Listen to Jerra on http://www.live365.com/stations/jswillis?play

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Band members are Ward Robinson, Jerra, and Dustin Robles.

Every woman has her story / Just like every man,” explains Jerra in “Slow 2Burn”— and she’s ready to tell you hers. Jerra is a fierce, intelligent mix of brash sound, feminist ideals, and punk rebellion, tempered by emotional honesty and heartfelt storytelling. Deeply personal lyrics sweep out from a frenetic wall of sound—distorted guitar layers, stops and starts, sing-along melodies, and haunting harmonies. Her music is a sly discussion of human politics, a diatribe on gender inequality, an inquisition, a stand. It’s a nod to the riot grrrls and her own DIY philosophy, seeking always to inspire, to empower, and to attract. Jerra’s is the kind of music that finds you.

With the startup of her own independent label, Sugar Hooker Entertainment (SHE), Jerra invites you into her sweet, dark world with the release of her debut album, Play Like a Girl. As the title suggests, she enjoys playing with expectations and assumptions, especially those placed on women. Her songs are narrative social commentaries that are intense, brief, and strong. She explores role reversals, decries the double standard, teases and taunts on a canvas of pure Southern California punk and post-riot instincts. Honest, raw, and direct, Jerra speaks from a realm of opposites, contradictions, and shifting paradigms. Though never shying away from her female perspective, her message resonates with men and women alike.

Raised in San Diego, Jerra grew up playing music with her father, a jazz trumpeter and composer, but it was her first concert experience that sparked her desire to perform. At 8 years old, she laughs, “I saw Alice Cooper rise from a pit of fire, and the crowd went wild. I realized that performance could connect me to a community.” At 10, she began playing guitar, and her persistence paid off: four years later, she was playing her own songs in Southern California coffee shops and small venues. Quickly outgrowing her hometown scene, Jerra left at age 14 to study and play in Michigan and New York. After earning her B.F.A. from NYU in 2001, she struck out on her own yet again, continuing her search for a place where she could perform uncompromised. Time spent living in San Francisco colored Jerra’s worldview, refined her skills, and further broadened her sense of community and activism. The city’s rich mix of cultures and opinions gave her fresh inspiration in the form of a six-song demo and a performance of her song “Lady America” on the main stage at one of the city’s largest anti-war rallies, in early 2003.

Invigorated by her growing success, Jerra felt a strong pull to explore the business side of the industry. Her specific vision for her music led her to relocate to Los Angeles in 2004 and to start her own label. “No one is going to do a better job at shaping me than me,” Jerra maintains. “I started Sugar Hooker Entertainment because I learned that I could take my destiny into my own hands.” The label has since gained tremendous momentum, allowing Jerra to release her first full-length album, Play Like a Girl. It’s this kind of independent energy and drive that continues to fuel Jerra’s passion for music—a freedom she hopes to pass on to a global community of fans and artists alike: “I love the process of taking a concept and making something out of nothing, by expressing yourself and sharing that expression with others, one person at a time.”