Jayne County & the Electrick Queers bring ARMageddon to the Earl

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? A lady never tells her age. But transsexual punk rock icon Jayne County has never called herself a lady, even after being man enough to become a woman decades ago (though she was banned from Facebook for using the word “tranny” last year). Having recently celebrated her 69th birthday, County rarely takes the stage these days. After returning to her home state of Georgia a few years ago, however, she’ll occasionally perform with her Atlanta-based band the Electrick Queers (guitarist Jet Terror, bassist Gary Yoxen, and drummer Rob Kirkland) if it’s for a good cause. On July 22 at the Earl, Jayne County & the Electrick Queers headline ARMageddon, to benefit Blast-Off Burlesque’s Trey Chic. Between talking about her cats, her love of Indian food and other tangents, County discusses coming out of retirement, her upcoming vinyl releases and the Confederate flag. ?

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? You don’t perform too often these days. What brings you back to the stage for ARMageddon this Wednesday? ?

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? This is a rare occasion because after this I don’t know when I’ll play again. I’m just doing it to help somebody. My friend Trey Chic, who is also a friend of my guitar player, is a really great person who was hurt in an accident. He was on his bike and a car ran into him and knocked him every which way. It was just awful. The treatments and things that he needs, his insurance just don’t cover it. Money for medical expenses is nothing frivolous. A very good friend is in need, so I have come out of retirement. That’s what I want to do with the rest of my life is change people’s opinion of me being this horrible, harsh, old nasty bitch. I’m just a crazy old cat lady! ?

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? Every time I have a gig down here, he’s the one that usually helps me. He accompanies me, takes me there and back and looks out after me. Even after all these years I get horrible stage fright. Right before I go on stage I’m a nervous wreck. He’s good about getting me drinks and stuff. He’s just a really kind, fabulous, talented person and I want to help him. ?

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? How long has it been since your last performance? ?

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? I can’t even remember the last one. Was the last one in New York or was the last one at the Star Bar? It’s been a long time. I don’t really perform that much any more. My back is pretty much wrecked, and my legs, from all these years of rocking and rolling. Throwing myself around on stage and all that has finally caught up with me. I’m just having to be more careful now about carrying heavy loads and jumping around. I have to be more considerate of my body and make sure I don’t throw anything out. I have a lot of kitties and a sick mother, so I have a lot to take care of. I have to keep on keeping on as long as I can. ?

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? You’ve had the Electrick Queers, made up of local musicians, for a few years now. Have you written or recorded any new material with this band? ?

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? I’ve got loads and loads of stuff happening career-wise. My manager is getting together all these unreleased albums, they were only released in Europe and never released in America, to do really fabulous, high-profile re-releases of a lot of my albums. American Cleopatra, Private Oyster, Goddess of Wet Dreams — they’re loaded with incredible tracks that people in America rarely have ever heard. It’ll be like new material to them. We’ve just taken over the tracks from all the record companies. My manager died and when your manager dies a lot of stuff gets a bit messed up. My new manager is re-acquiring a lot of my old material for fabulous vinyl releases. It’s going to be available for download, but it’s also going to be in physical form and I am very excited about this. Goddess of Wet Dreams is going to be our first release around the holidays or right after. Just when everyone thinks Jayne has flown away into oblivion, I’ll be like, “Wham! Bam! The bitch is back again!” We’re going to be recording some more tracks with the Electrick Queers. Jet and I have some great ideas for some new material. ?

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? What is the significance of the name of the event, ARMageddon? ?

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? I think he broke his arm. I’m fond of armageddon, too. I’m not really religious — I’m open to anything — but I’m fascinated with the end of the world, the beast, 666 and all of that. I’ve been fascinated with it my whole life, since I was a child. ?

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? Each time you’ve played in recent years, you say you don’t know how many more times you will perform. Do you have plans for an official retirement show or are you just going to see how you feel after each performance? ?

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? I’m just going to see how I feel after this one. I don’t want to say, “This is the last show” or do the “goodbye” thing because, like I said, if somebody needs help or we need to raise some money for someone or need to raise some money for animals, I will do the best I can. I am officially retired from the stage and I’ll only come out of retirement to help people. I’m not retired from recording, though. It’s easier on my body. ?

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? Anyone who is friends with you on Facebook knows how outspoken you are about your political opinions. Being from Georgia and having been an activist for your entire career, what are your thoughts on the recent Confederate flag controversy? ?

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? It don’t matter which way I say, I’m going to get myself into trouble. As a history buff — I love the history of the Civil War — I personally don’t think the Confederate flag should be flown on government property. I may not agree with the negative things that the flag has come to symbolize, I still say it’s your right to have the flag on your personal property. I collect different pieces of history. I’ve got a Communist flag, a swastika flag I got when I was in Germany, when I was in Czechoslovakia I got some flags there, I have an American flag, a British flag, a Confederate flag, a French flag and all sorts of stuff from the Revolutionary War, old muskets and things. There’s nothing wrong with that from a historical point of view. But, no, I don’t want it to turn into some kind of political symbol. The Civil War is over, the wounds should have been healed by now and people that want to use any kind of flag to break open sores and start a bunch of nasty political stuff again, I don’t agree with that. if you’re using it as an example of history, there’s nothing wrong with that. But if you’re using it for some sort of political agenda that’s going to hurt a huge section of our population, I don’t like that. ?

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? Now they want to take the monument off of Stone Mountain. Is that going too far? If they start banning Gone with the Wind, they’ll hear from me because I love that movie. Does that make me a racist? It’s historical, it’s the way things were then and it’s the way people talked. You can’t try to get rid of bits of history. In Germany, they keep the concentration camps as an example of something really horrible and how we don’t want to let anything like that happen again. Where do you draw the line between totally getting rid of something and letting it be there as a reminder of what not to do? When they start banning books and movies, they’re going to have problems. I don’t believe in banning books and movies. That’s going too far because if people start banning that, they’ll start banning anything. That’s not right. ?

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? Jayne County & the Electrick Queers, Lust, and Blast-Off Burlesque play the Earl on Wed., July 22. $10. 8 p.m. 488 Flat Shoals Ave. SE. 404-522-3950. www.badearl.com. ?