Aimee Mann & Michael Penn at Whitaker

Aimee Mann & Michael Penn at Whitaker

by Lisa Hummel

Aimee Mann has come a long way from her days as the front of the ’80s post-new wave pop act ’Til Tuesday. After finding success with "Voices Carry" (the title track from the band’s debut album) and recording two more discs, Mann disbanded the group, choosing to go forward alone in an attempt to build a solo career. And while it has been a long road to individual success, Mann has finally found it — without succumbing to the pop machine so prevalent in mainstream music.

Like many artists of the past decade, Mann has had to battle the corporate changes and downsizing that rampaged the music industry. As a result of that chaos — and unwilling to sacrifice her songwriting for material the labels thought would be more ‘radio-friendly’ — Mann has released just three albums since her self-titled debut effort in 1993. In 1995, while Mann was preparing to release her sophomore effort, I’m With Stupid, her label, Imago, filed for bankruptcy, a move that subsequently resulted in Mann undergoing a year-long battle to free herself from the label. The album was released in the states in early 1996. Mann’s most recent effort, 2000’s Bachelor No. 2, was released independently only after she bought the album from her previous label, Interscope Records, rather than give in to their demands that she shelf some of the album’s material.

While critically acclaimed — Mann was praised for her songwriting ability and had both of her first two solo releases greeted with warm reviews — both were met with lackluster sales. In early 2000, that all changed, however, when the soundtrack for the film Magnolia was released. The soundtrack for the Paul Thomas Anderson film — starring an ensemble cast that included Tom Cruise — features eight Mann songs and spawned a hit single, "Save Me," which was not only nominated for an Academy Award, but brought Mann her first true taste of individual commercial success. Further success came Mann’s way with the release of Bachelor No. 2 in May.

Married to Michael Penn (brother of actor Sean and perhaps best known for his ’80s hit, "No Myth"), Mann is long known for her resistance to conformity. From the thwarted hushes she sang of in "Voices Carry" to the pointed "Nothing is Good Enough" from Bachelor No. 2, and from releasing albums on major labels to releasing them independently, Mann has proven that, more than just a pretty face she is, first and foremost, a singer/songwriter. According to Mann, the glitz and glamour of the music business — and its accompanying politics — was never what it was all about for her. "…People who want to have giant hits at any cost, that’s the place for them," Mann was quoted as saying in her press bio. "If they want to make fabulous videos and have giant hits, and have people asking them what they’re wearing at the Grammys, that’s perfect for them, it’s the system they belong in. It hasn’t been a system for people like me in a long, long time. I was crazy to think I could find some way to make it work for me. As it happens, I can’t. And I’m a million times happier, just in these last few months, going out on tour and playing for myself and having nobody criticize the way I’m touring or what I’m playing or what I say in interviews. It’s fantastic — it’s incredibly liberating."

Since the successes of last year, Mann has been busy fine-tuning her role in the ‘indie’ world of music, playing clubs and theaters and crafting her material without the stress of having to please the ever-present radio-friendly-minded labels.

Furthering her involvement in the ‘indie’ scene is "Acoustic Vaudeville," a concept developed by Mann and Penn. Featuring the couple performing together on stage, "Acoustic Vaudeville" also includes a comedian who is responsible for the between-song banter, a task Mann has said she has never quite felt comfortable doing. Recently Mann spoke with Denver Westword and had this to say about the show, "Once we started doing this, it was so entertaining we couldn’t go back. We’re trying to come up with different ideas that make [the performances] fun. There’s an element of creativity you can have when you’re not on a label. You don’t have to follow the same practices and rules …"

Aimee Mann and Michael Penn’s "Acoustic Vaudeville" will be at the Whitaker Center’s Sunoco Performance Theater on January 12 at 8 p.m. For tickets, call 214-ARTS.

For more information on Aimee Mann, check aimeemann.com. For more information on Michael Penn go to epiccenter.com/EpicCenter/MichaelPenn/.