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Jennifer Knapp comes ‘Back Around’ with new album, tour

Out singer says new indie project turned out more lush, nuanced than originally planned

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Jennifer Knapp, gay news, Washington Blade

Jennifer Knapp says she’s still a Christian but doesn’t record gospel music exclusively anymore. (Photo by Gina R. Binkley)

An Evening with Jennifer Knapp

Saturday, June 3

Jammin’ Java

227 Maple Ave.

E. Vienna, Va.

Tickets: $18

6:30 p.m.

jamminjava.com

jenniferknapp.com

For several years in the late ‘90s and early ‘00s, Jennifer Knapp was one of the darlings of contemporary Christian music.

Though only starting out in the field, her major label debut album “Kansas” was ranked at no. 80 in a 2001 ranking by CCM Magazine of the “100 greatest albums in Christian music.” Not just albums for that year — of all time. Her single “Undo Me” was a No. 1 hit on Christian radio and came in at no. 94 in CCM’s ranking of the 100 greatest songs in Christian music history.

All that changed after she took a seven-year break and came out as a lesbian upon returning to the music scene in 2010. Now when the CCM world gathers or takes stock of its own history, significant artists like she and Ray Boltz, who also came out several years ago, are ignored.

She’s now touring just ahead of the release of new album “Love Comes Back Around,” out June 23, her third solo album since returning to music. She plays Jammin’ Java in Vienna, Va., on Saturday, June 3. Knapp touched on many topics during a phone chat en route to a May 22 concert in Washington state.

Jennifer Knapp on:

Keeping fans engaged with new material: “If everybody’s on board and paying attention, I’ll go with it. Otherwise I’ll go, ‘OK, it’s time to move on to something else.’ I always have an escape plan. … It’s a little bit like choose your own adventure.”

Her new album: “I thought it was going to be more folky and acoustic and very bare bones … but it ended up being really lush. There’s a lot of beauty on this record even though it has a very simplistic feel to it. There are so many subtle layers. … It’s not a typical pop record that some people may have been anticipating.”

This phase of her career: “I don’t feel like I’m having to spend all my time on stage kind of trying to explain what’s going on or feeling like I’m being investigated by the audience. Now it’s more about coming together and enjoying the music we all know … and less about trying to figure out what our footing is in this new story.”

Her fans: “It depends on where I go. There are some pockets where they remember me as a Christian music artist and are definitely going to the show to have that kind of experience. And then the next show you go to, they may be familiar with the longer version of my story and aren’t really tied to any sort of religious experience at all. Sometimes it’s a whole room of people estranged from the religious experience. … I’m happy to have either one. It’s just about connecting.”

Going back to school for a master’s in theological studies: “I just want to be very educated and informed and not just having the faith for myself personally but (considering) what are the implications to us as a community. … I want to talk about the confluence of LGBT issues and religious organizations with a lot of wisdom and patience.”

Being written out of CCM history: “It’s kind of passive-aggressive. One day it’s all, ‘Where have you been, we’ve missed you so much …,’ then you come out of the closet and they’re like, “Oh, never mind.’ Or they don’t even say that, they just back away really quietly. I have shed a few tears on that but I don’t really want to participate in that industry anymore. I’m not writing about my faith, although it does show up in some respects in my music now. … But I’m not there anymore. … They can stay silent if they want but that silence says a hell of a lot.”

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Music & Concerts

Underdog glorious: a personal remembrance of Jill Sobule

Talented singer, songwriter died in house fire on May 1

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Writer Gregg Shapiro with Jill Sobule in 2000. (Photo courtesy Shapiro)

I’ve always prided myself on being the kind of music consumer who purchased music on impulse. When I stumbled across “Things Here Are Different,” Jill Sobule’s 1990 MCA Records debut album on vinyl in a favorite Chicago record store, I bought it without knowing anything about her. This was at a time when we didn’t have our phones in our pockets to search for information about the artist on the internet. The LP stayed in my collection until, as vinyl was falling out of fashion, I replaced it with a CD a few years later.

Early in my career as an entertainment journalist, I received a promo copy of Jill’s eponymous 1995 Atlantic Records album. That year, Atlantic Records was one of the labels at the forefront of signing and heavily promoting queer artists, including Melissa Ferrick and Extra Fancy, and its roster included the self-titled album by Jill. It was a smart move, as the single “I Kissed A Girl” became a hit on radio and its accompanying video (featuring Fabio!) was in heavy rotation on MTV (when they still played videos).

Unfortunately for Jill, she was a victim of record label missteps. When 1997’s wonderful “Happy Town” failed to repeat the success, Atlantic dumped her. That was Atlantic’s loss, because her next album, the superb “Pink Pearl” contained “Heroes” and “Mexican Wrestler,” two of her most beloved songs. Sadly, Beyond Music, the label that released that album ceased to exist after just a few years. To her credit, the savvy Jill had also started independently releasing music (2004’s “The Folk Years”). That was a smart move because her next major-label release, the brilliant “Underdog Victorious” on Artemis Records, met a similar fate when that label folded.

With her 2009 album “California Years,” Jill launched her own indie label, Pinko Records, on which she would release two more outstanding full-length discs, 2014’s “Dottie’s Charms” (on which she collaborated with some of her favorite writers, including David Hadju, Rick Moody, Mary Jo Salter, and Jonathan Lethem), and 2018’s stunning “Nostalgia Kills.” Jill’s cover of the late Warren Zevon’s “Don’t Let Us Get Sick” on “Nostalgia Kills” was particularly poignant as she had toured with him as an opening act.

Jill was a road warrior, constantly on tour, and her live shows were something to behold. My first interview with Jill took place at the Double Door in Chicago in early August of 1995, when she was the opening act for legendary punk band X. She had thrown her back out the previous day and was diagnosed with a herniated disc. To be comfortable, she was lying down on a fabulous-‘50s sofa. “I feel like I’m at my shrink’s,” she said to me, “Do you want me to talk about my mother?”

That sense of humor, which permeated and enriched her music, was one of many reasons to love Jill. I was privileged to interview her for seven of her albums. Everything you would want to know about her was right there in her honest lyrics, in which she balanced her distinctive brand of humor with serious subject matter. Drawing on her life experiences in songs such as “Bitter,” “Underachiever,” “One of These Days,” “Freshman,” “Jetpack,” “Nothing To Prove,” “Forbidden Thoughts of Youth,” “Island of Lost Things,” “Where Do I Begin,” “Almost Great,” and “Big Shoes,” made her songs as personal as they were universal, elicited genuine affection and concern from her devoted fans.

While she was a consummate songwriter, Jill also felt equally comfortable covering songs made famous by others, including “Just A Little Lovin’” (on the 2000 Dusty Springfield tribute album “Forever Dusty”) and “Stoned Soul Picnic” (from the 1997 Laura Nyro tribute album “Time and Love”). Jill also didn’t shy away from political subject matter in her music with “Resistance Song,” “Soldiers of Christ,” “Attic,” “Heroes,” “Under the Disco Ball,” and the incredible “America Back” as prime examples.

Here’s something else worth mentioning about Jill. She was known for collaboration skills. As a songwriter, she maintained a multi-year creative partnership with Robin Eaton (“I Kissed A Girl” and many others), as well as Richard Barone, the gay frontman of the renowned band The Bongos. Jill’s history with Barone includes performing together at a queer Octoberfest event in Chicago in 1996. Writer and comedian Julie Sweeney, of “SNL” and “Work in Progress” fame was another Chicago collaborator with Sobule (Sweeney lives in a Chicago suburb), where they frequently performed their delightful “The Jill and Julia Show.” John Doe, of the aforementioned band X, also collaborated with Jill in the studio (“Tomorrow Is Breaking” from “Nostalgia Kills”), as well as in live performances.

On a very personal note, in 2019, when I was in the process of arranging a reading at the fabulous NYC gay bookstore Bureau of General Services – Queer Division, I reached out to Jill and asked her if she would like to be on the bill with me. We alternated performing; I would read a couple of poems, and Jill would sing a couple of songs. She even set one of my poems to music, on the spot.

Jill had an abundance of talent, and when she turned her attention to musical theater, it paid off in a big way. Her stage musical “F*ck 7th Grade,” a theatrical piece that seemed like the next logical step in her career, had its premiere at Pittsburgh’s City Theatre in the fall of 2020, during the height of the pandemic. The unique staging (an outdoor drive-in stage at which audience members watched from their cars) was truly inspired. “F*ck 7th Grade” went on to become a New York Times Critic’s pick, as well as earning a Drama Desk nomination.

In honor of the 30th anniversary of Jill’s eponymous 1995 album, reissue label Rhino Records is re-releasing it on red vinyl. Jill and I had been emailing each other to arrange a time for an interview. We even had a date on the books for the third week of May.

When she died in a house fire in Minnesota on May 1 at age 66, Jill received mentions on network and cable news shows. She was showered with attention from major news outlets, including obits in the New York Times and Rolling Stone (but not Pitchfork, who couldn’t be bothered to review her music when she was alive). Is it wrong to think that if she’d gotten this much attention when she was alive she could have been as big as Taylor Swift? I don’t think so.

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Music & Concerts

Tom Goss returns with ‘Bear Friends Furever Tour’

Out singer/songwriter to perform at Red Bear Brewing Co.

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Singer Tom Goss is back. (Photo by Dusti Cunningham)

Singer Tom Goss will bring his “Bear Friends Furever Tour” to D.C. on Sunday, June 8 at 8 p.m. at Red Bear Brewing Co. 

Among the songs he will perform will be “Bear Soup,” the fourth installment in his beloved bear song anthology series. Following fan favorites like “Bears,” “Round in All the Right Places,” and “Nerdy Bear,” this high-energy, bass-thumping banger celebrates body positivity, joyful indulgence, and the vibrant spirit of the bear subculture.

For more details, visit Tom Goss’s website.

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Music & Concerts

Kylie brings ‘Tension’ tour to D.C.

Performance on Tuesday at Capital One Arena

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Kylie Minogue visits D.C. on Tuesday.

Aussie pop icon Kylie Minogue brings her acclaimed “Tension” world tour to D.C. next Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at the Capital One Arena. Tickets are still available at Ticketmaster.

The show features songs spanning her long career, from 1987 debut single, “The Loco-Motion,” to “Padam, Padam” from her album, “Tension.”

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