Listen to songs from the JP, Chrissie & the Fairground Boys debut Fidelity!

There’s no harder trick in rock ’n’ roll than reinventing yourself. Ask Billy Corgan, who, after trying something new and failing miserably with Zwan, is currently back on the road with the Smashing Pumpkins, which features a grand total of one original member (Billy Corgan).

Whether you’re talking Courtney Love and Black Francis going solo, Scott Kannberg crawling from the wreckage of Pavement to underwhelm with Preston School of Industry, or Scott Weiland trading in his bullhorn for Velvet Revolver, starting over is usually a thankless task.

Kudos then to grizzled veteran Chrissie Hynde for doing just that. As every card-carrying member of the Pretenders fan club knows, the pride of Akron, Ohio has decided to take a break from the band that she’s fronted for the past 30-odd years.

Her new roots-rock project, JP, Chrissie & the Fairground Boys, finds her teamed up with JP Jones, a Welsh singer-songwriter who happens to be 28 years her junior. In other words, he was pooping his Pampers when Hynde was first on he way to becoming one of the most famous women in rock.

JP, Chrissie & the Fairground Boys will be touching down in Vancouver for a show at the Commodore on October 19. In the meantime, if you want a taste of what makes the band’s debut sound as great as Zwan’s Mary Star of the Sea was a disaster, stream songs from the group’s debut disc Fidelity! here.