The duo of Jean Smith and Dave Lester have revived Mecca Normal, their vocals-and-guitar indie-punk act that, since starting in 1984, has released discs on K Records, Matador, Sub Pop, and Kill Rock ...

Jean Smith wants to know: “Does this seem confusing? Am I just trying to do too much, do you think?” It’s not confusing–and one woman’s “doing too much” is another woman’s inspiration–but you can’t ...

Jean Smith says she started painting watercolor portraits of herself in 1973, at age 13, as a way of shoring up her self-image against her emotionally abusive parents, who were artists themselves.

Smarten Up & Get to the Point. It's good advice in any realm, but especially so in the tantrum-prone world of underground rock 'n' roll. It's also the name of the publishing arm of the two-person ...

BEGINNING WITH Mecca Normal's self-released debut, Jean Smith has been relaying dispatches from the gender wars. For the Vancouver duo's new album, "The Observer," the singer and multi-instrumentalist ...