supersonic
Artist Information
Biography
Eliza Jane has lived like a gypsy for most of her adult life. Having traveled the United States in a converted ambulance for well over a decade, she logged in 317,000 miles interviewing and recording the stories and dialects of literally thousands of people. Her journey would inspire her critically acclaimed one woman show Freedom of Speech, which she has performed across the country with runs at such prestigious venues as the New York International Fringe Festival (where she took home the “Best Solo Show” award), The Public Theater Off-Broadway, The Washington Center for the Performing Arts and for International BRAVO! Network’s “Arts & Minds” program, not to mention a featured showcase at the National Folk Alliance Conference in February of 2008 (where she also brought 150 kids to their feet in the FA tent and appeared on NBC with Ronny Cox). Freedom of Speech is now running at the Sidewalk Studio Theater in Burbank, California, through Sept 7, 2008.
An award winning stage actress for over twenty years, her uncanny ability to channel voices and dialects, has also brought her notoriety as a voice over actress. Eliza Jane is perhaps best known for her work as the voice of the eight female characters on Comedy Central’s hit animated series South Park, along with characters on King of the Hill, and the animated film Finding Nemo. After a lifetime of work speaking for others, with her debut solo album Gypsy Grass Eliza returns to her first love of music, the one place where she has always been able to truly find her own voice.
Growing up on a Chippawa Reservation in Northern Minnesota, Eliza’s mother was an attorney who was representing the tribe against the U.S. government, while her father was a drama teacher and playwright. Her sense of political activism would come naturally, but music was always her haven. She counts Helen Reddy’s “I am Woman” as her first favorite song, recalling disappointment when she discovered Reddy was not saying “I am invisible” but instead “I am Invincible.”
After Seeing El Shenkar play, Eliza would take up the violin studying classically into her adulthood. She now counts herself as one of her cherished mentor’s friends, and is collaborating with him on her newest performance piece, which she describes as “Laurie Anderson meets Tracy Ulman meets Tom Lehrer.” Constantly writing songs and performing, she fronted her first band at sixteen after her family had moved to New York, a girl three-part harmony group. The band played originals and covered 60’s tunes, playing clubs around town. Later in her quest to find her own voice, of which admittedly there are many, she also incarnated herself as “Bluegirl” an otherworldly operatic aria singer playing over electronic violin, in blue body paint. Part music and part theatre, she received rave reviews with the LA Weekly naming her “Best of LA.”
In 2006 Eliza Jane was involved in a near fatal car crash while traveling in New Zealand. Rolling down the side of a mountain, she narrowly escaped with a cracked head and broken hand. The head healed after some time, but Eliza worried that with a paralyzed hand she might never play violin again. It was then that she sought out and met accomplished fiddle teacher Richard Greene who helped her rehabilitate her hand through endless scale playing. This rehab would lead her to find a new love for bluegrass music. “Bluegrass was such a natural fit for me, it was initially the music of the people speaking out against injustice. My own path has been so much about the people and their ability or inability to be heard that bluegrass just makes perfect sense to me.”
In her songs “Jerusalem” and “SOS”, Eliza Jane reflects upon what she has learned in her travels, writing about the efforts of people to take their power back, to speak up and to believe that their voice matters. These are survival songs about traversing the depths and coming out on the other side. Having interviewed countless people from all walks of life, Eliza explains “I feel that I can draw parallels and share common ground. Now I am on a mission to tell their stories, and my own through music.” Like a true modern gypsy, Eliza Jane’s story is one of bridging the gaps, finding comfort in differences, and the ability to listen and find truth in all of the voices, however conflicting.
Known as "The Woman of a Thousand Voices," more about Eliza Jane can be found at www.elizajane.com
Instrumentation
Eliza Jane (singer-songwriter)
Eliza Jane: vocals, fiddle, 12-string guitar
Joel Tepp: slide guitar, harmonica, clarinet
Eliza Jane and The Barnyard Gypsies (full band show):
Eliza Jane: vocals, fiddle, 12-string guitar.
Scott Bouck:guitars, vocals
Steve Sifert: upright bass
Lisa Saloux: mandolin, vocals
Doug Funkhauser: banjo, vocals
Brendan O'halleran: drums, percussion
Discography
Debut solo EP: "Gypsy Grass," to be released February 2009.
Single: “S.O.S.” about election fraud, heard streaming on “What Really Happened,” Michael Rivera’s internet radio show, and on Freepress.org.
“Bluegirl: The Tranceformation.”
Children’s album: “Rusty, Lulu, and Magical Izzy,” co-written with Debi Derryberry (Jimmy Neutron) and E.G. Daily (Tommy Pickles, the Rugrat, and Buttercup, the Powerpuff Girl).
Links
Press
Setlist
Eliza Jane performs between one and three sets of up to an hour each. Eliza Jane (& the Barnyard Gysies) can do an hour of just originals, just covers, just ballads, or just upbeat fiddle tunes, as per request.
ORIGINALS:
1. Hide Away trt 5:18
2. Underground trt 3:41
3. S.O.S. trt 3:07
4. X trt 4:53
5. Dear Mom trt 3:33
6. Horizon trt 5:20
7. Celtic trt 4:44
8. Runaway Train trt 2:52
9. Jerusalem trt 6:51
10. His Hands trt 5:13
11. Fly Away trt 4:10
12. Little Girl trt 4:56
13. One Night Stand trt 3:57
14. Flower trt 4:25
15. King & Queen of Hollywood
16. Burnin’ Inside of Me
17. Knowing You
18. Beautiful Woman
TRADITIONAL FIDDLE TUNES:
1. Hungarian Rhapsody
2. Orange Blossom Special
3. Arkansas Traveler
4. Old Joe Clark
5. Drowsy Maggie
6. Tam Lin
more upon request...
COVERS:
1. The Devil went down to Georgia: Charlie Daniels
2. Crazy:Willy Nelson (made famous by Patsy Cline)
3. California:Joni Mitchell
4. Romeo and Juliet: Dire Straits
5. Wagonwheel: Bob Dylan (recorded by Old Crow Medicine Show)
6. Sin City: Graham Parsons & Emmylou Harris
7. Silver Threads & Golden Needles: Linda Rondstadt
8. Baby, Now That I’ve Found You: Alison Krauss
9. Why Can’t He Be You?: Patsy Cline
10. I’ll Fly Away: traditional bluegrass
11. The Ballad of Mary Magdalene: Dar Williams
12. Sunny Side: The Carter Family
13. My Boyfriend’s Back: The Angels
14. Why Do Fools Fall in Love?: Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers
15. Walkin’ After Midnight: Patsy Cline
16. Desperado: Linda Ronstadt
17: The Queen and the Soldier: Suzanne Vega
