Jenn Cristy debuts new album at Jake’s Nightclub

The last few piano notes trailed off into silence, which was soon broken by applause and whistles from the crowd at Jake’s Nightclub on Friday night.

“How are you feeling?” Jenn Cristy asked the audience from behind her keyboard on stage.

Until 11 p.m., about 200 people waited for Cristy and her band to premiere all the
songs from her newest album “Crawl.” The crowd was feeling good.

Backed by three band members and two backup singers, the Jenn Cristy Band played an uncharacteristically late-night show that also included covers such as Adele’s “Set Fire to the Rain” and songs from Cristy’s previous three CDs.

The album was recorded at Bloomington Farm Fresh Studios and was funded with the use of a Kickstarter campaign, an online platform for artists to raise money for creative projects. Cristy raised more than her initial budget of $4,000.

About 50 people who donated $10 or more to the Kickstarter campaign received the album two weeks in advance via download. About 77 people altogether donated to the campaign.

“I definitely feel more attached to this one,” Cristy said about the album. “The album isn’t all over the place itself, but it definitely has levels of different emotions. I am so excited about this album, it is so hard to describe.”

Cristy, who writes all her own lyrics and music, said she forced herself to write more for this album and that it is more “radio-friendly” compared to her previous albums.

“And it’s not necessarily just to get on the radio or anything like that,” she said. “It’s trying to find something that can connect to everybody.”

As an IU senior at the height of her swimming career, Cristy was “discovered” by John Mellencamp when he heard her sing “The Star-Spangled Banner” at an IU basketball game. She ended up touring with Mellencamp for 18 months and contributed vocals, organ, piano, violin and percussion to his 2001 album “Cuttin’ Heads.”

Eleven years later, Cristy said she feels she has the “best collection of musicians working with me. It’s incredible.” She credits her band members for refining her performance style and sound, which she said is now more “aggressive” and has more of a “driving force.”

Before settling on the current pop-rock flair that can be heard in her new songs “Crawl” and “You Don’t Know,” Cristy worked with 18 different musicians as part of her band and played with a jazz trio at one point.

“I wanted to be more of a soulful rocker, a beat-the-heck-out-of-the-piano pianist,” she said.

Christina Cerimele, 47, of Carmel, Ind., attended the show Friday night with two other people. Cerimele said she first heard Cristy play a year ago at a show in Indianapolis.

“I’ve been a music lover my whole life,” Cerimele said. “She’s an amazing musician.
Her talent is underappreciated. She has a top-notch, great voice. Very personal.”

Brent Crockett, 52,, who has been a bartender at the Player’s Pub for almost four years, said he has seen Cristy perform several times at the pub’s Songwriter Showcase. Crockett gets most of his musical fixes from hearing music while working.
He said the Player’s Pub had the best turnout for the showcase when Cristy performed two weeks ago.

“Very lively, very cheerful,” Crockett said when asked how he would describe Cristy’s performances. “Just the kind of exuberance that she brings to the stage.”

In a town where indie music thrives, pop music perhaps challenges Bloomington audiences that consist of mostly college students.

Cristy, a Knoxville, Tenn., native, said she feels like she has built a fan base during the 13 years she has lived in Bloomington. She said she can go to the Player’s Pub any night and see people she knows.

“It’s warm, it’s a great feeling,” she said. “If I could swallow it, I would.”