Jenna Torres

Although many aspiring songwriters dream of the day they will get signed to a publishing deal, few are able to turn that dream into reality. For Jenna Torres, the path from wife and mother to working songwriter had a jarring beginning. On the morning of September 11th, 2001, Jenna was standing in front of her daughter’s school in lower Manhattan contemplating the pristine late summer day that lay ahead. As she chatted with other parents; little did she know that in the ensuing minutes, she would witness the event that forever changed her life. Like many people who witnessed the horrifying events of that day, Jenna embarked on a round of soul searching that resulted in major changes in her life; the end of her marriage and the beginning of a new chapter. As a newly single mother saddled with the responsibility of sole support, Jenna found a job in real estate, setting aside once again, her dream of making music. She was immediately assigned to work at a building one block from where the Twin Towers once stood. The building was abandoned all but for a few brave souls, and Jenna. Day after day she would go to work and wait. Day after day she would sit alone in empty apartments that no one wanted. On the day she realized she could bring her guitar to work, a shift in her thinking began to occur. In place of the people who never appeared, she began to populate her daytime world with the songs that would become her first album. This record of loss and remembrance, conceived in a city of lost souls, would transport her to a new place. Through a series of well-timed coincidences, she found herself in the Los Angeles office of Warner Chappell Music Publishing executive Judy Stakee. She walked out that day with a publishing deal and a new direction. Over the next few years she would write the songs that have become her second and defining record, Thinking with My Heart. Jenna Torres is a walking contradiction. New York City born and bred, she writes songs that seem to emanate from the Heartland. From the wrenching “Mommy’s Broken”, to the swagger of “One Good Outlaw”, Jenna has captured in song the lives of everyday people. Thinking with My Heart is slated for release on August 11th. The single “I Can’t Kiss Me” is available now on iTunes. Be sure to check out the video of the song on YouTube directed by Amos Poe.