Folk Was I: Jenny Owen Youngs

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SOME FOLKIES WANT YOU to cry. But more and more, Jenny Owen Youngs just wants her audience to groove.

The smoky-voiced indie musician made a big first impression with the audacious, waltz-time dirge "F*** Was I," which drew comparisons with Alanis Morissette for its unapologetic use of profanity and no-holds-barred chorus. Youngs' sparsely arranged debut CD, "Batten the Hatches," seemed influenced by thoughtful types like Sufjan Stevens and Ani DiFranco.

But once she hit the road with a band, out went introspection and in came extroversion. So expect folk with some funk when the New Jersey native plays the Rock and Roll Hotel this weekend, because on her new album, "Transmitter Failure" (due out May 26), Youngs' music is more about rump-shaking than heart-breaking.

"The idea was to make a record that would be more fun to play live because 'Batten the Hatches' was a little low-key," says Youngs by phone during a tour stop. "I've been listening a little more to what I'd call rock-pop records. I was listening to a lot of Strokes and a lot of Motion City Soundtrack and Ludacris while I was writing and while we were recording."

So Youngs set about writing new music that "would feel good and make for fun shows.

"Having feelings is nice and connecting with a song emotionally is great," she explains. "And I love downer music — it was a huge part of my life at one point. But now I just wanna move around, you know? I wanna rock."

If any indie musician has a reason to dance these days, it's Youngs. After playing in high school bands and majoring in music in college, she put out a debut CD by herself and sold it on CD Baby like millions of other musicians. But a lot of people liked what they heard. And some of those people were in high places. They helped place "F*** Was I" on the Showtime comedy "Weeds," which kicked Youngs' career into high gear.

"It was sort of like a culmination of a bunch of things starting to happen all at once," Youngs explains. "I got contracted by the Nettwerk label and another label or two, and Lynn Grossman, who has a music placement service called Secret Road, started working the record. Also, my publisher entered the picture. All of those people converged on the delicate heart of Gary Calamar, the music supervisor of 'Weeds.'"

Having D.C. photographer Shervin Lainez sing her praises to celebrity blogger Perez Hilton didn't hurt either. In 2007, Hilton added some of Youngs' videos to his site at the behest of Lainez. And as Miss California recently learned, when you get involved with Mr. Hilton, people notice you.

Youngs says the posts about her by the self-proclaimed "Queen of All Media" yielded "a lot of attention all at once," as opposed to her "Weeds" forum, which became "a gift that keeps on giving." People still discover her music, she says, when they rent the second season of "Weeds" on DVD.

Also in 2007, Youngs began to make like Bob Dylan during his "Another Side" period and cozied up to pop-friendly music. Her "Take Off All Your Clothes" EP that year featured a cover of Nelly's "Hot in Herre" that was as unexpected as it was danceable. Just in case anyone thought the cover was a goof, a ripping live rendition was also included. The EP helped expand Youngs' audience beyond the mopey folkie crowd.

"We just kind of decided that was the most ridiculous thing we could think of [to cover]," Youngs says, referencing her band.

"I had been doing a lot of silly pop songs for a while, like a lot of Britney Spears, because I love pop music and it was time for something new. We ended up recording it for a split 10-inch that came out in the U.K., and then the label got really into it and put it out in a digital EP, and people really responded to it."

Youngs admits her scatological debut single was born out of an experience that included "some really regrettable romantic happenings." But she's no messenger of doom. As an interviewee, she's very amusing, peppering the conversation with self-effacing quips and pop-culture references.

"I've always been really drawn to awesome melodies," she says. "My parents listened to a lot of Beatles and Beach Boys and oldies radio, and that was what planted the seed for my love of music."

"F*** Was I"

"Take Off All Your Clothes"

» Rock and Roll Hotel, 1353 H St. NE; with Jukebox the Ghost, Winter Sounds; Sat. May 23; 9:30 p.m., $12 in advance, $14 at the door; 202-388-7625.

Written by Express contributor Tony Sclafani
Photos courtesy Shervin Lainez