Jenner Fox Band will be celebrating its new album “Anything” on May 17 at Nashville Social Club. The band also will perform a tribute to Paul Simon.
Nashville Social Club gets a two-for-one when the Jenner Fox Band comes to Carson City on May 17 with one set of music celebrating a new album release “Anything” and one set playing the music of Paul Simon.
Jenner Fox leads a five-piece band with electric instruments and no drums out of Bellingham, Washington. The members play acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass, dobro and keyboard.
“I think our band is a little bit unique,” Fox said. “It started as an original band and started with musicians I loved and listened to. It wasn’t about the instruments; it was about the people.”
They’ve played around Tahoe and Reno before, but this will be the band’s first time in the capital city. Fox said it’s nice to be around complete strangers where people haven’t heard his stories yet.
“I love playing new places,” he said. “It’s really fun to play for an audience who doesn’t know you and connect with folks, and that can only happen once.”
NEW ALBUM
Jenner Fox Band’s new album “Anything” is to be released officially May 9.
“It’s the kind of record that has a lot of stories associated with it — a real emotional roller coaster experience,” Fox said.
They’ve been releasing singles on all the major streaming services and the band will have CDs and vinyl for sale at the venue along with other merchandise. They’re celebrating the new album with a nine-date tour with shows in Oregon, California, Carson City and then back to their home state of Washington.
This is the first album made with the five of the current members of the band, and all five contributed to the project. It will be Fox’s ninth album release. The band held writing sessions together before they got to Stage Arts Recording, where immersed themselves in the experience by staying at the cabins that surround the studio for five days.
The band recorded much of the album live to tape, which means the band played together while recording the music, rather than some albums where each instrument is played separately and pieced together.
“I felt like what this band does really well is listen to each other and playing in the moment and react,” Fox said. “I wanted to capture that.”
He said some songs on the album were recorded in one take, some without the band even practicing beforehand. Fox said he’d tell the band the chords right before they started playing them.
“Especially on ‘Some Day,’” he said. “That truly was the first take, and it was pretty magical.”
PAUL SIMON TRIBUTE
Fox said he never intended to do the tribute band thing, but in 2023 they were booked at the Alberta Rose Theatre in Portland, Oregon, which holds 400 people. Fox said they weren’t sure if they could fill the venue.
“We thought we could sell about 150 tickets,” he said.
They decided to add a Paul Simon tribute to their show to try to sell more tickets, and the show ended up selling out.
“It was so fun that we continued to do it, and it made sense,” Fox said.
Now the Jenner Fox Band brings the tribute act on the road as a way to break into unfamiliar markets.
“Because everyone loves Paul Simon music,” he said.
The songs will all be familiar, but they’ll sound different as Jenner Fox Band breathes their own style into them. They don’t play the songs note-for-note, but instead they do their own original adaptions, especially since there’s no drums in the band.
“We put our own spin on it, and it creates a dynamic, fresh sound,” Fox said. “It’s really upbeat and joyful. It’s such iconic and fun music.”
Fox said he gets some people who tell him they came to the show for the tribute, and they didn’t want to hear any original music. He enjoys changing their minds after they get to hear the full show.
“A lot of people will go to the show and then afterward they will be like, ‘we were kinda bummed out it’d be original music,’” he said. “But after the show they’re always like ‘we are so glad we were introduced to you all.’”
IF YOU GO:
WHAT: Jenner Fox Band
WHERE: Nashville Social Club, 1105 S. Carson St.
WHEN: May 17, 7:30 p.m.
BAND INFO: jennerfox.com
TICKETS: thenashvilleclub.com