Muse Music celebrates Officer Jenny Stephen Cope bids farewell to ProvoBeckafer de Faux Junior Copy Editor Stephan Cope, who performs as Officer Jenny and identifies as non-binary preferring the pronouns they/them vs, he/she, played in their first of two farewell shows before moving to Georgia.
Provo music lovers feel the loss of a teacher, artist, friend and ally. Outside of teaching songwriting and recording classes at Walden School of liberal arts, Cope held workshops for women and non-binary folk in an effort to diversify the local music scene.
Rather than sitting back and crying into buckets of ice cream, Cope celebrated by performing at Muse Music in Provo with several of their closest friends Oct 8.
The artists performing didn’t have much in common which brought different elements of sound to the show. Playful banter between the audience and performers on and off stage made for a show that felt connected.
The performers joked around, from which of them knows music theory, to going back in time to help the CIA cover up a murder.Ada Hochhalter, aka “Apt”, said his goal for the show was to “break down violently crying and dry heav[e]… from emotion.”
He did just that he rapped to melodies played on the piano by guest Chance Clift. John-Ross Boyce’s robust, surly vocals shone through during his stripped-down performance of doom-laden songs written for “The Troubles” which was his previous band. Landon Young of “Pet Library” performed his hypnotic, electronic set kneeling on a colorfully patched pillow his roommate made, adjusting sounds on his array of synthesizers.
“If you’re wondering why I don’t have, like, a table or something, the truth is that I thought about it, but I didn’t want to try to put a table in my car,” said Landon.
Cope sat on the edge of the stage and told stories about their time in Provo, from their beginning as an intern at Muse Music, to their worst open mic experiences.
The audience harmonized to Cope’s irreverent tunes such as “Jesus, Pull Me Over” and “My Shitty Heart.” The room filled with laughter during “Spooky Party” which is a must have for your Halloween playlist.Stuart Wheeler of “Quiet House” ended the night and serenaded the crowd with several acoustic songs.
Landon joked about Cope not being the final act in their own farewell show.“Yeah, Stuart basically demanded to play last. I think it’s pretty symbolic, though, of how none of us could draw an audience, but Stuart would always bring all of his friends,” said Cope.
Cope plans on continuing teaching and recording in Athens, as well as advocating for women and non-binary people such as themself in music.
