Local lovers of legit indie-folk and innovative Americana have hit the summer sweepstakes. Jenny Lewis and her Joy’All Ball Tour makes a stop at Intuition Ale Works on Saturday, June 29. Lewis will be joined in Jax by the great Seattle songsmith Dean Johnson.
Lewis’ latest, 2023’s ten-song Joy’All, finds Lewis in peak form, traversing traditional singer-songwriter terrain and experimental pop and on popular cuts like “Puppy and a Truck” and “psychos,” respectively. The album was top-listed by many music critics on their annual “best of” releases.
The Las Vegas-born Lewis first rose to fame as a child actor, appearing in everything from a Jell-O commercial to being cast as Lucille Ball’s granddaughter on the 1980’s sitcom, Life With Lucy and starring in various made-for-TV and big-budget films, including the cult favorite, Pleasantville. While still in her early twenties, Lewis cofounded the much-loved band Rilo Kelly, a band whose early, crisp country-leaning sound soon found its own two feet with a taut indie-rock wallop with rich guitar textures, all tethered together with Lewis’s blunt emotional vocals.
The new millennium found Lewis collaborating with peers-admirers including Conor Oberst, M. Ward and Ben Gibbard, branching out as a solo artist, interesting collaborations with kindred spirits The Watson Twins and making memorable appearances on the peak-era of late-night TV shows. Since 2006, Lewis has released a series of lauded releases.
Jenny Lewis performs on Saturday, June 29 at the Bier Hall inside Intuition Ale Works in Downtown Jacksonville. Seattle singer-songwriter Dean Johnson opens the show. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. EST this Friday, March 15 and are available at the artist or venue sites.