Jenny Lewis

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Jenny Lewis
Live at The Joint, Las Vegas, NV
Live at The Joint, Las Vegas, NV
Background information
Birth name Jennifer Diane Lewis
Born January 8, 1976 (1976-01-08) (age 32)
Flag of the United States Las Vegas, Nevada
Origin California, U.S.
Genre(s) indie rock
Instrument(s) Vocals, Keyboards, Guitar, Bass
Years active 1998 - present (Rilo Kiley)
Label(s) Team Love, Warner Bros., Brute/Beaute, Saddle Creek, Barsuk
Associated acts Rilo Kiley
The Postal Service
The Watson Twins
For the Primeval character, see Jenny Lewis (Primeval).

Jenny Lewis (born January 8, 1976, in Las Vegas, Nevada) is an American singer, musician, and actress.

Lewis is a founding member and co-lead singer of the indie rock band Rilo Kiley, and has also released a solo album. She is a former child actress.

Contents

[edit] Acting career

Lewis made her professional debut in a Jell-O commercial. She was featured in the short-lived 1986 Lucille Ball sitcom Life With Lucy, where she was cast as one of Lucy's grandchildren. She also had small roles on such TV shows as Baywatch, Golden Girls, Growing Pains, Roseanne, Mr. Belvedere, and Brooklyn Bridge.

Lewis went on to appear in over a dozen movies, mostly teen-themed movies like Troop Beverly Hills, in the late 1980s and early 1990s. She was featured in the 1996 made-for-TV movie Talk to Me with Yasmine Bleeth, as well as the films Foxfire, Big Girls Don't Cry...They Get Even, The Wizard, and Pleasantville. She also played the part of Evangeline "Eva" Saint Claire in the 1987 film of Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel Uncle Tom's Cabin. She continued acting until 2001.

[edit] Music

[edit] Rilo Kiley

In 1998, she and friends Pierre De Reeder, Blake Sennett and Dave Rock formed the band Rilo Kiley. (Rock was later replaced by Jason Boesel.) In an interview with NPR's All Songs Considered, Lewis remarked that she wanted to name the group Love's Way (after her parents' lounge act in Las Vegas), but Sennett "didn't go for it."[1]

Beginning with a country sound, Rilo Kiley gravitated toward a downbeat indie rock sound, and with its 2004 album More Adventurous found widespread success. Critics such as Pitchfork Media attributed this to the "wise" decision to front Lewis on most of the songs (on earlier albums, Sennett contributed about half the vocals). The song "Portions for Foxes" was a hit, and in 2005 the band was picked up by Warner Bros. (via its own imprint, Brute/Beaute Records), putting them on a major label for the first time. The band opened for Coldplay on its U.S. tour in 2005. Rilo Kiley's 2007 album Under the Blacklight was released directly by major label Warner Bros.

[edit] Other musical projects

In 2002, Lewis was asked to contribute some vocals for The Postal Service, whose album Give Up was an international success. Lewis performed in the video for the hit "We Will Become Silhouettes", and toured with the band in 2003. Lewis also contributed vocals to several tracks on the 2004 Cursive album The Ugly Organ.

In 2004, Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes invited Lewis to record a solo record for record label Team Love. Described by Lewis as "a kind of soul record," Rabbit Fur Coat (released January 24, 2006) features contributions from Oberst, M. Ward, and Maroon 5 guitarist James Valentine. Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie (and Lewis's bandmate in The Postal Service) guests on a cover of The Traveling Wilburys' "Handle With Care." The Watson Twins provide accompaniment on the album, billed as Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins. Lewis toured with the Watson Twins in support of the album three times in 2006 and appeared with her band on The Late Show With David Letterman, The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson, Late Night With Conan O'Brien and Later with Jools Holland. The album received positive reviews, with Entertainment Weekly writing, "Consider Lewis the Emmylou Harris of the Silverlake set" and Rolling Stone commenting that "her girlishly seductive vocals are more versatile than ever." The Onion AV Club, Spin, and NPR music critic Meredith Ochs named it among the best albums of the year.[2][3]

In 2005, Lewis contributed to the UNICEF benefit song "Do They Know It's Hallowe'en?", along with Sennett and Jimmy Tamborello.

In 2007, Jenny Lewis contributed vocals to various songs on Johnathan Rice's album Further North, and she appeared in the music video for "We're All Stuck Out In The Desert (And We're Gonna Die)". She also provided vocals for a track on Dntel's Dumb Luck LP.

In 2008, she contributed backing vocals to many songs on the Elvis Costello and the Imposters album Momofuku. Lewis will be returning to the studio to begin work on the follow-up to her 2006 solo LP with the Watson Twins, Rabbit Fur Coat.[4]

[edit] Musical influences

In several interviews, Lewis has also credited influences such as Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton, and Laura Nyro, particularly her album Gonna Take a Miracle. Lewis has been spotted at concerts by some of these performers as well as indie singer-songwriter Leslie Feist. Influenced by her mother’s country music collection, Lewis claims she has always identified with artists like Patsy Cline, Tammy Wynette, and later Lucinda Williams because of their strong female perspective.

[edit] Media attention

  • Lewis was given an "Esky" for Best Temperature Raiser in Esquire's 2006 Esky Music Awards in the April issue.
  • Actress Anne Hathaway was quoted in People Magazine as calling Lewis' solo album "beautiful, funny, and very subversive".[5]
  • Drew Barrymore featured a Jenny Lewis song in her iTunes Celebrity Playlist, saying that Rabbit Fur Coat was "just my favorite album of 2006." Barrymore says it inspired her to write a song, which she plans to present to Lewis.[6]
  • Comedian Sarah Silverman is a fan of both Rilo Kiley and Jenny Lewis, and appeared in the music video for "Rise Up With Fists!!"
  • In July 2007, Lewis was named #4 on Spinner.com's list of "Women Who Rock Right Now".[7]

[edit] Filmography

[edit] Discography

[edit] Rilo Kiley

Main article: Rilo Kiley discography

[edit] Solo

Main article: Jenny Lewis discography

[edit] Other appearances

[edit] Videography

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ NPR Music: The Blue-Eyed Soul of Jenny Lewis
  2. ^ Best Music Of 2006 | The A.V. Club
  3. ^ NPR Music: Meredith Ochs: Top Ten CDs of 2006
  4. ^ Pitchfork: Jenny Lewis Working on New Album
  5. ^ Celebs Give Their Top Picks of 2006 - Ashlee Simpson : People.com
  6. ^ Drew Barrymore - Barrymore Pens New Tune For Jenny Lewis
  7. ^ Women Who Rock Right Now: No. 4 - Spinner.com

[edit] External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:
v • d • e
Rilo Kiley
Jenny Lewis · Blake Sennett · Pierre De Reeder · Jason Boesel
Dave Rock
Albums
EPs
Singles
"Science vs. Romance" · "The Execution of All Things" · "Portions for Foxes" · "It's a Hit" · "I Never" · "The Moneymaker" · "Silver Lining" · "Breakin' Up"
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