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Interview with Smiler

"THE MEAN FIDDLER "

J'ANNA JACOBY joined Rod Stewart's band as violin player mid-way through the recent tour, following the Christmas shake-up which saw the changes in guitar players. She is an accomplished musician, classically trained and comes from a strong musical family. Born in Paradise, California, her parents were musicians and although there was a lot of jazz played in the household, they were open minded about all kinds of styles of music. As a child, J'Anna played with her parents at their shows and from the age of 10, was involved in old-time fiddling.  

At the age of fourteen Janna became the first female to win the Grand Masters Fiddling Contest in Nashville. It was her first taste of fame and when People magazine and Good Morning America picked up on the story they made a big fuss! Good Morning America even flew her to New York to appear on the show! Now she is the first female member of Rod's band and fitting in very nicely. Before joining Rod, J'Anna toured with Michael Crawford in Phantom of the Opera, and has played in various orchestra's backing stars such as Elton John and Guns And Roses. As well as violin and acoustic guitar, J'Anna plays mandolin, viola, piano and as a child played the harp and trombone.

Along with her brilliant playing, J'Anna has brought a breath of fresh air to the band. Earlier this year, American audience's instantly took her to their hearts. Let's hope she's around for a very long time. MK

SMILER:" How does it feel to be the first ever female band member?"

J'ANNA:" It's a real honor and I get a kick out of it. I really don't think about being the first female. In fact, I didn't even realize it until the first date in Nashville and Rod announced it when he introduced me! That was the first time I thought about it. I played in a band in Los Angeles for quite a few years called Black Watch. It was a four piece, kind of a college alternative rock band, so I guess I'm used to being in that dynamic and traveling with a lot of guys. The conditions weren't quite as nice, you know, we slept on floors and we were all in one little van! I'm definitely seeing all sides of the touring spectrum now!"

SMILER: "It's obvious that Rod and the band have the utmost respect for you."

J'ANNA:"It's a great feeling. I don't feel that I was chosen because I'm female. I think they liked how I played and liked my presence on stage. Carmine told me that what was more important, was that I fit in with everybody. He said they had a little slot there waiting for me. He's so precious and wonderful in the things he says. I feel so welcome. It is very much a family situation, and so it's important that people relate to each other in a really respectful way, especially when you're living in those tight situations."

SMILER:" Did they audition quite a few people for the job?"

J'ANNA:"I've heard they did. It was a pretty painless audition, but I was totally freaking out and totally nervous. I owe it all to Carmine in the first place that I'm even here. He was so encouraging from the first phone call he made to me. It was early January and he told me to go in and listen to the songs and practice a little bit for a few days and see how I felt. He was very nurturing and told me to give it my best shot. He really made me feel comfortable."

SMILER:" Did you know Carmine before?"

J'ANNA:"No, that's the amazing thing, he called me out of the blue. It was a recommendation from a friend of mine who Carmine knows. In fact, I think Carmine had called my friend to see if he could do the job, but he couldn't, so Carmine asked if he could recommend anybody else. They were looking for somebody who wasn't just a fiddler, but could play some mandolin and maybe use an acoustic guitar. I think Don Teschner had previously been in that slot where he played mandolin, guitar and fiddle and they were looking for an instrumentalist that could step into those shoes."

SMILER: "Were you confident?"

J'ANNA:"I just focused in on it, I really didn't think I was going to get the job. I just kept comparing myself to all the people I knew who played their instruments fantastically, and I thought I'd give it my best shot. If I hadn't, I would have always been mad at myself. It came as a big surprise when they hired me! I was afraid to tell people until I was flying to Nashville for the first show. I was just so afraid that the rug was going to get pulled out from under me, that they would turn around and say they'd changed their minds."

SMILER:" Were you a fan of Rod's music before you joined the band?"

J'ANNA:"I would say I was a passive fan. I grew up on his music and I listened to Top 40 radio a lot as a kid. I think one of the attributes of the talents that I have is that I have a broad background in music. A lot of classical musicians will grow up only hooked on classical music, or folk musicians will only do folk music, or whatever genre. But my parents are musicians, so I grew up in a household where there were all kinds of things going on. I'm a huge fan of pop music, actually I would say that's my major love, even though I studied classical for years and I also did a lot of folk music, I love pop music the most. When I started learning the songs for the audition, I realized things like "You're In My Heart"', were some of the all-time classic most wonderful songs. As I was learning the music for the audition I became a bigger fan than I had realized. I was, in the back of my head a very big fan, but as I started really getting into the songs and listening to the lyrics, I realized that it was very heartfelt music. I remember telling Annie Challis when she took me down to the office and we talked about the job. I told her I really related to Rod's music. I didn't just say it because it was the right thing to say to the management or whatever, I said it because, that's how I really felt. I really felt honored that I got the job as it pulls together all of my backgrounds, from the folk music to rock 'n' roll. Before I joined, I was more like a subconscious fan, I just didn't realize."

SMILER: "What other artists have you worked for?"

J'ANNA:"Last summer I did the Phantom of the Opera tour with Michael Crawford, playing in his orchestra. He took a 40 piece orchestra on the road. That was a blast, I had a great time. Then the summer before, or it might have been two summers before, I played in John Tesh's orchestra, and I did a lot of freelance work in Los Angeles, for instance I played in an orchestra for the MTV Music Awards with Elton John, and Guns 'n' Roses in 1992 when they did 'November Rain'. I played in Tony Bennet's orchestra and also worked with Glen Campbell when I was a teenager. I was thinking how there is similarity in Rod and Tony Bennet's singing styles, in how they are both great interpreters of songs. They both breathe so much emotion and meaning into the lyrics of a song. I played for lots of people in their orchestras. From 1990 I played in Black Watch, which is my boyfriends band, he's the singer/songwriter, but I do a lot of singing and song writing along with it. That's been one of my little creative outlet projects."

SMILER:" Who were your major influences?"

J'ANNA:"I feel really thankful that I was born into the family I did, because my parents are such wonderful eclectic musicians. There was a lot of jazz in our household when I was growing up, but they were just very open-minded about all sorts of music. The Beatles, of course, were a huge pop music influence - their song writing and George Martin's production, I just have so much respect for the creativity and diversity and all of that. Classical music has been a big influence on me and old time fiddling. Mark O'Connor is a big huge influence, I learned a lot from him. I don't know if you're familiar with his name, but he's a huge very respected fiddler out of Nashville. He's a genius among fiddlers, and also a guitar player. When I played in Black Watch, we liked a lot of the British pop bands. Obscure bands, like My Bloody Valentine and New Order. Then, there's jazz. I love Ella Fitzgerald."

SMILER: "Is there anybody in the back of your mind that you would like to work with?"

J'ANNA:"Prince would be really interesting, he's made use of strings over the years, and he's very cutting edge and very creative. He is another one who had women play in his band and really is encouraging and respectful. It is tricky trying to step into rock 'n' roll, as it is known as a very male dominated type of expression. There's the element of aggressiveness, but what I love about it is the playfulness."

SMILER: "Have you set goals for yourself musically?"

J'ANNA:"I tend to get upset at not being more motivated or more ambitious about what I'm doing. The band I was playing with, Black Watch, were saying I needed to write more and they wanted me to sing more. They were thinking of having me as more of the main focus of the band. Song writing has always been very hard for me. Some people are just so prolific and they just write and write, and for me it's like pouring out my soul and laying it open for criticism. So I think some of those goals would be to do with trying to be more confident in song writing and creative expression. I feel so at home playing in the band here. It's challenging and I have to stay emotionally alert and be very consistent. I don't feel like I'm always nervous, there's a looseness to it that I really really like. I think you've probably seen me get more confident from the first show to this last show. This is my home environment, I don't need to be too nervous here. Everybody in this band are such fine musicians and so creative in their own right. I think everybody has creative juices and creative potential and we all think we should really cultivate and nurture it and try to encourage ourselves to do our own projects."

SMILER: "Other than the violin and mandolin, do you play any other instruments?"

J'ANNA:"I play viola, which is a real sister or cousin to the violin. It's a little deeper and lower, and I play guitar. Those would be the instruments that I would say confidently I play. I play a little piano, and when I was a kid I played the harp and trombone. When I was about 10, I learned the trombone and I played for two years in the school band! I feel I come from old vaudeville, old stock, the traveling minstrels. It's really funny."

SMILER: "Are there any songs that you would like to see Rod add to the set list, that he doesn't do now?"

J'ANNA:"Two or three shows ago we did the "Tom Traubert's Blues," which is just so beautiful. So I would have answered that a month ago, and "'Handbags And Gladrags," we rehearsed that and I thought that was such a sweet song. We rehearsed that back in February, but we've never performed it. And also you know, he did "'Faith Of The Heart" at the first show in Nashville and I loved that. I played mandolin on that, and I really think that's a charming song. I wish we were still performing that."

SMILER: "Of the solos that you do, which is your favorite?"

J'ANNA:"'Da Ya Think I'm Sexy' is my favorite moment in the show! It's just so fun, I love doing that."

SMILER: "What do you think of the reaction of the fans at concerts?"

J'ANNA:"Rod mentioned to me in New York early on in the tour, he remarked about how the crowd go crazy when I go to the front of the stage! I told him it kind of scared me, and he said, it was one of the nice things that I add to the show - he said I have a vulnerability that the crowd seem to respond to. He told me to stay genuine, whatever I do. I think that's great advice. I mean I get to pay tribute to the fans too. When I'm playing "Maggie May" or whatever, and I just look out there and I see people singing along, I can't tell you how much that means to a musician to be up on stage and feel that reciprocal energy. It helps you get through. You do a lot of shows - 50 shows or whatever and it really helps to keep you focused on what the inspiration is or the reason is for it. Like the other night, I was telling Freddie when we were doing "Dance To The Music" which is another really fun song, and I have that one little line in there - for some reason I just looked out in the audience and I saw some woman in the very front row, and that one line that I sing (or I say) - she's singing along or mouthing along with me! It feels so good to look down and your singing a line and somebody's singing it with you, it just feels great. There wouldn't be any reason to do the show if you didn't have people that love the music. So one of the most important elements is you guys!"

J'ANNA JACOBY WAS INTERVIEWED ON 27 JUNE 1999 BY RITA BELCHER

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