JENNY BROOKS
Down in the Bayou
(Independent)
01 November 2009 — by Alex Rawls
Jenny Brooks breaks my heart. She makes a form of country that the marketplace doesn’t seem to have any place for these days, and it’s worse for it. She’s so gung-ho and committed to it that it’s hard not to worry that this will all end in frustration for her. She’s not making honky-tonk; there’s a market for that, though it’s called Americana. She’s making a modern, pop-oriented country, but like all pop, what’s considered contemporary changes quarterly, and anything even five minutes behind the moment is dismissed by Nashville, while the honky-tonk blow it off as too modern and shiny.
The irony is that Down on the Bayou is spirited fun with songs that work every time. Titles that promise too much cleverness (“Cadillaction,” “Dixie for the Chicks”) don’t lean too hard on the gimmick and make it on solid song craft. Clichés turn up more often than you’d like, but there’s no pretense to profundity here, and Brooks sings with such spunk and energy that at least a third of them are forgiven. Her songs are also the sort that will find fans when she plays, and they’ll rightly wonder why she’s not a bigger star. But in Nashville, the country-to-rock ratio changes hourly, and if your ratio’s a fragment off, it and country radio pass you by.
Offbeat Magazine CD Review
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Love Song to New Orleans CD
Love Song to New Orleans held an international song competition to pick the best songs about Louisiana & New Orleans. The end result is a flavorful tribute cd with a complimentary mix of blues, Americana, country, folk, zydeco & jazz with award winning guest stars. Oct. 1 you can purchase the cd through retail outlets in New Orleans Peaches Records, Louisiana Music Factory (online too) & digital distributors Itunes, & Cdbaby.
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Visit http://www.lovesongtoneworleans.com for more information.
USS Kidd Star Spangled Celebration
Girl Power Rocks the Baton Rouge Riverfront in 2009!!!
"I am Woman. Hear me roar."
That classic #1 hit by Helen Reddy from back in 1972 may have a little dust on the cover, but its message is no less potent in 2009. The line-up for Baton Rouge's Fourth of July Star-Spangled Celebration is packed full of powerful up-and-coming female vocalists.
The headline act at this year's event is Louisiana artist Jenny Brooks who hails from nearby Slidell. If Brooks looks a little familiar to you, it's because you've probably seen her on your TV. She has appeared in videos airing on CMT and GAC, including "Till I Was A Daddy Too" by Tracy Lawrence and "Let Me Love You" by Lonestar.
But standing in someone else's spotlight isn't in the cards for this singer/songwriter. A seven-month gig with Celebrity Cruise Lines touring the Mediterranean as lead vocalist wasn't a bad way to start. Six years ago, she made the move to Music Row in Nashville to pursue her dream. Since then, she has shared the stage during the Super Bowl halftime show with such greats as Doug Kershaw and Irma Thomas and spent over a year on stage at the world famous Tootsie's Orchid Lounge in Nashville.
Brooks recently collaborated with producer Mark Oliverius to release her debut CD Down In The Bayou (2009). Oliverius has worked with such country music mainstays as Lorrie Morgan, Ashton Shepard, and Trick Pony. Jenny's single "Baby Footprints In The Sand" is one of eleven original songs on the release and was included on the CD compilation album Sounds Of The Northshore.
"I am Woman. Hear me roar."
That classic #1 hit by Helen Reddy from back in 1972 may have a little dust on the cover, but its message is no less potent in 2009. The line-up for Baton Rouge's Fourth of July Star-Spangled Celebration is packed full of powerful up-and-coming female vocalists.
The headline act at this year's event is Louisiana artist Jenny Brooks who hails from nearby Slidell. If Brooks looks a little familiar to you, it's because you've probably seen her on your TV. She has appeared in videos airing on CMT and GAC, including "Till I Was A Daddy Too" by Tracy Lawrence and "Let Me Love You" by Lonestar.
But standing in someone else's spotlight isn't in the cards for this singer/songwriter. A seven-month gig with Celebrity Cruise Lines touring the Mediterranean as lead vocalist wasn't a bad way to start. Six years ago, she made the move to Music Row in Nashville to pursue her dream. Since then, she has shared the stage during the Super Bowl halftime show with such greats as Doug Kershaw and Irma Thomas and spent over a year on stage at the world famous Tootsie's Orchid Lounge in Nashville.
Brooks recently collaborated with producer Mark Oliverius to release her debut CD Down In The Bayou (2009). Oliverius has worked with such country music mainstays as Lorrie Morgan, Ashton Shepard, and Trick Pony. Jenny's single "Baby Footprints In The Sand" is one of eleven original songs on the release and was included on the CD compilation album Sounds Of The Northshore.
COUNTRY WEEKLY Magazine
"DOWN IN THE BAYOU"
Raised in south Louisiana, where the music is as hot as the Tabasco, Jenny delivers country music with a little down-home Cajun flavor and a whole lotta rock and soul. Now living in Nashville, Jenny melds the lyrical honesty of country music with the musical character of her Louisiana stomping ground. Jenny’s debut album, Down in the Bayou, was produced by Mark Oliverius and features 11 tracks co-written by Jenny.
About “Down in the Bayou”
Written by Jenny and Mark Oliverius. For more on Jenny, log on to jennybrooksmusic.com or myspace.com/jennybrooks1.
Raised in south Louisiana, where the music is as hot as the Tabasco, Jenny delivers country music with a little down-home Cajun flavor and a whole lotta rock and soul. Now living in Nashville, Jenny melds the lyrical honesty of country music with the musical character of her Louisiana stomping ground. Jenny’s debut album, Down in the Bayou, was produced by Mark Oliverius and features 11 tracks co-written by Jenny.
About “Down in the Bayou”
Written by Jenny and Mark Oliverius. For more on Jenny, log on to jennybrooksmusic.com or myspace.com/jennybrooks1.
Country music singer returns to hometown
Slidell's own Nashville recording artist and rising star Jenny Brooks will make a special hometown appearance March 28 at the Slidell High School Centennial Celebration.
A graduate of Slidell High, Brooks' career has been a lifetime in the making, starting when she was a young girl performing at the World's Fair in New Orleans and for the New Orleans Saints.
A graduate of Slidell High, Brooks' career has been a lifetime in the making, starting when she was a young girl performing at the World's Fair in New Orleans and for the New Orleans Saints.
