Exene Cervenka: Exile in the Ozarks

Away from the treasures and trappings of L.A., punk's godmother finds her muse in small-town Missouri

Comments (0) By Alan Scher Zagier Wednesday, Jun 11 2008

In 24 hours, Cervenka and her bandmates will be onstage in Detroit, the tour’s first stop. There are bills to pay, suitcases to pack, affairs to get in order. Time to turn off the coffeepot.

There’s just one more thing, Cervenka says. A reminder to her friends and fans in Los Angeles, the city that she and Doe and Billy Zoom and D.J. Bonebrake helped both to puncture and to define for a lost generation, or two: “Tell them I’m happy here,” she says. “Tell them I’m happy.”

Virginia Lee Hunter

The artist who once sang "I could throw my lipstick and bracelets like gravel and move to Alabama" has chosen the Show-Me State instead (and married a Honkey).

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Exene Cervenka will perform with X on June 14 at the House of Blues in Anaheim. Her artwork is being shown through August 31 as part of the Claremont Museum of Art’s exhibit“Vexing: Female Voices From East L.A. Punk.” Her newest solo exhibit, “Sleep in Spite of Thunder,” is currently on display at DCKT Contemporary gallery in New York City.