Chrissie Hynde Debuts New Project in Los Angeles

In her 30-plus year career, Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders has collaborated with countless musicians, from Sheryl Crow and Morrissey to Brazil's Moreno Veloso and Emmylou Harris. But throughout her career, Hynde has never released an album under another moniker -- until now, as she's teaming with Welsh producer/singer-songwriter JP Jones for JP, Chrissie and Fairground Boys.

Hynde, Jones and Patrick Murdoch made their radio debut Tuesday night in Los Angeles to tape a performance for KCRW that will air this Saturday, May 1, at 1:30PT. While host Chris Douridas informed the crowd of 100 or so packed into legendary producer Bob Clearmountain's Santa Monica, Calif. studio that the group will come back as an electric act, the seven-song set gave an acoustic taste of the new project

Coming out to a large round of applause, the trio kicked off only their second show following a gig Monday night at L.A. club Bardot. Despite the obvious newness, the trio, all seated, was in excellent form. After the first song, Jones told the crowd "I'm far away from home," and explained he was from a small town in Wales. "And now I'm on stage with this woman. It's such an honor."

While Hynde is the name in the band, this is very clearly a duo project -- think Robert Plant and Alison Krauss' recent work -- as both Hynde and Jones handle lead vocals at times. Steeped American and English folk with a healthy dose of jangly pop-rock and a slight tinge of Cuban music (they wrote much of the album in Havana), the songs are a great vehicle for Hynde, harkening back to her 'Brass in Pocket' and 'Stop Your Sobbing' crooning. The set featured the title track of their album, 'Fidelity,' and a take on Bon Iver's 'Skinny Love,' which was worked up three hours before the show after Douridas requested they do a cover. But the standout selection of the evening was a song called 'Perfect Lover.' In this witty, honest and poignant tale in Hynde sings, "I found my perfect lover, but he's half my age." The song might be fictional, but she's certainly found her perfect partner in Jones.