The Jenny Johnson Band celebrates the release of its latest album

It’s no coincidence the Jenny Johnson Band has played festivals and concerts with the likes of Jason Isbell and The Marshall Tucker Band.

It’s Jenny Johnson’s voice; it’s as dynamic as it is earthy and rich.

And Saturday night, the Carbondale, Illinois-based musician and her band are throwing a release party at Port Cape Girardeau for their new album, “These are My Neighbors.”

Johnson said her rootsy sound is a confluence of several styles.

“I appreciate the full spectrum of musical genres and sought to take a little away from each. Music is a highly derivative art, and we embrace that by mixing soul vocals, ragtime progressions, bluegrass harmonies and gypsy swing together to create our sound,” she said.

In addition to Johnson, the group is Janis Esch on guitar and vocals, Toby Merriman on fiddle and vocals, Alex Pape on accordion and Nate Graham on upright bass and vocals.

Fifteen minutes with their first record, “Torch Ditties,” is all it takes to be sold on Johnson’s vocal expression and versatility.

She’s broad and striking at times, but she also can sing with a nostalgic, almost hill-country lilt. At times, it’s the same fine Victrola warbling other Americana revivalists such as Pokey LaFarge have used to great effect.

There’s a liveliness and soul, even in the down-and-out pining of “Do Me Undone.”

And then there are the lyrics, for which Johnson deserves further credit.

“Factory Man” — a loving wife’s ode to her quiet husband who’s “sweeter than his skin is tough” — is a portrait of blue-collar devotion that’s as warm as a Norman Rockwell scene and more plausible by half.

“He lives hard, and he plays rough,” Johnson sings. “But I can still make him blush, oh my factory man.”

Her more somber songs ring just as true.

“I don’t think you know what you need at all,” she croons to an inconsistent paramour on “Sky to Fall.”

And she gets in the head of a woman scorned on the smoldering murder ballad “Abeline.”

But, she said, her favorite part of the songwriting process is the collaboration with her band.

“When I write a tune and bring it to the group, we arrange the piece together,” she said.

Her show Saturday will focus on their new material.

“We’re deeply rooted in our community, and that plays an essential part in our music. Many of the songs are either written for or about dear friends in this area. The picture on the front of the album is where we practice,” she said. “And when it’s warm outside like it is now, we practice on the back porch, much to the delight (and occasionally the chagrin) of our neighbors.”

What’s on the record is what people can expect live, Johnson said. The new record was recorded in one “marathon weekend session,” she said, live and with very few overdubs.

Evan Webb, Adam Hellman and Abbie Fieser will be performing with the Jenny Johnson Band on Saturday night at Port Cape Girardeau, 19 N. Water St. in downtown Cape Girardeau. Tickets are $10, and the show starts at 9 p.m.

Keep up with the band

and hear their music at www.therealjennyjohnson.com and www.facebook.com/therealjennyjohnson.

tgraef@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3627

Pertinent address:

19 N. Water St., Cape Girardeau, Mo.