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Chanteuse
Rockabilly US du Texas
With a mom
who rode in rodeo and a dad who was a fan of Wolfman Jack, rockabilly queen Kim
Lenz learned about good music early on during her youth in southern California.
She grew up listening to the recordings of such artists as
Janis Martin,
Wanda Jackson,
Faron Young, and
Johnny Horton. During her childhood she
played the piano, and she started playing the guitar during her teen years. For
a time when she lived in Los Angeles, her workplace's radio only picked up the
music of the big band era, which led her to become acquainted with many of the
old standards. At one time, Lenz majored in psychology while she attended the
University of North Texas. Before she earned her degree, she hooked up with a
few musicians who wanted to form a band. Lenz joined in, and the half a dozen
singers and musicians called themselves Rocket, Rocket. Before a year had passed,
however, the group disbanded. In 1994, she settled in Dallas, where two years
later she pulled together a band of her own, the Jaguars. Lenz's backing band
consists of Tom Umberger on lead guitar, Shawn Supra on bass fiddle, and Scotty
Tecce on drums.
In 1996, Lenz and the Jaguars put out an EP on the label Wormtone, which is
based in Colorado. The Dallas Observer named the rockabilly redhead Best Female
vocalist the following year. Hightone's Larry Sloven heard the EP and was so
taken by Lenz's sound that he offered a recording contract with Hightone's
subsidiary, HMG. The label issued the band's eponymous album in 1998. Of the
recording's 14 tracks, Lenz penned more than half. Also featured on the album
were covers of "Ten Cats Down," originally recorded by the
Miller Sisters, and "The Swing,"
recorded previously by Johnny Carroll.
The release featured Wally Hersom, the bassist for
Big Sandy & His Fly-Rite Boys, in the
producer's chair in an effort to get that rockabilly sound just right. He
collects vintage recording apparatus, and through that type of equipment he
helped Lenz and her Jaguars achieve the desired sound. The following year, Lenz
released The One And Only. Lenz's second release for Hightone, Up to my Old
Trick Again, was released in 2005. In 2009, Lenz returned with the studio album
It's All True.
After the release of It's All True, Lenz found out that she had been adopted.
The news came as a shock and subsequently, she entered a period of deep self-reflection.
Also around this time, Lenz suffered another blow with the death of longtime
friend and bandmate, guitarist Nick Curran, from cancer. It was out of this
period of turmoil however, that Lenz developed the music for her next album,
2013's Follow Me. Featuring production from journeyman roots music pianist Carl
Sonny Leyland, Follow Me showcased Lenz' newfound strength and swaggering
rockabilly attitude.
Talents : Vocals, Guitar
Style musical : Roots Rock, Rockabilly, Americana
Years in activity :
| 1910 | 20 | 30 | 40 | 50 | 60 | 70 | 80 | 90 | 2000 | 10 | 20 |
DISCOGRAPHY
EP
| 1997 | EP Wormtone WT-706 (US) |
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Kim LENZ & Her JAGUARS - Shake A Leg! - Shake A Leg / Up To My Old Tricks Again / Bop City / Minus One - Blast Off |
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Albums
| 04/1998 | CD HMG 3003 (US) |
 |
KIM LENZ AND HER JAGUARS - Saturday Jump / Kiss And Tell Baby / I Swear I Was Lying / You Ain't Seen Nothin' / Thinkin' About You / The Swing / Havin' A Ball / Shake A Leg / Ten Cats Down / Dang Good Stuff / You Made A Hit / Twinkle, Twinkle / Up To My Old Tricks Again / Devil On My Shoulder |
| 09/1999 | CD HIGHTONE 8108 (US) |
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THE ONE AND LONELY - KIM LENZ & THE JAGUARS - Howl At The Moon / One And Only / Somebody Lied / If You Don't Like My Peaches (Don't Shake My Tree) / Rock And Roll Guitar / Choctaw Boogie / Comin' Back Strong / Dancing Me To Death / Crawlin' Back / Truest Love / Fit To Be Tied / Stick 'em Up Honey / Flame Of Love / You've Met Your Match |
| 08/2005 | CD HIGHTONE 8183 (US) |
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UP TO MY OLD TRICKS AGAIN - Up To My Old Tricks Again / Dang Good Stuff / Cool Love / Saturday Jump / Choctaw Boogie / Down On The Farm / Devil On My Shoulder / You Ain't Seen Nothin' / Comin' Back Strong / You've Met Your Match / Dancing Me To Death / Shake A Leg |
| 06/2009 | CD RILEY 3008 (US) |
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IT'S ALL TRUE - KIM LENZ & THE JAGUARS - KIM LENZ AND HER JAGUARS - Touch Me / That's The Breaks / Zombie For Your Love / Ramblin' Feeling / Chocolate Eyes / I'll Tell You When / He's All Mine / Speed Limit / Know-It-All / I Break A Heart Every Night / Burning Rubber / Shined Up And Ready To Shout |
| 08/2013 | CD Burnside / RILEY BURNRR 4007 (US) |
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Follow Me - KIM LENZ AND THE JAGUARS - Pay Dearly / Follow Me / Deejay / Tumble And Fall / Whiplash / Ghost Of You / Cry Wolf / Number One Reason / Three-Cornered Heart / Shadows Of The Old Bayou / Right Here With Me / Trust No One |
| 02/2019 | CD Blue Star 1122 (US) |
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Slowly Speeding - Bogeyman / Pine Me / Guilty / Bury Me Deep / Slowly Speeding / Wild Oak / I'll Find You / Percolate / Hourglass / Room |
© Rocky Productions 23/02/2019
