Indie Music

We painted the town in Indiana, performing in Fort Wayne (including a performance at the Fort Wayne Convention Center!), Logansport, Crawfordville (for an audience of 1,200 kids in ONE ROOM!), Kokomo, and Carmel. We performed almost 2 shows every day and ate a lot of frozen custard.

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With so many stops, the Indiana media machine was all over us. We had segments that started at 6 AM and multiple crews at our shows. We were even featured with a full color spread in the Indianapolis Star, my first regional media market placement! (See all of the Indiana press and read the full stories under the media tab.)

I was so proud to be featured in stories that highlighted rational nutrition science.  The messages that have remained the same for years (eat more vegetables, drink more water, exercise more) don’t seem as exciting as the camera ready headlines like  “Blueberries cure cancer!”, “Lose 40 pounds in 2 weeks!”, and “Think yourself thin!”. The conflicting messages that arise between the science and the headlines have generated a $40 billion dollar dieting industry with an ironic perpetually overweight population. The power of the media—our sound bite culture— is the entire premise of the rock ‘n roll nutrition songs. Easily digestible pop choruses turn those plain-Jane rules into Jill Jayne rock anthems.

Even more, I like generating positive news. While messages of fear can mobilize people to react quickly—as in changing their vote for president the day before the election with a smear campaign—fear also makes people act irrationally (I’m sure you’ve seen the recent town hall meetings over healthcare reform). But in politics and in ad copy, fear is a daily tactic to coerce, whether for votes or for new customers for a product. Fear elicits greater attention and greater physiological arousal. But to get the best results when it comes to using fear as a behavior change tool, moderation is best. We have the best memory when we are a little stressed. How this plays out in the health arena depends on the age, interests and values of your audience. Convincing a 12-year-old to say “no” to smoking may be more productive if you explain that it yellows your nails and teeth and makes you smell bad. You could explain that smoking makes you die a slow and painful death from your lungs rotting from the inside out. But peer pressure may be more realistic to a 12-year-old than death. I use the concert-style experience of the show to generate a powerful, memorable experience with health, and to give the media something salient to talk about.

After returning from this very long stretch of tour, I was greeted by a monsoon of fan mail from kids who saw our performance at P.S. 139 in Brooklyn. The science teacher, Nataly Malo, had the kids do a reflective essay on the show about what they learned and what they liked. She sent me their letters-- piles and piles of them-- with glitter and glue exploding all over my living room. I left it there for a week just to savor the moment. Here is my favorite letter by fifth grader Naomi (verbatim):

Dear Jill,
I think you have a natural talent for performing. You are a exstrodinary person up on stage, boy I can’t imagine what you are in person. You must be fabulous.
   
I’m guessing that your exstemly smart, I mean who comes up with an idea like the milk one, I love that part. You put glasses and a rap necklace on the milk bottle I was amazed.

You tought me to drink milk because of you saying his rap name is calcium. I mean what can I say Your hilarious. You tought me that my muscles would get stronger by drinking milk. So thank you so muchk.

You are a blow away person so I hope you perform again at P.S. 139.

Sincerely,
Naomi