A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words--and Songs

"I am a camera, with its shutter open, quite passively, recording, not thinking," an iconic quote from English novelist Christopher Isherwood that may very well sum up the musical prowess of the Jessica Allyn Band.

Allyn recounts that she was always a siren in the making. As a child, a young violin-playing Allyn was accepted to the prestigious Suzuki Program, where she learned to play guitar, ukulele and a number of other instruments. The Syosset High School alum's soulful voice landed her an audition on Broadway for Rent. But this songbird had bigger fish to fry—like connecting with her family heritage through music.

A prodigy? Allyn laughs at the thought and humbly shrugs it off, but not before explaining that both her grandfather and great-grandfather were temple cantors.  And that her grandmother survived the Holocaust and moved to Sweden, where she sang and played guitar as a way of dealing with her past.

Beyond lineage, Allyn shares with her grandmother the affinity to turn to music.  The boisterous singer admits she suffered through a rough childhood, which drove her to music.

"I always write from my own real-life experience, it's how I deal," says Allyn.

Allyn knew that making music was her calling, now she just needed her partner.

Enter Rob Franceschini.

Franceschini played guitar in the house band for "A Bite of Broadway," a theater show to benefit Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. The duo met there and became friends, then inseparable music partners.

"It didn't take long for me to realize that were on the same wavelength musically. We just got each other," says 25-year-old Islip native Franceschini.

The pair immediately began working on the debut EP I Am a Camera, inspired by Isherwood.

"Jess comes up with music, then I put my ideas to it and it's exactly what she had wanted. It is a perfect musical partnership," says Franceschini.

The debut EP includes smart pop songs like "Jenny Jones," a song about the former queen of daytime talk shows, and the soaring, dramatic strings and intense guitar solo of "Standing O."

Allyn lets us in on a secret: "I Am a Camera is actually a rock opera in the works," she says with a sly smile.

When I Am a Camera dropped, college radio stations clamored over it—the duo needed to become a trio in order to play live. Drummer Jason Foulke completed the ensemble and the Jessica Allyn Band was on its way.  In June 2009, the three debuted at Otto's Shrunken Head in Manhattan to rave reviews.

Just four months after their first show at Otto's, the group was playing to a packed room at an official CMJ showcase.  To date, Allyn has played with artists including Army of Toys, Emilyn Brodsky, Family of the Year, Jaggery, and Yula and the Extended Family.

As if these guys weren't already primed to become the next indie darlings, they have just finished recording the band's second release, Delusions of Grandeur—focused on the seven deadly sins—to be released with a video diary chronicling the creation of the album.

You might ask what a 26-year-old knows about delusions of grandeur? Allyn's philosophic answer might surprise you.

"It is these things I have found around me a lot this past year," she says. "Be it in the form of narcissism, megalomania, or greed. I was appalled by the behavior I was witnessing around me—and like a camera, I have to record it."

Find out more about Jessica Allyn at www.jessicaallyn.fanbridge.com, www.twitter.com/jessicaallyn and www.jessicaallyn.com

Check out upcoming shows:

March 4 @ 9 p.m. 
Otto's Shrunken Head  
NYC
www.ottosshrunkenhead.com 

 April 2 @ 10 p.m. 
Tommy's Tavern 
Brooklyn 
www.tommystavern.com