JOY and Midgets

Jenny Owen Youngs has nothing in common with midgets. I really mean that. Even though the photo to the left of this paragraph is small, Jenny's somewhat tall. But I don't think she'd take offense with me putting her in a blog entry that also includes news about midget wrestling.

Actually, knowing how Jenny thinks, I bet she'd be as freaked about what went down at Yale Field as I am. In the previous two years that I've attended the Cutters' annual Midget Wrestling night, two little people have wrestled. Last night, Shortpants Sampson (I think that's his name) faced off against a non-little person ... and a woman. That's right, it was a tag match with Shortpants and some woman, against another dude and a woman.

It was a night to remember. I'll never forget it. But, I have to say it might be time to stop calling it Midget Wrestling, since, you know, that's not really what I saw. But the stadium was the most packed I'd ever seen it, except for that Bob Dylan show a few years back.

So what does this all have to do with Jenny Owen Youngs? Well, not much, except that I spoke with her recently because I was going to write something up before her show at Cafe Nine on July 28. Well, that show's not happening now. Jenny is opening for Aimee Mann in London, so she chose that option over Cafe Nine. I told her it was the wrong decision, but sometimes people feel the need to make the wrong decisions.

Anyway, Jenny is still set to play Daniel Street Sunday night, opening for The Alternate Routes. I've spent a lot of time writing about the Routes and you guys have probably seen them play already, if you go out to local shows. But Jenny, maybe you haven't seen her before.

A few years back, Jenny used to play The Space about every couple months. The venue's then booker, Chris Greenland, loved her music and would put her on bills. So in November of 2004, I got a press kit sent to me by Jenny. It was a, um, low budget kit that normally would have ended up on the bottom of my pile. But the cover letter was hysterical, so I listened to the disc, which was great. I did a little article on a show she was doing at The Space and had a heck of good time at that show.

Since then, Jenny's made a record, had that record re-released by Nettwerk Records, which is, of course, the home to many big artists like Sarah McLachlan. She's also become a favorite of gossip blogger Perez Hilton. Her songs have been on TV, which is the new radio, of course.

In short, all this is happening because Jenny's music is great. You should see her Sunday. She would like you for that. She would also like it if you bought her record. You could also buy it right at the show. OK, that's enough. See you Sunday.