That Eric Alper

Jenny Lewis’ forthcoming album, Joy’All arrives June 9 on Blue Note/Capitol Records. New single “Psychos” is available now. Her fifth solo album follows 2019’s critically acclaimed On The Line.

“I started writing some of these songs on the road, pre-pandemic… and then put them aside as the world shut down, and then from my home in Nashville in early 2021, I joined a week-long virtual songwriting workshop with a handful of amazing artists, hosted by Beck. The challenge was to write one song every day for seven days, with guidelines from Beck. The guidelines would be prompts like ‘write a song with 1-4-5 chord progression,’ ‘write a song with only cliches,’ or ‘write in free form style.’ The first song I submitted to the group was ‘Puppy and a Truck.’”

As the days progressed, the assignments kept coming in and Jenny ultimately wrote a good portion of Joy’All.

Joy’All was overseen by GRAMMY-winning producer Dave Cobb (Brandi Carlile, Jason Isbell), whom Jenny met by chance while visiting the band Lucius at RCA Studio A in Nashville. A natural kinship developed between the two, and having amassed an arsenal of demos on her iPhone, Jenny texted Dave and asked him to produce her new album.

“Dave works fast and we cut the bulk of the record with his incredible house band (Nate Smith, Brian Allen and Cobb on guitar, and myself on acoustic guitar & vocals) live on the floor in a couple of weeks. Jess Wolfe came back to the studio to provide background vocals on the record and then Greg Leisz and Jon Brion added pedal steel, B-Bender guitar and Chamberlin, respectively, back in L.A..”

Putting the pieces of Joy’All together seemed almost serendipitous for Jenny. Along with her fortuitous meeting with Dave Cobb, she was introduced to Greg Koller, who engineered and mixed the record and, coincidentally, works with Jon Brion–who graciously added to the album, much to Jenny’s delight.

While shopping at Black Shag Vintage in Nashville, Bobbi Rich (a frequent creative collaborator of Jenny’s) made an auspicious discovery. She happened to find an outfit that once belonged to Nashville songwriter Skeeter Davis, whose influence pervades Joy’All. The ensemble became an essential centerpiece to the visual component of the record: “I wanted to riff on the classic Nashville album cover, with the song titles on the front. The cover photo is a reference to a Skeeter Davis record and I’m wearing her costume!”

Fans can catch Jenny as she hits the road for some headlining dates, stops on the upcoming 20th anniversary Postal Service and Death Cab for Cutie co-headline tour and supporting dates for the Beck and Phoenix co-headline Summer Odyssey Tour. See below for the run of dates..

Track listing:

Psychos
Joy’All
Puppy and a Truck
Apples and Oranges
Essence of Life
Giddy Up
Cherry Baby
Love Feel
Balcony
Chain of Tears

Tour Dates:

06/02/23 – Nashville, TN – Ascend Amphitheater ^
06/03/23 – Lexington, KY – Railbird Festival
06/17/23 – Manchester, TN – Bonnaroo
07/06/23 – Milwaukee, WI – Summerfest
07/07/23 – Chicago, IL – The Salt Shed &
07/08/23 – Duluth, MN – Bayfront Festival Park #
07/12/23 – Detroit, MI – Majestic Theatre &
07/13/23 – Cleveland, OH – House of Blues &
07/15/23 – Boston, MA – Roadrunner @
07/16/23 – New Haven, CT – College Street Music Hall @
07/18/23 – New York, NY – The Rooftop at Pier 17 @
07/20/23 – Philadelphia, PA – The Met Philadelphia @
07/22/23 – Washington, DC – The Anthem @
08/01/23 – Seattle, WA – Climate Pledge Arena
08/03/23 – Bend, OR – Hayden Homes Amphitheater *
08/05/23 – Concord, CA – Concord Pavilion *
08/07/23 – Los Angeles, CA – Kia Forum *

^ with Ruston Kelly
# with Trampled By Turtles
* with Beck, Phoenix
@ with Cass McCombs, Hayden Pedigo
& with Jenny O., Hayden Pedigo