 P R O F I L E
Raised on rootsy country classics and good old rock & roll, Jeanann is more likely to be caught singing than speaking. Songwriting never seemed special to her; she just thought everybody did it, just like everybody wanted to get up and sing in front of people too. Growing up, she dabbled in a lot of different genres and media, until just a few years ago when she unlocked something inside that brought forth the collection of songs she shares here. In her late teens, she discovered the art of recording and has since grown to be passionately in love with both the raw, primal energy of live performance and the intimate, aural-bonzai-cultivation of studio work as well. She's carried a guitar around since she was 14 and will play it if you ask her to. She usually plays it alone, but things change. "Right now it's a pretty black Ibanez AEG10E. I think it likes me."
if you happen to catch her in the
midst of her greatest passions of writing, performing, or recording,
you'll see her going at it as indulgently as a momma indulges a
precious, precious child. Laughter and smiles come so easily to her,
it's nearly startling to watch her slow down and pour herself into the
moments in song where she shares with you some deep wrenching of the
soul you know she'd only share with her most intimate friends. As a
listener, that's what she wants to make of you. Grab this hand and you
won't want to let go.
Jean*Ann just released her latest country CD, "Unapologize." On
it is the award-winnning "Daddy's Arms," which took first place in the
Christian category of the Great American Song Contest in 2003. The
ballad is perhaps dearest to Jeanann, since it was a dedication to her
own father, who passed away from lung cancer in June of 2006. "I gave
the song to him as a Christmas present a few years ago. It represents
the love I know he had for me as well as the faith with which he and my
mother blessed me."
Other
original songs on the album, like the relationship-wise "Unapologize,"
the sassy, bluesy "Mercenary Mary," and the honky-tonk shuffle "Hold Me
In Your Heart" have already been leaked worldwide through traditional
and internet radio.
Having released several Christian recordings over the past 10 years, some solo and some with her husband Joe (joehand.com),
Jean*Ann's already enjoyed worldwide exposure as the writer and
performer of the song "Life on the Rock," the theme song for a weekly
program on the Eternal Word Television Network. "The song was a track
on my very first CD, a solo project produced by Joe. He wrote it with
me and sings the current, updated version of the song they use for the
program now. It's been so awesome to have folks from all over the
world, from small town-America all the way to Quatar writing to us
about that song. It's gotten us invitations to just about everywhere,"
Jean*Ann says. She is currently compiling all of her material from her
prior 5 Christian CD's on to one solo CD project. Some of that material
can be heard at myspace.com/jeanannhandmusic.
Jean*Ann
admits to being asked if she's choosing country/rock music over
Christian music, but she earnestly confesses, "I can't really draw a
line between the country/rock me and the Christian music me. The
country/rock me still loves, loves, loves to sing praise and worship
music. I think it's part of what we are created to do, regardless of
our other occupations. I write & sing about what's meaningful to
me. I can't do anything I don't believe in. I've been writing since
I've known how to spell. Since the beginning, I've always written
spiritual material and I've always written secular material. So when
I'm asked that question, it's almost like a question I don't
understand, because there's never been a dividing line."
With
the imminent release of her first full-length country/rock CD, Jean*Ann
will continue sharing her music worldwide. She's sung in nearly every
state in the nation as well as in Canada and New Zealand, performing at
large venues like the Mid America Trucking Convention in Louisville, KY
and the Orange Blossom Festival in Cooper City, FL as well as at
smaller, more intimate settings like the legendary honky tonks on
Nashville's lower Broadway.
For more information, contact management@jeanannhand.com or call 615-300-4263.
Jean*Ann
says:
"Ever since I can remember, I was always looking for an audience.
I'm pretty sure it was annoying to my siblings, but they made
good use of it in time. My older sister would prank call houses
on weekends, telling the person who answered the phone that
her sister wants to be a singer and would you please listen
to her and tell us what you think? And I unquestioningly would
take hold of the phone and belt out "America the Beautiful"
or some other patriotic song I learned in kindergarten. I
don't remember what kind of responses we got, or if anyone
actually stayed on the phone to listen, but I'm pretty sure
I enjoyed it."
Musical
influences:
Loretta Lynn, Lyle Lovett, John Denver, Willie Nelson, Johnny
Cash, Bill Monroe, Patty Loveless, Dolly Parton, The Eagles.
On
Performing:
"I am most comfortable when I am on stage. It's there that
I feel I'm exactly where I am supposed to be. I'm at my most
honest and least contrived. That's probably not healthy, but
it's the truth."
On
Songwriting:
"Whether I'm writing from personal experience, or about someone
I've met, or I'm just making something up, each song is its
own drama, each performance is another life. I love that.
I'm not good with heart-to-heart conversations. But with a
song, I can tell you everything."
Proudest
Moment:
Winning Christian Song of the Year in the 2003 Great American
Song Contest with a song that I wrote called "Daddy's Arms,"
based on a real life experience with my dad.
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