I think what has changed is, well… confidence. Or just doing it for a hundred years – even if I still feel like I have so much more to learn and do.
I used to have a lot of stage fright; sometimes I still do, but now I’m not afraid of, say, messing up on stage. Not that I don’t mess up or forget lyrics (I do all the time), it’s more that I’ve learned it’s ok and it shows vulnerability. I think everyone likes that more than a slickly polished act coming from a singer-songwriter type. It’s the same with recording – it used to be much more anal. With the latest record (soon to be released), I didn’t use click tracks or autotune. I wanted more of a live feel. Now, maybe the engineer added some autotune a couple of times to tweak a flat note, but I don’t want to know.
As fans, we hear lots of cool nuances and callbacks in your music, but for me, “Forbidden Thoughts of Youth” off of Nostalgia Kills (2018), reminds me of the older sister, if you will, of “Sold My Soul” from 1997’s Happy Town LP. Do you find some of your more recent songs to be full-circle, and some of your lyrics to be reminiscent, if not cyclical?
You do know your stuff! It’s funny that both of those songs are in my musical memoir – F*ck 7th Grade. The show is a mix of old and new ones that somehow fit into a connecting narrative.
In a way, you could also look at “Sold My Soul” as the jaded, “is that all there is” older sister. “Forbidden Thoughts of Youth,” despite its frustrations and teenage angst, does have a sense of innocence, exploration, and the possibility of something wondrous happening in the future. “Sold
my Soul” is more of a loss of wonder.
Americana concerts, and a series like this one, benefits from intimate settings like that of the Arts Center. You’ve played on stages of all shape and size, though. Do you have a preference for a close knit audience and smaller venue or larger productions with bigger audiences? Your tales of life and earnest perspective can surely travel and truly evoke emotion in everyone no matter what.
Every room is different in vibes, no matter the size. At first, I was gonna say that I like the smaller and more intimate settings better. I like seeing people – their reactions, their smiles and laughter. I like it when I feel like I’m having a conversation rather than performing a dialogue. That said, I have played some grand old theaters that felt warm and cozy. The main thing really is… the audience.
You’ve also shared stages with peers and friends of outstanding talent and caliber. Can
you tell us a favorite moment or memory alongside one of those greats?
Well… I once shared a stage with James Taylor, Neil Diamond, Brian Wilson, Carole King, James Brown, and Paul McCartney. Oh, and we can’t forget Hanson! It was for the Songwriters Hall of Fame Awards. I was a last minute substitute for someone way more famous to induct Neil Diamond. On the last song, all the inductees and presenters got on stage to sing “Kansas City.” Oh, and [Jerry] Leiber and [Mike] Stoller were also inducted! The song began and James Brown and Sir Paul just killed the first verses. The mic, at some point, was passed to me. I declined. I was a deer in headlights. The best part was when James Taylor, who was standing next to me, whispered, “Can you believe who we are up here with?”
Speaking of sharing stages with performers, the locally loved Renee Maskin is opening for you this weekend down the shore, and she is a favorite of ours. In your eyes, how important are local artists, local events, the support of musicians right in our home towns, and the fostering of artistic communities, especially in this day and age?
When anyone asks me for advice on how to get their music out, I’m like, “Play as much as you can locally. Go to open mic nights. Jam. Meet fellow musicians.” I started in Denver, and if it wasn’t for the local support and community, I probably would not be doing what I do today. I might be richer, but certainly not as fulfilled.
FOR MORE JILL SOBULE, VISIT HER WEBSITE! TO LEARN MORE ABOUT MUSICIANS ON A MISSION, VISIT THEIR WEBSITE!
GET TICKETS TO THE SPLIT LEVEL CONCERT ‘SINGER-SONGWRITER’ SERIES THIS WEEKEND AT JSAC BY CLICKING HERE!
