Jenny Goodspeed

Recent Highlights
~Winner, Ourstage.com Americana/Alt-Country Channel out of 410 entries and third place overall out of 41 different genres competing
~Winner, Portland Songwriters Association Songwriting Contest, Folk/Acoustic Category
~Finalist, Boston Folk Festival Songwriting Contest
~Finalist, Rose Garden Coffeehouse Songwriter Contest
~Showcase Finalist, Plowshares Coffee House Songwriting Contest
~Finalist, Solarfest Songwriter Showcase
~Finalist, Susquehanna Music and Arts Festival Songwriting Contest
~Under the Ash Tree added to over 100 folk/AAA stations in 31 states
~No. 12 debut on the Roots Music Report Folk Top 50
~No. 4 peak on the WUMB (Boston) airplay chart
"Jenny Goodspeed is just folk enough to sound authentic and just pop enough to keep the attention of the ever-shuffling iPod crowd."
--Fairfield County Weekly (CT)
"This is a sparkling folk-pop album guaranteed to brighten your day...her wry comments about relationships seem personal but universal enough that you'll find yourself nodding your head and thinking, "How did she slip into my life?
-- Minor 7th Reviews
ABOUT THE RECORD:
It's not often a new artist emerges with a debut record completely formed and beautifully produced, full of tender and concise language, all executed in a gorgeous, mature voice. Singer-songwriter Jenny Goodspeed has achieved just that rare feat on her debut CD Under the Ash Tree - a sparkling fusion of folk, pop, and Americana drawing on influences from 70s era singer-songwriters like Joni Mitchell, Bruce Cockburn, and Laura Nyro. Well-crafted lyrics, exquisite vocals, and heart-breaking melodies abound as Goodspeed explores the intricacies of love and longing, all definitively steeped in her beloved New England landscape.

Engineered and co-produced by Mark Thayer at Signature Sounds Studio in Pomfret, CT, Goodspeed is joined by an impressive group of musicians including Jim Henry (Tracy Grammer, Mark Erelli) on acoustic guitar, Richard Gates (Patty Larkin, Suzanne Vega) on electric bass, Eric Platz on drums, Duke Levine (Mary Chapin-Carpenter, Jonatha Brooke) on electric guitar, Seth Glier ..boards, and Beth Amsel on harmony vocals.
ABOUT ME:
In the late 60s and early 70s, thousands of baby girls born in the U.S. were named Jennifer. A subset of that group, myself included, were named, in particular, after Barbra Streisand’s song “Jenny Rebecca.” It’s been scientifically proven that having a song for a namesake destines one to living a life obsessed with music. Really.

This year I released my first full-length CD. Why now? When I was three, my mother asked me why I was engaging in some odd activity, like climbing into the kitchen cabinet to commune with the aluminum pots and liquor bottles, and I replied, "Not why mom, just because." Pretty wise for a three-year old. (It’s been downhill ever since.)

All but two of the songs were written when I returned to the Northeast after a 10-year detour in the Midwest and West. So, more than anything, the record is a love letter to New England and its infinite kinds of trees, rain, spring peepers, foggy mornings...everything I felt starved for while out West. I've been back for over eight years now and it never gets old.
Video courtesy of Elijah Rottenberg
Jonah - Mocha Maya's, Shelburne Falls, MA