GBU - 1996-05

Up Close & Personal with Jess Illuzzi

The Sounds of Sass

Jessica Illuzzi was born with a love for music and has developed a passion for performing live while sharing her good energy with the crowd. She has played with the local band Retro Rocket for 10 years, went on tour with Todd Snider and Elizabeth Cook, and now is part of a new all-girl band, Sassafras. Sassafras has not only played live local shows, but has also traveled and toured the Virgin Islands — something Jessica looks forward to doing again this winter. When Jessica isn’t playing music, she loves to write it. As a singer and songwriter, she hopes to complete a solo album sometime in the future. Meet Jessica Illuzzi …

Tell us about yourself. I’ve been working at Everything Natural for almost four years now and I’m in two different bands. One band is called Retro Rocket and the other is called Sassafras. I’ve been playing in Retro Rocket for the last 10 years, but Sassafras is a new project that’s an all-girl band.

How did you meet with the members of the bands? A group of local musicians formed Retro Rocket. We were all working together and just thought that we should form a new project. It was so long ago that it’s hard to recall the beginning of that story. Sassafras started with myself and my best friend. She played the fiddle and I played acoustic guitar and we would go out and do some gigs. Then another friend of ours, Jillian Hannigan, came out to a gig and said “We should form an all-girl band. I’ll play the bass.” Which was an awesome idea. We began working together, but Jillian has three children and a husband, so she isn’t always available for all of the gigs. However, she does have an identical twin sister who plays the same instrument and then some. We would have her sister sit in on some of the gigs and it worked out.

How often does Sassafras play live shows? It really depends on the season. In the summer, we could do three or four shows a week. The girls are all world travelers, so it’s hard to keep everyone together. When we all get together, it’s a special event, and we try and book some tour dates while everybody is in town. One woman has been traveling to the Virgin Islands for the last 10 years and invited me to come along with her this past year. So we spent the whole winter together working and doing gigs in the Virgin Islands. It was mostly a “work-cation” as we call it. We played five or six days a week and had all these shows and we were so busy and just thought “let’s just keep it going.” We originally went for a short two-week tour, but that quickly turned into playing for more than three months. There was just a lot of work there. It’s different here. You ask how many gigs we do here, and it’s not too many, but you go to the islands and it’s touristy and people want entertainment everysingle day.

Are there any future “work-cations” for Sassafras? Definitely. We’re looking at our dates and are planning our next one in January. We’d like to go back to the Virgin Islands every winter.

Tell us about your albums. Retro Rocket has two albums, one of which is an acoustic album. The other album has most of our originals on it. Sassafras is just getting off the ground. Again, the girls travel a lot so it’s hard to get us all in the same state at one time let alone in a studio to record. Although, we just had a performance at Hillside Park and there will be a live recording of that.

Where did you develop your love of music? My love of music started at birth. I think sometimes you’re just born with it. My father was a drummer and was in bands my entire childhood. I started playing the piano at a really young age and then realized that a guitar is much more portable (laughs) so I switched to that. I started off shy, like anyone else, and wasn’t very comfortable in front of crowds. Who isn’t nervous at the start? It took a few years to build up that courage. Then once I developed that, I was playing on any stage that I could.

What instruments do you play in your bands? I play mostly rhythm guitar and sing lead and harmony vocals. I’m also trying to work with the harmonica a little just to switch it up a bit.

You’re also a songwriter. Did you write songs for either or both of your bands? I wrote some of the original songs for Retro Rocket. We’re working on our original songs right now with Sassafras. Sassafras has a wide range of Americana music. We play mostly covers of old traditional songs, sailor songs, sea shanties, but we also perform some traditional jazz, old blue grass and country. We play a cool mix of everything. When people ask us what we play, we mean it when we say “we play everything!” We’re always writing. I think that’s a part of what musicians do. We’re constantly having new ideas. Yesterday, Channing Griggs and I were just on my floating dock in the middle of the lake working on an old sailor tune. We wanted to write about pirates, so we’re working on this new pirate tune. You never know — anything could come out.

What are some challenges you face when writing music? One of the biggest challenges is that once it’s written, it’s there forever. You’re going to stamp your name on those lyrics. You grow as an artist and as a songwriter and look back and think “Wow, that was a really great lyric” or “I’m not so proud of that now.” That’s the thing — knowing that song is going to travel through history with you. There are other challenges too, like picking the right words and not sounding too cliche and being clever. You just want to have the next great song, and sometimes it’s a lot harder. Then sometimes a song will just drop out of the sky and all of a sudden you just have all the lyrics and it comes really naturally. Those are the flows that you want to follow. Other times, if you’re forcing it, you have to put the guitar down and wait for another time.

In your long career of music, what’s something you enjoy about performing live? The rush you get from the crowd. The level of energy that people are giving to you. You can see that you’re making people happy from all the smiles in the room. The energy that you give off bounces off of them and comes back to you. You feel this concentration of good energy. It’s always really exciting. Even if it’s not the greatest gig, it still feels awesome because it’s a new experience and is different every time.

Do you have any memorable performances you’d like to share with us? In 2009, Sassafras opened for Keller Williams and then we also opened for New Riders of the Purple Sage. Those were bigger gigs and we had a 45-minute set where we gave it our all. Or even last week, Sassafras had a live recording and now all of those notes are going to stick with us forever. Those are the ones that make you a little more nervous. Most recently though, I did a Tennessee tour with Todd Snider and Elizabeth Cook. We had a show in Memphis. We did the show in front of thousands of people on this old stage that Elvis use to perform on. I thought for sure I would be shaking out of my boots on this one, but I was just so calm. There were thousands of screaming people having fun and taking pictures. It was awesome.

What do you enjoy most about touring? All of it! The whole thing! Seeing the road. With Todd Snider, I was on a tour bus, but with the girls in Sassafras, we just all load into my SUV. That’s the fun part too. Traveling and having the connection with the girls. We sing harmonies on the way to the gig, practice the songs, or write out a set list and know that this is how the show is going to go. Whether it’s an hour drive to the next gig or however long, it’s nice to be in each other’s company. The tours are great. It’s what we live for — playing live shows.

Where are some favorite places that you’ve traveled to? Definitely the Virgin Islands and Nashville, Tennessee. Tennessee is my second favorite state. Of course, next to good old Pennsylvania. I’m a born and raised Pennsylvanian. I’m originally from outside of Pittsburgh, but have been in northeastern Pennsylvania for more than 15 years. As much as it’s awesome to travel, this is home. This is where my roots are. I’ll always spread my wings, but there are so many good things here.

What do you like to do when you’re not performing? I’m really outdoorsy. I like to kayak the Susquehanna River with my grandmother. She’s my best friend. When I’m not too busy with all of these different hats that I wear, I like to get out with grandma. She’s a true inspiration. I think that’s where I get some of my passion and strong desire to be great at life because I see her doing so well. I like to swim in my lake, cuddle with kitties, ride horses, and all that fun stuff.

Are there any projects you’re currently working on? Just continuing to write songs. I want to have my own solo album that says “This is Jessica Illuzzi’s music.” If the girls are busy traveling, I want to be able to be self sufficient, and therefore it’s going to require more songwriting on my part. Even though I have five or six songs ready to go, I want to have the 10th or 11th song and be proud of that work. Then I’ll be ready when I get in the studio to record my own album. That’s my biggest goal right now. I’m also considering revamping Sassafras while the girls are traveling. I want to always have our core unit of members, but am thinking about looking for some other female musicians in the area. Hint hint. If any female musicians are reading this, I need them. It’s just too much fun not to do it. The all girl aspect of the band really turns heads and gets people to come out to shows. I really want to move forward with this band.

— cathleen lathrop