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L to R: Vanessa Bayer, Jenny Lewis, St. Vincent

Mar 04, 2019 By Christopher Roberts Jenny Lewis

Last night Jenny Lewis live-streamed On the Line Online, a telethon/variety show to promote her upcoming new album, On the Line, and to raise money for Los Angeles’ The Downtown Women’s Center. If you didn’t catch it live, you can still watch the whole three and a half hour thing below. It was co-hosted by comedians Tim Heidecker and Vanessa Bayer (of Saturday Night Live) and featured a slew of special guests, including Jeff Goldblum, St. Vincent, Beck, Danielle Haim, Mac DeMarco, Jim James, Jason Schwartzman, Nikki Lane, David Arquette, King Tuff, Natasha Leggero, and more. The entire show was intentionally awkward, a bit of a spoof of a poorly run local TV telethon or public access show. If you weren’t in on the joke you might have found it painful to watch, but for those you got it, it was fairly amusing. The special also featured Lewis recording a live music video for the new song “Rabbit Hole,” as well as snippets of other previously unreleased songs from On the Line.

Danielle Haim and Niki Lane both did solo covers of Lewis’ songs. There was a good magician and a bad psychic. Lewis’ godfather Jerry Cohen played the vibraphone throughout the night. Jason Schwartzman did a puzzle featuring Lewis’ new album cover. David Arquette did a wrestling demonstration with Tim Heidecker. There was a circle of bassists that featured Mac DeMarco, Jim James, King Tuff, and others all jamming on a revolving platform. St. Vincent played a game where she had to improvise licks on her electric guitar in response to emotions written on cards. The whole thing ended with Lewis performing “Acid Tongue,” the title track from her 2008 album, with everyone back on the set singing backing vocals. So it was all a bit silly, but ended on a truly beautiful moment.

On the Line is due out March 22 via Warner Bros. If you want to donate to Downtown Women’s Center via Lewis, you can still do that here.

Amanda Loso from The Downtown Women’s Center had this to say in a previous press release: “The Downtown Women’s Center exists, first and foremost, to end homelessness for women in Los Angeles. We need community to change inequitable systems and support women in reaching personal stability, which is why we’re so excited Jenny has invited us to be a part of this event.”

Previously Lewis shared On the Line‘s first single, “Red Bull & Hennessy,” which was one of our Songs of the Week. Then she shared another song from the album, “Heads Gonna Roll,” which was posted to YouTube via a largely static image of her on a horse in a sparkly Elvis-in-Vegas type outfit. The song featured Ringo Starr on drums and Don Was on bass and was also one of our Songs of the Week.

On the Line is Lewis’ first solo album in five years, since 2014’s The Voyager. Lewis recorded On the Line at Capitol Records’ Studio B with an impressive backing band featuring Beck, Benmont Tench, Don Was, Jim Keltner, Ringo Starr, and others.

Lewis previously stopped by the Chris Thile-hosted public radio show Live From Here to perform “Red Bull & Hennessy.”

Jenny Lewis Tour Dates:

3/26/19 - Bloomington, IL - The Castle Theatre
3/27/19 - Madison, WI - The Sylvee
3/29/19 - St. Paul, MN - The Palace
3/30/19 - Chicago, IL - Riviera Theatre
3/31/19 - Nashville, TN - Ryman Auditorium
4/2/19 - Iowa City, IA - Mission Creek Festival
4/4/19 - Oklahoma City, OK - The Jones Assembly
4/5/19 - Dallas, TX - Canton Hall
4/6/19 - Austin, TX - ACL Live at the Moody Theater
4/7/19 - Houston, TX - White Oak Music Hall
4/9/19 - Baton Rouge, LA - Varsity Theatre
4/10/19 - Jackson, MS - Duling Hall
4/12/19 - Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse
4/13-14/19 - Charleston, SC - High Water Festival
5/10/19 - Las Vegas, NV - House of Blues
5/11/19 - Los Angeles, CA - Hollywood Palladium
5/13/19 - Tucson, AZ - Rialto Theatre
5/14/18 - Albuquerque, NM - Kimo Theatre
5/16/19 - Denver, CO - Ogden Theatre
5/17/19 - Bellvue, CO - Mishawaka Amphitheatre
5/18/19 - Salt Lake City, UT - The Commonwealth Room
5/20/19 - Vancouver, BC - Commodore Ballroom
5/21/19 - Seattle, WA - The Moore
5/22/19 - Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom
5/24/19 - Napa, CA - BottleRock Festival
5/25/19 - San Luis Obispo, CA - Fremont Theatre
5/26/19 - San Diego, CA - House of Blues
6/11/19 - Portland, ME - Thompsons Point *
6/12/19 - Burlington, VT - The Green at Shelburne *
6/14/19 - New Haven, CT -College Street *
6/15/19 - Queens, NY - Forest Hills Tennis Stadium *
6/16/19 - Portsmouth, NH - Prescott Park Arts Festival
6/18/19 - Detroit, MI - The Masonic *
6/20/19 - Toronto, ON - Echo Beach *
6/21/19 - Cooperstown, NY - Ommegang Brewery *
6/22/19 - Northampton, MA - Calvin Theatre
7/10/19 - Aspen, CO - The Belly Up
7/12/19 - Jackson, WY - Pink Garter Theatre
7/14/19 - Whitefish, MT - Under The Big Sky Festival
7/24/19 - Brighton, UK - Komedia
7/25/19 - London, UK - Electric Ballroom
7/27/19 - Edinburgh, UK - Queens Hall
7/28/19 - Manchester, UK - RNCM Concert Hall
7/29/19 - Dublin, IE - The Button Factory
8/17/19 - St. Louis - The Paegent
9/5/19 - Washington, DC - The Anthem
9/7/19 - Wilmington, NC- Greenfield Lake Amphitheater
9/10/19 - Ft. Lauderdale, FL - Revolution Live
9/11/19 - Orlando, FL - The Beacham
9/13/19 - New Orleans, LA - The Civic
9/14/19 - Birmingham, AL - Saturn
9/15/19 - Springfield, MO - Gillioz Theatre
9/17/19 - Cleveland, OH - Agora Theatre
9/18/19 - Ann Arbor, MI - Michigan Theatre
10/25/19 - Boston, MA - House of Blues
10/26/19 - Philadelphia, PA - The Met Philadelphia
10/29/19 - Ithaca, NY - State Theatre
11/1/19 - Montreal, QC - L’Astral
11/3/19 - Providence, RI - Columbus Theatre

* Supporting Death Cab For Cutie

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