To say that Joan Jett is a badass is a glaring understatement. She went from The Runaways to a successful solo career and co-founded the independent label Blackheart Records. She knows what’s good. So, when Jett sits up and takes notice of Girl In A Coma…hello? People are going to listen.
The San Antonio powerhouse trio (front woman/guitarist Nina Diaz, drummer Phanie Diaz, and bassist Jenn Alva) got their big break when they played for Jett and her songwriting/label partner and producer Kenny Laguna at the Knitting Factory in NYC, during a taping for a cable TV show. They were signed to Blackheart and released their 2007 critically-acclaimed debut Both Before I’m Gone , followed by Trio B.C. in 2009 and its impressively executed companion recording Adventures In Coverland in 2010. By 2011, with more than enough material for a new album, they recorded Exits & All the Rest in Austin with renowned producer Mike McCarthy, taking the analog route and laying their basic tracks down live. It’s a challenge to be on the mark like that, but they were up for the task. It was also an opportunity to capture a more raw side to their energy, something that’s been with them since their early days in the San Antonio underground indie scene.
Other artists have also taken notice of Girl In A Coma (and invited them to open on tour), most notably Morrissey, Tegan and Sara, The Pogues, Amanda Palmer, and Australian/UK sensation Sia. Not a bad track record, and no doubt more looms on the horizon.
Girl In A Coma has a show tonight at the Mohawk, 912 Red River, on the outside stage. The bill includes performances by one of my favorite Houston-based bands, Young Girls, and Kathy Valentine’s band The Bluebonnets, followed by an aftershow inside the Mohawk with Opposite Day and Shaolin Death Squad. Doors open at 8 p.m., and the music starts at 9 p.m. Don’t miss out. Recommended.
