GARDNER*JAMES, former VIXEN singer Janet Gardner‘s collaborative project with her husband, guitarist/producer Justin James, has released the official music video for the song “Rise Up”. The track is taken from GARDNER*JAMES‘s latest album “Synergy”, which which was made available via Pavement Entertainment.
Janet and Justin produced the entire video on their own during the pandemic. Justin says: “We turned our living room into a giant green screen, and Janet edited the video on our computer at home.” The result is some eye-popping effects to complement this powerful song.
“Synergy” is the first Gardner/James album to be released under the GARDNER*JAMES banner. The couple previously collaborated on Janet‘s first two solo albums, 2018’s “Janet Gardner” and 2019’s “Your Place In The Sun”.
Janet announced her departure from VIXEN in January 2019, saying in a statement that it was time for her to step aside and let drummer Roxy Petrucci and bassist Share Ross “pursue their vision for the future of VIXEN.”
Gardner, Petrucci and Ross are considered to be part of VIXEN‘s classic lineup, along with founding guitarist Jan Kuehnemund, who died of cancer in October 2013.
Gardner contributed lead vocals to VIXEN‘s most commercially successful studio albums — “Vixen” (1988), “Rev It Up” (1990) and “Tangerine” (1998) — as well as the group’s latest release, 2018’s live album “Live Fire”.
In January 2018, Gardner underwent surgery to remove blood clots in her brain, a condition known as a subdural hematoma.
While Gardner was recovering from her surgery, VIXEN played a show in Durant, Oklahoma in March 2018 with a fill-in singer, Lorraine Lewis of FEMME FATALE. In January 2019, Lewis was announced as Gardner‘s official replacement.
James had previously worked as a guitarist/songwriter/producer with members of STAIND, COLLECTIVE SOUL and TYKETTO.
