I don't have an actual "band" but here are some people I've worked with over the years and these people have collectively played for Glenn Frey, The Doobie Brothers, Steppenwolf, Dwight Yoakum, Lucinda Williams, Elton John, Rick James, Lena Horne, Johnny Cash, Dierks Bently, Tim McGraw, Bonnie Raitt, Tower of Power, Charlie Daniels, Tanya Tucker, Trisha Yearwood, Chicago, Brooks & Dunn and of course, Cowboy Jack Clement. Their names are Dave Roe, Eric Holt, Jamie Hartford, Taras Prodaniuk, Ed Tree, Jeffrey Steele, Marty Grebb, Danny Grenier, Rick Lonow, Reggie Wooten, Rock Williams, Keith Horn, Mark Mateca, Tom Timko, Hugh Wright, Rod Jansen, Trez, Jack Silverman, Walter Egan, Ed Tree, Billy Block, Cheri Wells, Marty Crumm, Tim Bogert, Chris Pinnick, Chet McCracken, Michael Monarch...I know there's more but I might be getting a little senile...well, either that or just blonde at the roots. :-)
Influences
Jack Clement, The Marx Brothers, Jimmy Durante, Little Feat, Etta James, Bonnie Raitt, Barbara Streisand, Julie Andrews, Roger Miller, Earth Wind & Fire, The Doobie Brothers, Loggins & Messina, The Manhattan Transfer, Ricki Lee Jones, Carol King...
"Sings Her Ass Off" Wendi KISS FM, Los Angeles
"Tremendously Powerful Soulful Voice" Uncle Joe Benson KLOS-FM Los Angeles
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Bio written mostly by Bob Doerschuck :-)
You can't run from life, if you want to sing with soul.
Jolene Kay proves the point. She's no stranger to hard times. But with each new chapter this gifted singer/songwriter has stood up, stronger and more tuned in to the world, and readier than ever to sing about it all.
"I've been through a lot," she says. "I guess my sense of humor has helped me survive -- that, and music, which has always been a way out."
Even as a rape and domestic violence survivor, humor is evident in Jolene's quick laugh and the twinkle that never seems to leave her eyes. As for the music, it's not easy to find any singer whose natural voice has a range like hers, capable of whispered intimacy as well as roof-raising projection. And what she does with that voice makes Jolene even more exceptional; whether crooning a country ballad, digging into a lowdown blues, or rattling the walls with her gospel intensity, she brings that rare thing -- soul -- to the table.
You can't bottle it. You can't learn it in a classroom. You only get this kind of feeling from taking the pleasure and pain of life, breathing it in, and coming back for more.
That's been Jolene's story from the start. As part of a large family of singers in a small rural town, she was raised in a climate of nonstop music. "I heard it all," she laughs, "from Manhattan Transfer to Tennessee Ernie Ford to polka, so boundaries never meant anything to me."
At age three she began singing in church, where she also studied classical repertoire with the choral director. By the time she'd graduated from high school, Jolene had been trained on several different instruments and clocked countless hours in choir and band concerts.
Then, freed to pursue her dreams, Jolene began her personal and professional odyssey. Fueled by her passion to explore and perform, she rambled wherever the spirits seemed to point: San Francisco, Los Angeles, and finally Nashville. Along the way she's held more than a few odd jobs, including a summer gig as an assistant dolphin trainer, an AMTRAK job that catered to her interest in staying on the move, voiceover work for Walker: Texas Rangers, and a few months behind the wheel of an ice cream truck in Running Springs, California.
The one thing that never changed was her growth as a singer. Jolene sang in any and every style -- with an amusement park bluegrass production, Top 40 and blues bands in the Bay Area and LA, a Latino outfit in LA, a Mowtown Review "Motor City Magic" with members of Aretha Franklin's band, Bruce Springsteen's, Rick James and Lena Horn's band. She crossed paths with quite an assortment of characters along the way including Jim Carrey, Robin Williams, Dennis Miller, Sam Kinison, and Richard Pryor Junior - all whom she befriended while working at the Comedy Store in LA, Lia Iacocca Assad (Lee Iacocca's daughter) who became her manager in LA, legendary songwriter, Jeffrey Steele, Walker Texas Ranger Executive Producer, Aaron Norris when she brought in an investor for two Chuck Norris movies and Franco Harris of the Pittsburgh Steelers who is a business man now and bought her patent of the "One Carrot Diamond Ring (the vegetable not the gem on a diamond shaped background) US Design patent 381,924.
As she traveled, her reputation spread as a singer of unusual emotional power. She connected with musicians everywhere she went including session greats Freddie Washington and Harvey Mason and members of Bob Dylan's band and Tower of Power worked with her on some of her original projects. She was chosen by listeners of the KLOS program Local Licks for their "Best of Local Licks" show, nominated by the CCMA for "Female Vocalist of the Year," headlined festivals in Switzerland, she even won the Gong Show! (strange but true - I needed the money :-)
In Nashville, legendary producer and songwriter Hall of Fame member, Cowboy Jack Clement, who produced 149 albums including Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, U-2, Louis Armstrong, Charley Pride and Waylon Jennings to name a few, made her a featured vocalist on his critically acclaimed album, “I Guess Things Happen That Way” She is one of his regular "canaries" (chick singers) for sessions and Mr. Clement has been acting as her publisher.
Today, as a session singer, songwriter and performer in Nashville, Jolene seems somewhat settled down -- but don't believe it. As new opportunities beckon for recording her own project and headlining more of her own gigs, it's clear that life isn't quite finished with Jolene Kay -- and that her love affair with music is only just beginning.
"As I once heard Glen Campbell, I can play anything I want to," she declares. That you can believe.
I’ve been a music journalist for more than 10 years. Over the years, many artists and managers have asked me what the best way to break into the European music market is.
Here are some things you can do:
Publish artist press releases, news, and tour dates to the CountryHome Forum on MySpace, http://groups.myspace.com/CountryHomeMagazine , CountryHome Forum is part of CountryHome, http://www.CountryHome.de , Germany's Premier Country Music Online Magazine. Everything you publish to the CountryHome Forum will be published in my weekly Newsletter which has over 80,000 readers.
Send me CDs and DVDs for review and set up an artist interview with me. All reviews and interviews will be submitted to the magazines I'm writing for. More information for which magazines I'm writing can be found at http://www.MySpace.com/ChristianLamitschka
Upload artist videos to http://www.MyVideo.de and http://www.ClipFish.de . Both websites are like http://www.YouTube.com and uploading videos is free. The websites are completely in German. If you don’t speak German and need assistance, I will help you open an account and upload a video for 25 Euro. Each additional video upload for the same artist name and at the same video website is 10 Euro.
If you have more questions about the European music market or about any of the information I send to you today, please contact me at Ch.Lamitschka@t-online.de too.
Editor & Journalist for Country Music Christian Lamitschka An der Pfingstweide 28 61118 Bad Vilbel Germany
Today I would like to let you know about two print magazines in Germany I'm writing for.
"Living Line Dance", reporting about line dance and country music, and "Folk Magazine", reporting about folk and country music. The magazines are high respected in Europe. They offer you a good chance to publicize yourself in Europe and Germany.
For more information, please contact me at MySpace or send email to Ch.Lamitschka@t-online.de with the headline "Advertise at Living Line Dance and Folk Magazine".
yes ma'am ms. jo ....... i will NEVER forget you... i hope you forgive me for our goodbye... it wasnt pretty... but you are....i kinda am now....im so sorry...xoxox.. i love your comment to me...
i met and hung with jolene 20(?)yrs ago..... it was wonderful..... nice to see you ...and im sorry for the goodbye.it could have been more real... im so proud to see you doing what you do.... i hope in my assholishness i helped.....xoxoxxxoxox.... you are so sweet...... this is on your site and mine..
