Dollhart

Overview

In a world of autotune and digital recordings, natural abilities are a rare and welcome find. Emerging from some magical place where beauty, brains and talent are inherent and natural, Calgary superstar Jenavive (a.k.a. Jen Smith) has brought a new breed of eminence to the city. She’s new to the scene but with an incredible voice, catchy songs, and a face to launch a thousand ships, Jenavive is definitely someone to watch. Her debut album underthesheets was officially released in November 2011 to stellar reviews, and with some incredibly ambitious plans for 2012, Jenavive is only getting started.
The Artist, Influences, and Style

Born to incredibly supportive and musical parents, Jenavive’s musical career started at an early age with two major lessons: the first lessons were typical of most budding musicians and took place on a piano bench.

Perhaps the most important lessons, however, came from her father. Inspiring her to find her passions and follow them as far as she could go, Jen’s parents couldn’t have done the world a better service. Her passions have led to a dream come true: teaching piano by day, and writing, recording, and performing her signature music by night. It takes an amazing person to fulfill such a powerful destiny, and through remarkable power, tenacity, and some brilliant inspiration, Jenavive is showing the world what she’s made of.

Jenavive has a unique-but-recognizable sound that can best be described as indie-pop-rock. By touching on a variety of genres and breaking the mould of the traditional “pop princess”, Jenavive is a lot like the artists who inspire her. Citing Hawksley Workman, Muse and Lady Gaga as her main musical inspirations, Jen is an eclectic combination of styles and sounds, definitely a force to be reckoned with.

Like most brilliant songwriters, her lyrical inspirations for writing come from within. Underthesheets was a therapeutic venture for Jenavive. Following the breakup of a longterm relationship, Jen’s songwriting marks a turning point in her life and an emotional rollercoaster. Reflecting the emotional highs and lows of love and relationships, her lyrics hold nothing back. Jenavive wears her passion on her sleeve, and like her vibrant red hair and beautiful eyes, her passion is intense and colourful. She is gorgeous, she is brilliant, and she restores faith in all that is good.
New Album and Looking Forward

Underthesheets was first released in Toronto in August 2011 to kick off a cross-country tour. Moving from behind-the-scenes to in the spotlight, Jenavive has taken her place onstage with ease and surprising confidence. It’s not always easy to bear your soul in such an open and public forum, but in her new album, Jenavive has done so in an artistic and intelligent way. The songs reveal sides of the singer that are both vulnerable and powerful, innocent but desirable and passionate, the sexuality of her lyrics vibrating even after the songs have stopped playing. Reviews of the album have been hugely positive, and fans just can’t get enough.

So what’s next for this vivacious wonder? An ambitious 2012 and some impressive long-term goals, to start with! Jenavive and her band will be recording a few new singles in January, all leading to another incredible album and a North American tour over the spring and summer. If that weren’t enough, she is also working on an education project with Calgary’s Leroux Music Studios, inspiring students to “pursue their creative avenues” the way she did. Jenavive’s charitable aspirations and educational initiatives are humbling, to say the very least, and she could not be a better role model.

Jenavive is simply amazing. Her musical talent, her intelligence, and her warm and caring soul put her head and shoulders above the competition, and that is why Indie403 has chosen Jenavive as our Featured Artist of the Month! - Indie 403

Jenavive – “underthesheets”
Posted by jenny on September 12th, 2011

Jenavive is one sexy woman. She has the obvious sexy qualities – her confidence, her voice, her legs – but it is “underthesheets”, her newly-released full-length album, that shows off the timeless and exceptional sexiness that brings Jenavive to the forefront of the musical sphere.

Released in August 2011 to kick off a cross-country tour, “underthesheets” shows off original and attention-grabbing songwriting. Her talents are decidedly Lady Gaga-esque, a label that comes from her strength and confidence, in addition to some stellar lyrics and singing abilities.

The album starts off with an explicit version of the single “Greedy”, a song that is both catchy and blissfully dirty. While the radio-friendly version of the song finishes off the album, it is the explicit version that catches the most attention and starts the album off with a somewhat literal bang. Stimulating from the first verse, “Greedy” is a musical offer of friendly benefits which may or may not include a third partner. These blatantly sexual lyrics are a demonstration of female power and it is her attitude and confidence that turn the listener onto the song and to the album as a whole.

Jenavive also shows signs of vulnerability and romance as she explores the other sides of love and relationships. By exploring relatable and common issues (such as relationship jealousy and insecurity in “Jealousy”), her songs reach out to the passionate and occasionally hurt person inside all of us, and does so in a way that is nicely composed and well-written. Each song comes with some degree of familiarity, and has the type of sound that makes you think you might have heard her music before but can’t quite place it. This is definitely a good thing: so many new artists try so hard to be “unique” or “different” that they just sound stupid and, ironically, the same. By appropriately showcasing her originality by playing on the familiar and admirably contributing to a well-loved and popular music arena, Jenavive has created songs that are memorable, catchy, and special. It is easy to sing along to this album, and for an artist of this genre, that element is important.

Jenavive is moving up quickly. She has already found a loyal legion of fans who follow her movements across the country, and with an incredible voice that is even better live, her talent is not one to be missed. Check out her website, MySpace or Facebook, buy her album, and drop into a live show, and then you can rightfully look back someday to say, “I knew her when…” - Indie 403

Networking at its finest! I met Jenavive at Canadian Music Week 2011 in Toronto, at the Bread & Circus right after Makeshift Innocence performed (with an awesome feature by Kieran Strange!) – at 3 in the morning! Warm, funny, and friendly, Jenavive lit up Toronto, and definitely impressed us with her professionalism and poise.

We’ll be sitting down with her tomorrow to talk to her a bit about her music, herself, and where she sees herself in the future!

Check out this up-and-coming artist, originally from Ontario, and now in Calgary. You can check out her music, a Lady Gaga/Adele/Dragonette fusion, on Reverbnation. - http://rockitgirlmedia.com