Meet Your Mojo

In Cape Girardeau, the name Mojo Filter is synonymous with blues rock.

For years the band (Josh Boyd on drums, Scott Ryan on bass, Jason Blanchard on guitar, Jennifer Henderson on vocals) has been a fixture of the local music scene, shaking up local bars (especially Broussard's) with its heavy blend of blues, rock and soulful vocals care of lead singer Jennifer Henderson, one of the local scene's few female members.

The band sat down with OFF, tucked away in the big back booth of Broussard's, for drinks, cigarettes and a little conversation before a recent gig.

OFF: Tell me about the origins of the band, how long you guys have been playing.

JASON BLANCHARD: I joined the group not too long ago, six or eight months ago, maybe.

OFF: So is there any original member here?

JOSH BOYD: Jen and me. Jen used to be in a band called Black Cat Bone, which was kind of how we started.

JEN HENDERSON: He spotted me in a karaoke bar. Show Me's.

I've been singing in my dad's band off and on my whole life, but as in having my own band, it's always been karaoke. But about four years ago that changed.

OFF: Was it odd for you to play with live instruments again after all that karaoke?

JEN: A little bit, after so many years, because I moved away from my dad and just did karaoke in Kansas City, and moved down here and started this and I wouldn't go back, you can't even keep me in a karaoke bar now.

JOSH: Every now and then we can still get her to come back over for karaoke.

JEN: I'll come over and be like, okay, one song, I'll do it.

OFF: You guys play Broussard's a lot. Why is that?

JOSH: They've always taken real good care of us here, since we started. We've always had pretty good crowds here.

JASON: I think the atmosphere fits the band pretty good, that's why I like it so much.

SCOTT RYAN: Broussard's is kind of a good home base for blues.

JEN: That's what we're mostly based on, blues.

OFF: What are the influences?

JEN: There are so many influences at this table. We all have our favorites. We've got alternative (points to Scott Ryan) we've got country (points to Jason Blanchard) ... I was country before and then I've really gotten into blues.

JOSH: I've always been a fan of the blues, my dad kind of brought me to that. He was real big into it ... I listen to just about anything, anything that sounds good.

OFF: What sort of blues, old school or blues rock?

JOSH: A little bit of the old-school stuff. But mainly like, Clapton, Hendrix, Stevie Ray.

JEN: I like the old stuff.

SCOTT: I like the old blues, but ... the old blues is good to just sit around and chill to, but you're not going to get people up on the floor. I used to listen to a lot of funk all the time, I try to throw a little of that in when I'm playing music. We all come together and mix our sound together, and it is what it is.

JASON: Yeah, old blues is great, once the record wears out it still sounds the same.

OFF: Do you play mostly originals or covers?

JOSH: We've got a mix of originals and covers. We recorded nine originals a few years ago ... we play some of those and we're hoping in maybe July this year the four of us will sit down and record some stuff.

OFF: So how many bass players have you gone through now?

JOSH: Scott's our thirteenth bass player.

SCOTT: The last one spontaneously combusted.

OFF: What do you like to see in a crowd?

JASON: I love looking out in the crowd and seeing people just paying attention to what we're doing and having fun.

OFF: A lot of people say you're one of the best blues rock bands around. Do you ever let that get to your head?

JEN: Bottom Feeders Blues Band, they are number one in my book. They're phenomenal. People say that and I'm like, have you heard of the Bottom Feeders Blues Band? If you like blues they're great.

JOSH: It's all Jen, really.

JASON: We just sort of stay in the background and listen to her sing.

OFF: You're one of the few bands around with a female singer. Has that caused anything to be different?

JEN: They have to load more stuff. They have to load and unload the equipment.

OFF: Have you ever been disrespected because you're a woman playing rock 'n' roll?

JEN: Sometimes. My old band used to do some Led Zeppelin, and people were like "What? You can't have a girl singing Led Zeppelin." Or I'd do some Hendrix and people are like "What?" But I kind of like playing that card in a way. Some of the songs, with lyrics like, "I'm a man," I'm not singing that song, because it just doesn't fit.

JASON: For the most part people love the fact that she's up front and she's singing, you don't see that very much around here.

JEN: There's used to me more ... they just don't play out any more. I'm just a stay-at-home mom that plays music.

OFF: Has that been hard on you?

JEN: She's got a grandmother (Jen's child) and my boyfriend, her father, plays in a band. We've got a great babysitter who lives just a few miles away.

OFF: What's your plan, are you going to try to branch out to other markets?

Josh: We'll just do it and see what happens. If it does, it does, if it doesn't, we've still got Broussard's.

Mojo Filter was interviewed by OFF editor Matt Sanders.