Jenny Goodspeed bloomed as a singer-songwriter in the rich Boulder/Denver
music scene of the mid-90s where she played local venues and festivals,
including the renowned Swallow Hill Music Association. In 1997,
she recorded a demo with respected producer/engineer Patrick Brickel
(Greg Brown). After moving to Western Massachusetts to begin a new
life in the landscape that felt most like home, she unexpectedly
rediscovered her love for theater, and spent the next decade acting
with numerous theater companies in the region. All the while, she
continued to write songs and quietly hone her craft.
In 2007 a concert presenter
heard Goodspeed sing at a festival and offered to finance a CD.
The end result was the release of her debut CD Under the Ash
Tree, a stint opening for Beth Amsel on a Midwestern tour, and
finalist slots in numerous songwriting competitions including the
2009 Falcon Ridge Emerging Artist Showcase and the 2009 Mountain
Stage NewSong Contest. With Under the Ash Tree, Jenny Goodspeed
returned to the acoustic music scene with a sparkling debut
CD full of verve and honesty ten years in the waiting. Songs from
the record have been added to over 100 folk and AAA radio stations
in 31 states.
Jenny's latest passion is performing as one-third of the The Boxcar Lilies - a high energy and engaging Americana trio with a knack for heavenly harmonies and exceptional songwriting.
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Jenny Goodspeed's music career had auspicious beginnings. Her earliest
memory is standing on the coffee table in her family's duplex in
upstate New York performing along with Carole King's Tapestry and
wondering how the musicians were able to fit into the tiny space
of the turntable. This fascination with music translated into a
self-described theater geek adolescence, a period when Goodspeed
discovered her love and innate talent for both singing and acting.
She taught herself guitar by studying the songs of folk-rock musicians
like James Taylor and Crosby, Stills, and Nash and performed in
lead roles in school and regional productions, including a 9-month
run of Godspell performed across upstate New York.
During college,
Goodspeed continued to act in and direct theater productions and
began to develop the exacting harmony skills she displays today
as vocal arranger for Binghamton University's first co-ed a cappella
group. Upon graduation, she did what was expected of the daughter
of a doctor and entered a doctoral program in psychology at the
University of Kansas in Lawrence. It was here that a whole new and
unexpected education began, that of the contemporary singer-songwriter.
In Lawrence, Goodspeed
stumbled upon Bob McWilliam's longstanding folk radio program 'Trail
Mix' on Kansas Public Radio and was exposed to artists like Patty
Larkin, Shawn Colvin, and John Gorka for the first time. "I
was hooked," Goodspeed explains, "They were writing music
I was really hungry for - songs you needed to hear more than once
in order to grasp." It wasn't long before she was writing her
own music and performing in local venues. Three years into her doctoral
program, she realized she wasn't cut out for psychology and left
Kansas with a Masters degree and a new direction.
Goodspeed bloomed
as a young singer-songwriter in the rich Boulder/Denver music scene
of the mid-90s. She played local venues and festivals including
the renowned Swallow Hill Music Association. In 1997, she recorded
her first demo with respected producer/engineer Patrick Brickel
(Greg Brown). And then she stepped away from her music career entirely.
Goodspeed moved to Massachusetts to begin a new life in the landscape
that felt most like home. Here, she unexpectedly rediscovered her
love of theater and spent the next decade acting with theater companies
in glowingly reviewed show including Flowers For Algernon for which
she won the 2004 CTA Drama Festival Award for Best Featured Performer.
All the while, she continued to write songs and quietly hone her
craft.
Who can accurately
describe the subtle shifts in life that occur and nudge one to change
course? In April of 2007, a concert presenter heard Goodspeed singing
at a music festival and knew there was a wider audience for her
music. She offered to finance a CD and over the course of 12 days
that summer, Jenny Goodspeed did what she had set out to do in 1997
- she recorded her debut CD Under the Ash Tree. Shortly after
singer and songwriter Beth Amsel (Voices on the Verge) invited Goodspeed
to open for her during a fall tour of the Midwest. For the first
time in years, Goodspeed stepped up on stage with her guitar in
hand for rooms full of strangers, performing for audiences in Iowa,
Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Kansas, and Nebraska to
an overwhelmingly positive response.
With Under the
Ash Tree, Jenny Goodspeed returned to the acoustic music
scene with a stunning debut CD full of verve and honesty ten years
in the waiting. In August 2008, Under the Ash Tree debuted
at #12 on the Roots Music Report Folk Top 50. Songs from
the record have been added to over 100 folk and AAA radio stations
in 31 states and earned Goodspeed finalist slots in numerous songwriting
competitions, including the 2009 Falcon Ridge Emerging Artist Showcase
and the 2009 Mountain Stage NewSong Contest.
Jenny's latest passion is performing as one-third of the The Boxcar Lilies - a high energy and engaging Americana trio with a knack for heavenly harmonies and exceptional songwriting. |
