Jenn Grant
Jenn Grant | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Born |
1980 (age 35–36) Prince Edward Island |
Origin | Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada |
Genres |
Pop Folk |
Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter |
Years active | 2004–present |
Labels |
Was on Six Shooter Records from 2007-2012; New label to be announced. |
Associated acts | The Heavy Blinkers, Daniel Ledwell, Buck 65 |
Website | Jenn Grant |
Jenn Grant (born 1980) is a Canadian folk pop singer-songwriter based in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Background
Born on Prince Edward Island to Ken (a vascular surgeon) and Heather Elizabeth Grant, she moved to Halifax with her mother and brother at age ten when their marriage broke up.[1] She attended Saint Mary's University for a time[1] and later graduated from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design University,[2] with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting.[1]
Jenn's mother who was an inspiration to her career was named the Queen of Azaleas in 1973 in Norfolk, Virginia. Jenn's video for the song "The Fighter" uses 16 mm film footage of this parade and time, as this song and album are a dedication to her mother's life. Jenn's mother died in May 2012.
She is married to producer and musician Daniel Ledwell. They were married in October 2011.
Career
She performed as a musician for a time in her early teens, but stopped due to a bout of stage fright, and did not return to performing until her early 20s when she played some shows with The Heavy Blinkers.[3] She then released an independent EP, Jenn Grant and Goodbye Twentieth Century, in 2005.
She collaborated on her debut album, Orchestra for the Moon, with such artists as Ron Sexsmith, the Heavy Blinkers, Matt Mays and Jill Barber, and later toured Germany and Canada in support of the album, including as an opening act for The Weakerthans.
She later began recording her second album, Echoes, on a farm in rural Ontario in 2008.[4] The album was produced by Jonathan Goldsmith and engineered by Walter Sobczak at The Studio at Puck's Farm.[5][6] Her voice was also featured in the song "We Made a Pact" by Hey Rosetta on their 2008 album Into Your Lungs (and around in your heart and on through your blood). Echoes was released in 2009.[7]
She continues to paint, including designing some of her own album covers.[8]
In 2010 and 2011, she collaborated with Buck 65 on several tracks, including "Paper Airplane", "Cold Steel Drum", "Days Go By" and a cover of Leonard Cohen's "Who By Fire", on his 20 Odd Years series of EPs. Late in 2010, she also released a four-song EP, Songs for Siigoun, which featured a cover of John Denver's "Annie's Song".
She released her third full-length album, Honeymoon Punch, in early 2011.[9] Her fourth album, The Beautiful Wild, followed in 2012, and her fifth album, Compostela, was released on October 21, 2014.[10]
Awards
In 2006, Grant won Best New Artist and Best Female Artist at the Nova Scotia Music Awards.[11]
Honeymoon Punch was a longlisted nominee for the 2011 Polaris Music Prize, and was shortlisted for a Juno Award in the Adult Alternative Album of the Year category at the Juno Awards of 2012.[12]
Grant won an East Coast Music Award for the song for song of the year at the 2013 ECMAs of the album "The Beautiful Wild". Grant won an East Coast Music Award for Pop Recording of the Year at the 2012 ECMAs for The Beautiful Wild. At the 2013 ECMAs, she won the award for Song of the Year, for that album's single "I've Got Your Fire".
Grant's song "Dreamer", from Orchestra for the Moon, is featured as the theme song on CBC's Heartland. Her song "Make it Home Tonight" was played at the end of episode 12 of Flashpoint, "Haunting the Barn".
Her album Compostela has been nominated for two Juno Awards.[13]
Discography
- 2005 - Jenn Grant and Goodbye Twentieth Century (EP)
- 2007 - Orchestra for the Moon
- 2009 - Echoes
- 2010 - Songs for Siigoun (EP)
- 2011 - Honeymoon Punch
- 2012 - The Beautiful Wild
- 2014 - Clairvoyant (EP)
- 2014 - Compostela
References
- 1 2 3 Tara Thorne (2007-04-26). "To the moon". thecoast.ca. Retrieved 2009-02-01.
- ↑ Robert Everett-Green (2007-06-14). "Ambitious Girl Next Door" (PDF). The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-06-14. Retrieved 2009-02-01.
- ↑ Wigney, Allan. "Jenn Grant flying over the Moon". canoe.ca, June 13, 2007.
- ↑ "Jenn Grant's Heartbreak". Exclaim!, February 2009
- ↑ http://www.maplemusic.com/artists/jen/bio.asp
- ↑ http://www.allmusic.com/album/echoes-mw0000825583/credits
- ↑ Jenn Grant: Halifax singer/songwriter discovers happy songs can be just as good as heartbreakers". NOW, February 17, 2011.
- ↑ "Jenn Grant Takes Symphonic Sounds to the Moon". chartattack.com, December 8, 2006.
- ↑ "Jenn Grant delivers a Honeymoon Punch on latest album". Waterloo Region Record, February 9, 2011.
- ↑ "Jenn Grant Taps Ron Sexsmith, Rose Cousins, Sarah Harmer for 'Compostela'". Exclaim!, September 9, 2014.
- ↑ Shannon Webb-Campbell (2006-12-08). "Jenn Grant Takes Symphonic Sounds To The Moon". chartattack.com. Retrieved 2009-02-01.
- ↑ "2012 Juno Award nominees". CBC News, February 7, 2011.
- ↑ "Juno Award Nomination List" (PDF). Retrieved 31 January 2015.