Blond ambition

Forget Dusty Springfield, forget Sammy Hagar, and certainly forget Faith Hill. There are two versions of the Jerry Ragovoy and Bert Berns-composed "Piece of my Heart" classic that are worth giving a shit about. One is the original, by hometown girl (and sister of Aretha) Erma Franklin, and the other is by the Janis Joplin-led Big Brother & the Holding Company. Both are beautiful, but for different reasons. Franklin's is a show of strength — a big "fuck you" to the man (or men) hurting her. It is defiant, bold and stunningly powerful. When Joplin sings the same words though, she sounds broken. Her trademark rasp gives the song a completely different feel. The whole song's a plea for help; beautiful, poignant, tragic.

To describe the two different sides of that song is to describe, pretty much, singer and guitarist Jennifer Westwood. She's been through some tough, even hellish times, and she's refusing to let any of those experiences betray her. They inform her work, so what we get on her recent Dishwater Blonde EP, as the title suggests, is a perfect combination of those two mind-sets — strength and fragility. 

Westwood is Detroit born-and-bred and, though she refuses to reveal her exact age ("It's a trade secret. It's always the first thing everybody wants to know."), she admits that she's 29-ish. She started out singing gospel in church, which carried her into adulthood, but she eventually quit. 

"I got caught up in the church world and it was awesome because I got exposed to a lot of different types of music, but ultimately I wasn't feeling it," Westwood says. "I heard a song on the radio that was AC/DC style rock with a gospel chorus, and that's what I wanted to do. There was nobody I knew doing that. My mom's parents were old school country musicians. That's part of who I am. I wanted to take my different experiences and meld them together."

Melding styles is what Westwood has done, resulting in a radio-friendly sound that's equal parts country, blues, rock and pop. She adores the Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, Eva Cassidy, Etta James (RIP) and, especially, Tina Turner, and so much tattered rock 'n' roll blue-eyed soul. 

We're in Westwood's St. Clair Shores crib, which she recently purchased in full, having saved for much of her life. It is a simple but elegant house, becoming a home. There's art on the floors waiting to be hung, but each object on each surface looks like it belongs. She picked St. Clair Shores because she could afford to buy here, it is close to the water and the Ye Olde Tap Room bar in Grosse Pointe. Her new home is her haven. 

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