Singer Jennie DeVoe’s 'Sunshine' radiates famed producer’s touch

Jennie DeVoe

Jennie DeVoe

With a number of her previous albums licensed to TV shows, the soulful Jennie DeVoe’s momentum will likely pick up following her July 21 release “Strange Sunshine.” Only modestly venturing out of her hometown of Indianapolis, DeVoe will bring her act to Knoxville in promotion of the album.

For DeVoe’s fifth album, she flew her band to Bath, England, to record with the famed John Parish, known for his work with Tracy Chapman and PJ Harvey. Though DeVoe had worked with Parish on her previous release, 2004’s “Fireworks & Karate Supplies,” prior to acquiring national distribution through Sony, this was her first time treating the rest of the band to the experience. DeVoe says Parish’s signature is in clarity and purpose, contributing to the record she describes as “stripped down and groovy.”

“I wanted to work with John Parish because I had imagined he would be cool to work with,” says DeVoe. “Of course that was all in my head at first. I had heard work he’d done with PJ Harvey and Tracy Chapman and the Eels. He seemed like the one element that was making this cool textural and attitudinal difference on these other artists’ records, and luckily he was up for working with me. He’s a great producer because he listens and gets the bigger picture, and he did that with ‘Strange Sunshine.’ I wanted my whole band to get the experience of working with John, so I took the whole team this time. It was great and I loved it all over again.”

So often described as a blues and soul singer, and appropriately so, DeVoe’s music does go beyond that. As a singer-songwriter, her work envelops rock and pop sensibilities as well. This is perhaps more evident on “Strange Sunshine,” which DeVoe admits has a lighter quality than previous efforts. Drawing back to her favorite influences like Aretha Franklin and Otis Redding, she found the right emotional mix to create a work that still boasts her trademark intimacy without the level of self-involvement typically featured in the standard singer-songwriter bag.

“ ‘Strange Sunshine’ was a departure from my other records in that I had a vision for it and was a little happier and lighter with the overall subject matter,” says DeVoe. “So many people have been putting me in the blues and soul genres for so long that I decided to just roll with that a bit. .

“I think my songwriting has evolved over time into being less self-absorbed and angsty. I admire hooks, because there is no shame for me in wanting to make my songs stick with you, so I am a pop-writer in that sense. But I think I’ve matured as a writer in that I’m growing out of myself more and trying to make songs that people enjoy — live or on a record.”

As a self-described “homebody,” DeVoe rarely plays many gigs outside Indiana, save the sporadic outings she has scheduled through early summer in promotion of the record. Thus it is a treat to be among the select “cool little towns” chosen by DeVoe for outings. Tonight Jennie DeVoe performs at 4620 Reinvented at 10 p.m. Oona Love is set to open the show at 9. Admission is $10.

LITTLE LORD FAUNTLE-RAP: Donning puffy shirts and powdered wigs, Lord T and Eloise bring a truly old school spin on hip-hop to The Valarium tonight. Also on the bill is Al Kapone. Doors open at 9 p.m. Tickets are $8 in advance or $10 at the door.

ARMED AND DANGEROUS: Many Arms, New Brutalism and Schnaak take the stage at Pilot Light Wednesday night. The show is slated for 10 p.m. and costs $5.

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