Jennifer Johnson & The Big Savage Band

Jennifer was born and raised in London, Ontario and was lucky enough to be brought up in a household full of musicians. She began playing at the age of four and hasn't missed a beat (so to speak) in over 30 years of playing, first in Ontario, and then even more so as she planted her roots deep within the Montreal music scene. She attained a BFA in music at Concordia and went on to a Master's degree in Musicology and has never given up her love to perform.

She has been playing in and around Montreal for the past 15 years, as a solo performer, as part of several small ensembles and as a guitarist, vocalist and keyboardist with the progressive six-piece band The Bastard Sound System. She has also been a session musician for innumerable acts such as Big Bat and the Bluestones and has toured with the Gruesomes offshoot, The Feztones with Bobby Beaton and John Davis. Most recently she has shared the stage with several indie folk/roots bands such as The Jimmyriggers, Ol' Savannah, The Steady Swagger, Lee Mellor and Freeman Dre and the Kitchen Party.

The most recent line up of The Big Savage Band includes some of the best and hardest working Montreal players including Tim van de Ven on drumes (Amanda Mabro, Brie Nielson), David Pearce on bass (The Jimmyriggers, Kristen Bussandri, Lee Mellor), Kevin Labchuk on accordion (Ol' Savannah) and Shawn McDonald on guitar. The band has been working hard over the last months and become a well-oiled force of folk to be reckoned with.

As a songwriter, Jennifer's style is largely influenced by two major genres: New Orleans blues/roots and old school country. Her melodies are catching and unique, combined with a witty lyricism that often invokes humour as well as emotional depth. She has been in the studio this year, working on her first album project, which will be titled "Music For Public Executions", hopefully to be available to the public in April of 2012.