Jen Keenan, wife of Tool, A Perfect Circle & Puscifer frontman Maynard James Keenan, has grown to oversee a small empire of businesses in Cottonwood, AZ. Last year saw the couple open The Queen B Vinyl Café. Part of a relocation of the past Puscifer The Store business, this business expansion venture found them bolstering their vinyl store/live space with a coffee roaster, and a ramen house.
That venture is one of several overseen by the Keenans in the area, which also include vineyards, wineries, a barber shop, a garment print shop and more, many of which are now hosted amid a complex of buildings. However, one of the main passions of Jen is on full display at the Queen B, and it’s featured prominent in the store’s namesake: vinyl.
In a new appearance on The Vinyl Guide Podcast, Jen discusses her passion for vinyl and the ins and outs of running a record store from a decidedly rural location. She also touches on her hobby in falconry, balancing the musical tastes of her and her husband’s and more. During the discussion Jen also shed some light on a topic that has been a point of contention for close to a decade now for some long-suffering fans of Tool.
Back in 2017, rumors emerged online that Tool had been remastering their catalog for a potential vinyl release campaign. March of 2024 saw the group’s drummer Danny Carey confirm that the Tool‘s 1996 sophomore album, the 3x platinum “Ænima“, had indeed been remastered for a vinyl reissue. At that time, Carey told musician/podcaster/producer Rick Beato:
“Man we just remastered ‘Ænima‘… the album, I should say. ‘Stinkfist‘ and ‘Eulogy‘ both sound incredible on that. The low end, the way things are sit together and all that — those are two of my favorites, that stuck out. That’s for sure. I think it might be just because I recently heard it on the 180g vinyl like you were talking about. I was like ‘oh my God.’ I forgot how good it sounded. I hadn’t heard it in an analog form in ages.”
With Carey so freely talking about the reissue, fans assumed it was right around the corner. However, as its absence persisted, the band themselves poked fun at the situation, releasing an old Wendy’s ad campaign spoofing shirt that questioned the prolonged delay. As the band’s bassist Justin Chancellor was recently quoted as saying, when it comes to Tool “art doesn’t really have a schedule“, and that much has been painfully clear through various aspects of the band’s recorded output over the years, this apparent vinyl campaign included.
With September 17th of 2026 set to serve as the 30th anniversary of “Ænima“, some fans have pinned their hopes on that fabled pressing finally arriving next year. In this new podcast appearance, Jen had a few things to say about the missing record, while also venting about her own frustrations with some heels continually being dragged on getting the Tool catalog properly on vinyl.
That discussion was prompted by one of the show’s hosts asking if she had a test pressing of “Ænima“, to which she responded [transcribed by theprp.com]:
“We have original pressing [of ‘Ænima‘] that’s still sealed and half of one and then, it’s not the original test pressing, but we do have an ‘Ænima‘ test pressing from the remaster that still hasn’t been released. And believe me it is just as frustrating for us as everyone else that wants that vinyl [laughs.]”
When asked what’s holding up the release, Jen replied:
“I will just say it’s not Maynard… And I mean I always… it falls on deaf ears, but every chance I get, I do mention like, ‘Hey, Tool should repress that stuff.’ But, you know, they’re a complicated band.”
She went on to add:
“And you know what? Sometimes I’ve gone to record stores and I’ve seen like a ‘10,000 days‘ LP — which is of course a bootleg — and I’m like, ‘where did you get that?’ And then I want to buy it, but I’m not going to pay $100 for it, but I do want it so I can have it in my store [laughs.]”
When asked if she finds it frustrating to see vinyl bootleggers make money off the Tool catalog, she stated:
“Well, I mean, it is because it’s like, guys, just get sh*t your together and you could be making that money. But it’s even not even that. It’s just that people want this in their collection. So, like just do that and then the fringe benefit is you’re making money off of it, too. But like share it.
I don’t know if you think you’re keeping it safe and pristine by not putting it out there, but it’s really the opposite to me. Like, you’re losing the opportunity to actually share it, you know?”
As for the bootleg copies of Tool releases circulating out there, she offered:
“…They’re probably not the greatest copy [or] the greatest quality. So if you’re concerned about pristine quality and art, then the bootleggers aren’t the ones that are worried about that. So yeah, your stuff’s getting out there [and] not in a way that you want it.”
Seemingly fishing for an answer if the whole catalog had been remastered as rumored, she was asked if she had test pressings of all of the Tool catalog. She responded, “No, no I don’t. Unless there somewhere that I’m not aware of.”
