Jaw Knee Vee, A Rockabilly One-Man Band
Review by: Alexandra Haynes, Writer @xalexonlinex
Edited by: Andrew Perrizo, Owner/Editor @MelodicNoiseMedia
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I was lucky enough to catch the rockabilly, one-man band sensation Jaw Knee Vee live on March 28th - he was the headliner to a cheeky Friday night show at The Sydney in Omaha, Nebraska.
Jaw Knee Vee (“Johnny V.”) from St. Paul charmed the crowd with masterful command of his multi-instrument set-up, in which he pumped a high-hat mounted with baby doll heads. On his other foot pedal was a makeshift auxiliary percussion wonderland, of course featuring more doll parts - this head was from a blonde doll, wig intact post-beheading. She was mounted to a spring and armed with multiple shakers, which became her abstracted body. These added an incredible layer of sound to Jaw Knee Vee’s rowdy rock’n’roll melodies and created a surreal aesthetic.
He made use of a looper to compose his tracks in real time without skimping on the big sound of multiple guitar riffs; he worked his guitar expertly, sometimes breaching the space between stage and floor by coming out from behind his kit and stepping down to fraternise with us as he went ham on those strings. He had the people dancing as he rocked out, leaning into a funky blend of surfside noise.
When Omaha local legend Lallaya from the now defunct but iconic Brothers Lounge was getting down, Jaw Knee Vee honored her enthusiasm and energy by playing to her directly on the floor, hyping up the crowd with their dynamics as he stopped in front of her and she danced around him. Later, we were afforded the pleasant surprise of another unconventional instrument being added to his mix that was bestowed directly upon Lallaya: Vee offered her a whip, found a pause in his groove, and turned his back to be struck. His torso was bare, as his fit that evening was a leatherette bondage harness across the body and cheetah print shorts. Of course, the whip had great potential musically, cracking an accent before Vee dove bombastically into the last half of his track.
I continued to be impressed with his performance and aesthetics, every choice he made was a deliberate construction. He takes DIY to the next level, truly doing it all himself; this was only further underlined by his merch table, a small selection of goods he sold out of a travel case. While this was a setup I had seen before for small wares, I hadn’t before seen such handmade dedication. His first EP, “What Ever Happened To Johnny Baby?” was the only physical media for sale, and amazingly presented - this EP is a burned disc of 9 songs, packaged in a paper bag which has a reprinted front and back cover collaged onto it and folded like a slipcase. It’s otherwise available to stream and purchase digitally on his Bandcamp, but the CD is totally charming and I highly recommend getting your hands on one to support the pure art that went into its making. Naturally, I’m now the proud owner of one, as well as a sick green ink on black fabric koozie, whose iconography is a great representation of Vee’s vibe.
Keep your eyes on Jaw Knee Vee, friends, and see if you can get yourself to a show of his in the future. You are bound to have a damn good time.
