For Jahnah Camille, there was never a backup plan. Overhearing her father’s guitar lessons, she first picked up the instrument at four years old, and by age ten was writing her own songs. Opportunities to open for artists like Clairo and Soccer Mommy led to Jahnah’s burgeoning status as a keenly self-examining indie rocker in the Birmingham scene, otherwise saturated with punk and hardcore bands, with whom she played many of her early DIY shows.
“The first year after I graduated high school was kind of horrifying,” says Jahnah. “I had just basically broken up with most of my band. I wasn't going to college. I was seeing how everyone else that I had known growing up, their lives were changing. I knew that whatever happened in my life, it wasn't going to be that, and there wasn't really any proof that things were going in a positive direction.”
Throughout her life, supportive coincidences have pushed Jahnah’s creative tenacity. Her mother encouraged an elementary-aged Jahnah to perform for their apartment’s maintenance man, who then gifted her a red Gibson SG and amplifier. At a hippie kids camp, she met a mentor who helped to champion her early crowdfunded recordings. These threads connect on EP opener “close to heaven,” which Jahnah began writing at age 15. The final edition merges past and present: snarling guitars carry over from her upbringing in Birmingham’s hardcore scene, while soft piano nods to a current obsession with Elliott Smith.
“My mom was always having me sing and play guitar for people,” says Jahnah. “I've always had people who believed in me, and I feel like I've internalized that. That's been really beautiful.”
Jahnah will hit the road this Summer opening up for Blondshell, kicking off in Solana Beach before heading through Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, SLC, Denver and ending at Dog Days Festival in Savannah.
Tour Dates May 28 - Solana Beach, CA @ Belly Up Tavern * May 30 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Fonda * May 31 - San Francisco, CA @ August Hall * June 2 - Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom * June 3 - Seattle, WA @ The Showbox * June 6 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Soundwell * June 8 - Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theatre * June 14 - Savannah, GA @ Dog Days Festival ^
* supporting Blondshell ^ w/ Mannequin Pussy, Lip Critic, & more
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