Eight local female musicians will be presenting This Year’s Model: All Femme Birthday Tribute to Elvis Costello at Johnny D’s on August 25.

By Blake Maddux

Whether you know him by his voice, his face, or both, Elvis Costello is one of the most recognizable individuals in popular music. In his unremitting five decades as a professional musician, Costello has been a solo artist, fronted The Attractions and The Imposters, and written, recorded, and toured with colleagues such as The Pogues, Paul McCartney, Burt Bacharach, Allen Toussaint, Emmylou Harris, Aimee Mann, and The Brodsky Quartet.

Costello has also collaborated, in a manner of speaking, with musicians in his personal life. From 1986 until 2002, he was married to Pogues’ bassist Cait O’Riordan. In 2003, he exchanged vows with jazz pianist and vocalist Diana Krall.

On August 25, Johnny D’s will celebrate Elvis Costello’s 61st birthday with some of Boston’s finest female musicians, including Jess Jacobs, Boston Music Awards nominee Amy Douglas, and Bridget Duggan of Paper Waves, paying tribute to him.

Douglas and Jacobs spoke by phone to The Somerville Times about this unique upcoming event.

Somerville Times: How did the idea for this show come about?

Amy Douglas: I had just finished up doing a residency at Johnny D’s, and I knew Bridget because she’s the one who sort of made it happen. She and I became quite friendly, and Jess and I know each other because I sing lead for a band here in town called Feints and she sings lead for a really cool band called Band Without Hands.

Jess said that Bridget noticed that August 25 is Elvis Costello’s birthday, and that they were thinking about doing something at Johnny D’s for his birthday. And I said, and they were probably already two steps ahead, “What if it were only female artists?”

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Jess Jacobs: Bridget had approached me about doing some kind of female-centric night around these other shows for a group called Yes All Women Boston. We asked Amy if there were any dirt on Elvis Costello that I wasn’t aware of that would make it inappropriate to have a bunch of ladies covering him. She responded with a resounding “No,” and that she would be stoked to get in on it. It just kind of blew up from there.

ST: How did you first hear Costello? Were you immediately a fan, or did he kind of grow on you?

AD: The first time I heard Elvis Costello was on MTV. The video came on for the song called Oliver’s Army. I was a little kid, and I see this dude and I’m thinking that he looked like a geek but that I’d totally want him to be my boyfriend. Then he started to sing, and I liked this voice. I had no idea what he was talking about, of course, but I thought, “What a great song!”

I went into my bedroom and shook my equivalent of a piggy bank, if you will, and figured out that I had enough money and said, “Mom, if I do this and that, will you take me to Sam Goody? I want to get a record.”

JJ: My parents were very into contemporary music when I was growing up. I definitely heard him way back further than I could remember. He’s kind of always been on my radar. I think it’s really awesome, artistically, that he has continued evolving. He has taken the ticket that he’s been given and doing experimental things. He’s doing whatever he feels like, and I think that that’s pretty punk rock, when you think about it. Rather than keep cranking out the same format, he’s going to challenge himself and he’s going to challenge the people he works with, and I think that’s pretty cool.

ST: How many performers are on the bill?

AD: Eight performers. We’re going to do a few numbers as a group, and there will be some duos and trios, but minimally each one of the fabulous goddesses who will be gracing us are doing two songs.

ST: How did all of you decide among yourselves who would sing which songs?

JJ: It was pretty much a completely democratic process, and amazingly people didn’t really call the same songs. We just kind of went along on an email chain, and as people were claiming their songs, other people would chime in and claim their songs. There was no disagreement or anything about it. Such a broad catalog to pull from, I think that really helped. Amy’s very familiar with his work, so she’s picked a lot of the group numbers and is figuring out a way to make sure that we’re representing everything that needs to be represented.

ST: Given your deep familiarity with his catalog, Amy, which are the albums that you like less?

AD: I think Imperial Bedroom [1982] is a little wonky. It feels a little dialed in. Mighty Like a Rose [1991] is OK. King of America [1986] is not one of my favorite Elvis Costello albums. This is really hard because it’s like comparing good against great!

ST: How did the three of you select the other participants?

JJ: We just reached out through our network. Most of the women that are involved, Amy or I or both of us were on bills with fairly regularly and know them just from being in the community. It’s basically like us and six or seven of our good friends from the community. It’s also kind of a special show in that way.

ST: What is it about Costello’s songs that you think lends themselves well to female interpretation?

AD: Elvis Costello’s music, despite being the male perspective, is very dramatic, it’s very torchy, it’s very passionate. It’s loaded with all of the things that, frankly, women are all associated with. We’re always being associated with drama and the willingness to show emotion, to dig deep, and to show you pain. Ultimately his songs are about emotive things that I think suit women well.

ST: Jess, your group Band Without Hands is playing at Cuisine en Locale in Somerville on September 4. How would you describe the music that you make with them?

JJ: I would describe it first and foremost as eclectic. I’ve made music for many years now and made everything from electronica to rock to metal to acoustic stuff. It definitely spans the gamut. Band Without Hands is definitely like a hard rock, high energy kind of … I don’t want to say “melodramatic,” but it’s a little melodramatic! It’s a “jump around and break stuff” kind of band.

This Year’s Model: All Femme Birthday Tribute to Elvis Costello. Johnny D’s, Wednesday, August 25. Doors at 6 p.m., show at 8 p.m. $8 in advance, $10 day of show.