Those Darlins' Jessi Zazu Battling Cancer

Those Darlins

was a bittersweet way

— the "sweet" portion of that expression coming from the promise that everyone in the influential group, who helped jump-start the rise of Music City rock ’n' roll over the past decade, would be channeling their energies into new projects. Co-frontwoman, songwriter and abso-fucking-lutely phenomenal guitarist Jessi "Zazu" Wariner (aka Jessi Darlin) has had to divert her energy into something entirely different: fighting cancer.

As Wariner explains in a press release, she received a diagnosis of stage II cervical cancer right after the Darlins wrapped their farewell tour early this year. In November, she learned that the cancer had metastasized and spread throughout her lymphatic system. The odds are long, but Jessi remains the determined person she's always been.

In the above video, she gathers some close friends to help her shave her hair, beating the side effects of the intensive chemotherapy she's currently undergoing to the punch. She also talks at length about how a previous health scare, which led to her getting sober in 2013, has helped her prepare for the fight ahead, as well as how it tied into writing the song "Ain't Afraid," which closes the Darlins' 2013 album Blur the Line.

"I wrote the song to sing every night so I wasn’t afraid, so hopefully it would help me. That way I could get myself out of the fear, but also by other people hearing me walk through my own fear, would find some sort of solace in that, and say, ‘Oh, well she’s not afraid of that. Then I’m not going to be afraid, either.’ I don’t know if it worked or not, but that was the goal."

There are several ways that you can lend Jessi a hand. You can donate to the YouCaring online pledge campaign created to help with her medical expenses, or you can visit her online shop to pick up one of the Ain't Afraid T-shirts she's designed. If you'd like to send her a note, some artwork or a mix CD to wish her well, address to:

Jessi Zazu

P.O. Box 92017

Nashville, TN 37209

See Jessi's full statement below.

As most of you know, Those Darlins decided to call it quits as a band in early 2016. We all mutually felt it was time to take a step back and pursue other projects, and it has been a really good decision for all of us. My plan was to continue on exploring my own musical path with my bandmate Linwood Regensburg, and we had a baby project in the oven even as we were finishing up our final blow-out tour with Those Darlins (which was a blast!).

Although I was in poor health during the span of that tour, I never would have guessed that a week after I arrived back to my home in Nashville, Tennessee I would be hospitalized and diagnosed with stage 2 cervical cancer. It came as a big shock, and my plans for making music and forging ahead in my art career suddenly took a back seat. I decided to keep the news relatively private, because I was hoping I could complete the treatment, beat the cancer, and move on from a temporary road block.Unfortunately, this November, I found out that the cancer had already metastasized and spread through my lymphatic system, probably before I was first diagnosed. This is typically what they would call a "no cure scenario”, but I refuse to believe that to be the case. I feel healthy, happy, hopeful, determined, positive, and full of sparks and nails. In a sense: there's a tumor growing on my body, I don't know what lays in store, but I ain't afraid anymore. Yes, I guess I am a mystic mind after all.In these next few months I plan to continue recording with Linwood and looking forward to a musical future with the world. I also am working on a visual art show about my experiences this year.