Lee Charles Garinger (bass)
Mark Sawatzy (drums)
Guest guitar players:
Ariel Posen
Joshua Bedry
Influences
CS Lewis; too much sugar as a child; regular angst; my cat Sandy (God rest his soul); the Prairie sky; Air Canada; Bob Briner; John Mays; a fire perpetually burning my backside; black licorice; fear of insects; The Lord of the Rings; my grandmas; conversations with my wise sister; mean comments I will never forget; encouragements that spur me on; divine whispers; coconut rice; singing jazz in high school; the tree in the park across the street when I was eight; the first time my heart broke and every time since; the Highlands; France's beauty and my dearest friend there; the tears of the El Salvadorian man so grateful for the home World Vision built for his family; Windy's Aquamarine eye colour; the betrayal of people I trusted with my life; Reanna's koolaid moustache, chalky hands and marker-filled hair; Peanut M & Ms; my gorgeous nephew's raging enthusiasm; the Northern Lights at Norway House in the middle of a lake in the middle of winter; a head-on with a semi on the TransCanada; chronic back pain; good hugs; late night walks; dreams that don't let go.
Choosing a career path in music is like choosing to get on a rollercoaster over and over again, but with a constantly evolving landscape. Winnipeg singer/songwriter, Jaylene Johnson, is no stranger to twists and turns in her musical path, and has had a tilt-a-whirl journey, to say the least. The most dramatic event was perhaps a head-on collision with a semi-truck in December of 2004, which capped off an extensive coast-to-coast solo tour in Canada to promote her sophomore release, “Finding Beautiful”. What followed was a season where excruciating pain brought life to a halt. But she survived the accident and subsequent injuries, and once again bought tickets for the music industry ride.
Rightly so. Songs from her upcoming release, “Happiness” are already finding their way in the world of licensing. “Just Be”, the lead single, has become the theme song for the brand new ezine, www.more2girls.com, and “Grow” from her new release was recently used by CBC television in Canada for the show “Being Erica”.
Jaylene credits Lloyd Peterson, the producer of her first record, “Not Forgotten” in 2000, with encouraging her to write her own material, and songwriting is where she discovered her deepest passion in music. She was awarded Contemporary Pop Song of the year by the US Gospel Music Association in 2002, and “Finding Beautiful” was nominated for a Western Canadian Music Award and five Covenant Awards in 2004. Songs from that record received national airplay on CBC and CCM radio, and found numerous placements in television with Sony Pictures Television and NBC Universal.
Her success at acquiring licenses for television caught the attention of Casablanca Media Publishing in 2006 with whom she worked under contract until recently. In 2008 alone she wrote with over fifty writers in Los Angeles, Nashville, Toronto, Vancouver and Winnipeg and showcased for NBC Universal and ABC Disney in LA. She’s also landed cuts with several independent artists.
The development of her writing is most notable in album, “Happiness”, which consists of 10 songs written over the past few years and an “enhanced” portion, with bonus tracks and more available to those who purchase the hard copy. The lush sound of the recording is the work of Brandon Friesen and Phil Deschambault in Winnipeg, who each produced different tracks. This offering is decidedly more pop than the more atmospheric “Finding Beautiful”, but is its sister in demonstrating Jaylene’s ability to find hope in the face of the ups and downs and painful realities of life. This is a hope that she shares with great charisma onstage, through performing and storytelling, and will continue to share as she promotes “Happiness” at home and beyond.
It was awesome getting to know you the other night. I've been enjoying your music a lot. Jo and Shar want me to cover some of your songs from when you were in my genre...I'd love to take a listen to some...I really appreciate your gift of music and love just how open you are to sharing your experience. It's beautiful.
Thank you Jaylene, and a happy Monday to you also!! It is so exciting to watch your career take off, I love your CD's and hope sometime to see you in concert!!! Come to Portland, OR!!!!!
I added our song, Still Blue Sky, the Morgan Myles version to my myspace page. I couldn't find the Sammi Moore version. I will get it for you. Like I said we kinda sped it up and rocked it up. I really hope you like it.
hey jay! just stopping by for my regular dose of your tunes..."No matter how hard we try" seems to be the predominant track in today's listening session. but i'm just loving all of it...hope you are doing well, friend:) -julia
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