After a six year hiatus, the Jayne Sachs Band is back for a reunion show June 26 at the Brightside in Dayton. An intimate songwriters in the round will open the show, featuring Midwestern Mrs, Anna Marie, and a solo performance from Jayne Sachs.
The third and current lineup of Jayne Sachs Band, which has been the same since ‘95, includes guitarist Steve Van Etten, bassist Scott Shiverdecker, and drummer Kelly Morelock.
“The work ethic of these guys is unbelievable,” Sachs said. “It truly will be great to celebrate our years of music together once again. We actually really love each other.”
When the Jayne Sachs Band came on the scene, when female singers-songwriters were really starting to electrify, the comparisons to Liz Phair and Alanis Morissette were coming out of the woodwork.
Though her band’s sound does live somewhere between indie-alt and pop-rock, Sachs started writing for the Nashville country market 10 years ago, and has been writing for a publisher for the last six while still living in the Dayton area. She periodically commutes to an apartment in Nashville, but often co-writes via Zoom these days.
While her Canal Street opportunities and 97X airplay definitely had much to do with Sachs’ musical trajectory, her late father was always a big supporter of her music, too, suggesting she find a publisher. After his passing, Sachs got a letter from him that he’d written while he was still alive.
“He talked to me about my music and how proud he was, and said if I never did one more thing with music that I should be happy with where I’ve landed,” Sachs said. “And I just thought about all of that and it just encouraged me to keep going.”
Because of her alt-pop inclinations, country music wasn’t necessarily what she was interested in performing herself. But her connection to songs runs deep within her love of lyrics and the emotions they convey — something that all the great songs typically share.
“I thought some of the stuff I was doing with the band would just translate to a country singer. So I went down there feeling like this was going to be easy and got thrown against the wall, like right away,” Sachs said. “It was the hardest writing I’ve ever done. I didn’t have to learn to write for my project; I just wrote.”
She had a hit-making mentor for a while, and four years after heading to Nashville, Sachs was signed to a publisher.
When asked what defines a Jayne Sachs tune — ones she writes in her own voice — she says it’s a concept that wouldn’t lyrically fly in Nashville, one that may have an edge. Her time writing for a commercially fertile market may have curbed those more rebellious sensibilities.
“I used to write more artsy,” she said. “It didn’t always make sense but the emotion of it did. That has been beaten out of me. And I think I’m a better writer for it, to tell you the truth.”
But after successfully writing for other people, the upcoming reunion of the Jayne Sachs Band will be a time for Sachs, and her band, to take the spotlight once again.
“It’s really true: it is sort of like getting back on a bike,” she said. “I feel really comfortable on stage. I love it and I miss it. I miss it greatly. But it’s not like we’re going to do a whole bunch of shows. This might be our very last one… or maybe not.”
Brandon Berry writes about the Dayton and Southwest Ohio music and art scene. Have a story idea for him? Email branberry100@gmail.com.
How to go
What: Jayne Sachs Band, with Midwestern Mrs. and Anna Marie
When: 8 p.m., June 26
Where: The Brightside, 905 E. 3rd St., Dayton
Cost: $15
Tickets: thebrightsidedayton.com
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