I know - I've been warned - you need someone else to write your bio for you so they can brag about you. Well, I hat fluffed-up, dramatic angles on my life. In fact, it kinda scares me. I mean, there's nothing worse than trying to live up to your own bio! All I can say is that if you get bored, click onto the next one, I'll never know!

Growing up I was influenced, I suppose, by everything I listened to because I listened to everything; from Rock and Roll to R&B to Willie Nelson. They've all influenced my style in some way. My main inspiration for singing & enduring, above anyone else, is Bonnie Raitt. She has a timeless soul and quality in her voice that can't be matched. I respect her talent and tenacity. Others who truyly inspire me to keep on perfecting my are Tom Waites, Ani DiFranco, Ray Charles, Janis Joplin and Paula Cole. I got to see Paula Cole to "Jolene" in a small club not long ago and the bravery of her interpretation flattened me. I got all choked up - it was so real and raw. Ani DiFranco - well , she's just a force of nature, period!

I grew up in the Midwest with good, old Midwestern values. Lots of church and school choir, lots of religion, lots of guilt. I tried to avoid my unconventional artistic urges because it didn't seem to fit in with what anyone else was doing around me. My grandmother used to play some mean rag-time on the piano but she couldn't read a note. My Dad inherited the same ability to play be ear and Mom was a disciplined piano player - they are both great singers and still sing in the church choir. I majored in art for a while at Ball State University where I eventually graduatied with a BA in Communications and Psychology. After college, however, I moved to Indaianapolis where it was off to the 'circus' for me - music was calling my name pretty hard.

I immediately answered an ad from a well-seasoned blues band looking fora front person. I told them I had all kinds of experience - but I didn't. i auditoned and got the gig. I found quickly that my success with an audience was to get down to earth with them, be vulnerable and put out! Stylistically, my niche was ripping up old soul and blues tunes - it brought me to life! It seemed that all of my garage band days and singing Chaka Kahn songs over the telephone to my friends were paying off. One year later I had the good fortune of being hired as percussionist and back up singer for Larry Crane. Larry was John Mellencamps' guitarist for 17 years. I learned alot from him. We even opened for John Prine once!

Major studies in my music career seem to be getting closer together. One hightlight was the '98 John Lennon Songwriting contest - & I hate contests but, a song I co-wrote with Brett Lodde, "Red Hot SUn" was voted as one of the best 50 pop songs out of over 30,000 entries, worldwide! Corona beer just licensed the sont "Everything" from my cd. Over the past year I've also been fortunate enough to open for people like Shawn Mullins, Susan Tedeschi, Todd Snider, Fleetwood Mac & The Murmurs. We were also recetnly introduced by the one and only Dick Clark at one of his American Bandstand bars and he was incredibly down to earth! I now have a good beat and I'm easy to dance to! And as if I need to say this - one of my highest highs yet is being included on this years' Lilith Fair!

Writing and performing is the ultimate free experience for me. Creating something from nothing that evokes so much emotion in people is truly a gift that I hope I possess for a long, long time. My life experiences have gone from extremely wonderful to extremely hard - but they're all part of who I am and they're all fuel for my songs so I have very few regrets. The most important thing I've learned is that it's not about me - it's about what you give to the audience. I have a comment card from a fan that I'll treasure forever that reads, "I can hear ya, but more important I can feel ya!" See ya at Lilith Fair! Peace, Jennie.