Brenda Jean

***UPDATE: "Joe Pye Weed" is now #90 in the Americana radio rankings (as of 3/07/2011). "I'm Gonna Be the Wind" (L. Lewis) was just picked up for programming on all international flights at Lufthansa Airlines for two months beginning May 6. Thank you, Lisa Grey of Blue River Promotions, and all the radio folks who have taken the time to listen & spin.***

A dear friend calls her the female Gomer Pyle because shes such a goober until she opens her mouth to sing. With a Patsy Cline ache and pitch perfect notes she easily wraps her voice around everything from old school country swing to classic jazz to contemporary folk. Brenda Jeans sung for a thousand people in concert halls and for a few dozen on the streets of New Orleans. She tours in a 1982 Mercedes station wagon that runs on french fry grease. And shes got a new album out, "Joe Pye Weed," co-produced with Davy Sturtevant and featuring a full house of top notch Austin musicians.

Growing up, Brenda Jean was lucky to hear Grand Ol Opry songs sung live by her mother as she worked around the house. She also immersed herself in her parents LP collection. Singers like gospels Mahalia Jackson, countrys Ernest Tubb and Irish tenor Denis Day made for an eclectic influence that you can hear in her music today. Later on, she discovered newgrass and folk artists like Laurie Lewis and Cheryl Wheeler; in fact, some of their songs appear on "Joe Pye Weed." (Her first release, 2008s "next one by" is a sparser acoustic offering, recorded with guitarist/songwriter Davy Sturtevant.)

"Joe Pye Weed," named after a stunning late-blooming wildflower, is an eclectic adventure in country, folk, blues, gospel and swing. It includes four originals and covers from stellar songwriters such as Lewis and Wheeler. Musicians include Eddie Cantu (Bruce Robison, Kelly Willis) on drums, Glenn Fukunaga (Dixie Chicks, Alejandro Escovedo) on bass, Chris Gage (Albert & Gage, Roy Clark) on guitar and keyboards, Lloyd Maines (Terri Hendrix, Dixie Chicks) on pedal steel, John Mills (Lyle Lovett, Bonnie Raitt) on clarinet, and more on guitars, banjo, fiddle, and horns.

Im Better Off Without You, written by Brenda Jean and Davy Sturtevant, is a cry-in-your-beer song with a twist. The lout who dumped her gets a tongue lashing and in it all, theres a silver lining You tossed me off a cliff / Thats how I found out I could fly!

On the Side is a flirty blues number asking a certain someone to be her squeeze: "If you need some company / Why can't I love you on the side?" The way she wails and moans on this one, how could the intended say no?

Theres also the classic-country style All I Ever Got From You," the bluegrass swing of Im Gonna Be the Wind, (Lewis), the peaceful ballad The Peepers Song (Sturtevant/Sturtevant), and the melancholy Blue Skies Waltzing to Grey (Sturtevant/Helsel), complete with Maines' wonderful crying pedal steel.

Songs appearing on her first release include the original, Paw Paw Tree, a mournful folk ballad; But a womans not a creature you can plant like tree or vine / A woman is possessed of her own heart and soul and mind. Also, So Beautiful, (Lewis/Minger) done in a jazz style, with an Ella-like smoothness.

Throw that all in with a Peggy Lee song done in the style of Les Paul and Mary Ford ("It's A Good Day") and youve got a versatile vocalist who can belt, croon and sing the tarnish off the silver. Youd never know that she rarely sang in public before joining community choirs at the age of 40. She always knew she could (and would) do it, she just never got around to it until now. Good thing, cause shes all THAT with a side of fries. And save the grease, will ya? That Mercedes needs to get to the next gig...

Note: Brenda Jean is also a public speaker, and has experience leading worship services and speaking at special events on college campuses and elsewhere, including demonstrations on the greasemobile.

Bio for Ben Rainey:
Ben Rainey is a Pittsburgh area guitarist, teacher, and arranger. He grew up in Music City Nashville, Tennessee where he studied with guitarist/producer Charles English before moving to Pittsburgh where he studied at Carnegie Mellon with guitarist Jim Ferla. Ben currently teaches guitar at CMU and Chatham University, as well as working as a freelance guitarist and arranger. He has taken part in many music projects in Pittsburgh such as the U Pitt Gamelan Ensemble (Indonesian percussion ensemble), the CMU Guitar Ensemble, an Indonesian pop band called the Dangdut Cowboys, a guitar and saxophone duo called Steel River Resonance, and a group of composers/musicians dubbed Kalon (www.myspace.com/kalon), and is currently performing with Brenda Jean. More information about Ben and his musical services can be found at http://jamesbrainey.com.

Bio for Jack Busch:
Jack Busch is a writer