One doesn't often hear a punk rocker cite a Pentecostal influence. And one wouldn't expect that from a punk band named after a strip club. But one doesn't often encounter a punk rocker quite like Amy Combs, the front of Viva La Foxx. "I draw upon both performance art ideas and gospel ideas," Combs said from the back porch of her Kentucky home, watching squirrels frolic, "but not the 'sit in the pew and be quiet' idea." The daughter of the preacher of a small Pentecostal church who comes from a long line of Pentecostal preachers, Combs taught herself to play guitar from Loretta Lynn and Sex Pistols records, although she claims that playing guitar is not exactly her strong suit. "We all have a unique way of expressing simple ideas and simple music," she said. "A lot of my performances, I'll just put the guitar down and concentrate on interacting with the people, to get in their face and make them feel something. "They'll either love us or hate us, but they'll leave our show with an experience." Combs said it was a bit difficult to capture that feel for the band's first record, "I Knew It Wasn't Love But..." "The vocals are harsh and in your face, which is hard to deliver in a box, screaming at a fuzzy microphone," she said. It may have helped, however, that she was recovering from bronchitis. "I was really, really sick," she said, "taking medicine for whooping cough. Maybe that made it better. I don't know. "It's sexy and crazy and not for everybody. But it's interesting for sure." Originally published in the JournalNews, June 2, 2006