This Life of Mine (Official Video Link)

ICYMI, the video for the title track of my new album and recent single is out! I want to thank Dana-Marie Battaglia for capturing the recording experience for “This Life of Mine”. It was great to have you be a part of it all! Also to Matt Smith from Matt Braden Photo for putting it all together so beautifully! This one is very near and dear to me. Not only does it really capture and reflect the whole experience for me, it was the song we finished for my Grandfather who passed during the making of this album. He would’ve been proud! And he would have loved those alpacas as much as I do!

I want to give a huge thanks to the whole crew. My producer John MacArthur Ellis, Nick Stecz (percussion), My husband, band-mate and manager John Antoniuk, Jamie Prentice (engineer), Jesse Padgett and Michael Donley. It was an absolute pleasure working with you all! Thank you all for helping me make this record happen!

I also want to give a huge shout out to FACTOR Canada, Creative Saskatchewan, Sask Music, Rawlco, and the Saskatchewan Arts Board. I am incredibly lucky to be able to afford the opportunity to fulfill and share my artistic visions. Thank you all for your support!

Next up, Ontario/Quebec tour in November!

photo by Jeff Bonner / Tractorgrease Cafe, Chilliwack, BC

Aug 29/2016

It’s hard to believe that we played our final show for the summer last night!

It was really fun doing something different this time around. This August has been a great run of vinyl listening parties and performances. We would begin the evening by spinning some of our favorite vinyl albums that inspire us, then perform an acoustic set, and finally feature my new vinyl to cap things off. The portable record player (courtesy of Enver Hampton) was showcased front and center stage where the audience could see the music turning and playing for everyone’s enjoyment. Huge thanks to all the venues who hosted these events for us! Vinyl is certainly making a resurgence, and even folks who don’t have record players seem to be either taken back by familiar songs and sounds or discover something new and interesting. There is a certain closeness that you get from the process of playing vinyl. One where you are more involved with the music. The process of taking it out, placing it in the player, and turning it over half way through the album to complete the listening experience. It really created an environment where we could meet and mingle with the audience, answer questions, make connections with people and perform intimate acoustic sets. Thank you to everyone who came out to support us on our endeavors! We couldn’t have done it without you! Extra special thanks to Creative Saskatchewan for their continued support of my career! Also thanks to FACTOR Canada for all their support.

As I go through my photos I will be posting about some of our highlights so stay tuned!

Now we find ourselves back in Kelowna, with a few extra days to spare before we head home. The engineer from “This Life of Mine” came out to the show last night, and I don’t know, but I smell some studio time in the air!!
Could this be the beginning of another Jen & John album?

Jen

This project is funded in part by FACTOR, the Government
of Canada and Canada’s private radio broadcasters.

Wow! Exciting Times! “This Life of Mine” is officially available on 180 gram Vinyl, complete with lyrics and chords! We’ve launched the title track as a new single and put out a wonderful little video that captures the making of the album, and the environment around the studio. All of this just in time for Festival Season!

Ness Creek Music Festival was amazing this year! Thanks to the beautiful, warm and welcoming crowd for showin’ us so much love! It was great playing with Luke Goetz, Enver Hampton, Megan Lane, and John Antoniuk! Thanks for helping me rock the rootsy old country! Huge thanks to Ness Creek for having us, and to all of the volunteers, co-ordinators and stage/sound crew! Amazing!

The next stop is Gateway Music Festival in Bengough SK, then it’s off to DogPatch in Whelan, SK. After that, John and I are headed west on an official Vinyl release tour for the month of August! Check out our tour schedule for deets!

Jen

We’ll we’re settled back in Saskatoon for now. The rest of the tour was fantastic thanks to the wonderful John Antoniuk, Melanie Brulee, Pat Phillips, Kevin Neal, Del Cowsill, and my sister Megan Lane! It was so great playing with these guys! Thanks for jumpin’ on the bandwagon! And a huge thanks to the venues for hosting us and to everyone who came out to the shows! Especially the ones who made road trips out of it! We couldn’t do it without ‘cha!

Massive thanks to Creative Saskatchewan, FACTOR Canada, SaskMusic, and everyone who helped to make this tour possible. We are so lucky to have the opportunities to apply for and receive such amazing support from our provincial and federal governments. Thank you for helping to keep art and music alive in Canada.

Big shout out to the Ole Fashion and Opera Bobs for sharing your spotlight with us. To Melanie Brulee for all your help! It was great singin’ with ya!  To Mel’s Mom Ray, for hosting an epic pool-side brunch for us and helping us work the door! To Kitty and Dan for hosting an absolutely amazing house concert for us, and of course to Lee and Stephen for hosting yet again another amazing PH08 house concert for us, and for supporting us, and sharing your home with us.

Now we head into Festival season! Looking forward to Ness Creek, Gateway and Dog Patch music festivals! I’m also really looking forward to launching the album on vinyl this summer, with a new single, video and Western Canadian tour to go along with it!

Jen

photo by Taylor Leedahl (John, Pat, Jen)

May 2016
So far it’s been a great tour! Thanks once again to the Cameron House for having us back, and to our friends Lee and Stephen for giving us a home base and helping us make it happen! We couldn’t do it without you!

Thanks to Ole Fashion for sharing your show at Opera Bob’s with us once again! It was great to have the Twin Peaks along for the ride too! Love those girls! We look forward to this upcoming Sunday May 22nd to do it all again!

Canadian Music Week was a blast! Thanks to Rich Taylor for hookin’ us up with a great show at the Monarch Tavern and to CMW for a great showcase at the Burdock! Huge thanks to everyone who attended and made the shows all the better! We are having a blast playing with Kevin Neal on pedal steel, Pat Phillips on drums and Del Cowsill on Bass. My sister Megan Lane will be joining us on bass for the last week of the tour too! Looking forward to it!

Our trip to New York City and Montpelier, VT was a success! We met so many fantastic people on the journey and look forward to returning! Thank you to The Rockwood Music Hall and Pianos for having us. Lower East Side Manhattan was amazing! Like Montreal on major steroids lol. Everyone was so welcoming and friendly. Thanks to Su, the receptionist at our hotel, we found the yummiest little gem of a restaurant called “Zing’s Awesome Rice”. I know I know, New York rice? But seriously. It was so good, and so healthy! Which is much appreciated for touring musicians! 🙂 Not to mention the staff was great and we got to meet Zing herself! I would highly recommend it to anyone!

Vermont was absolutely beautiful! A complete change of pace from Manhattan. Montpelier has a population of 7500 people and is the Capitol of Vermont. Bagitos is a super yummy bagel and burrito spot that hosts live music and features local art, and the people there were very friendly and welcoming! Thanks for having us Bagitos!

A quick note on some changes to our residency. John will be playing a couple sets at 6pm and the band and I will follow up at 730 and play to 930ish-10 for the next two Tuesdays. Thanks to Cosmo and the Cameron for giving us extra time to spend with you every week!
Check the tour dates tab for more info!

That’s all for now!

Jen

The Western Canadian CD release tour was great and was the perfect kick off to the year ahead!

Thanks to the amazing band that came along for the ride, to all the venues who treated us so well, to the radio stations that spun the singles and to Creative Saskatchewan and FACTOR Canada for their support in our endeavors.

A huge thanks to the guys for helping me bring it to the table. To John Antoniuk, I couldn’t do all of this without you. Thanks for playing your heart out and making this tour happen. To John Ellis, it meant a lot to have you out at the SK and BC shows! Thank you for driving your ass off to make it happen. To Nick Stecz, always a major pleasure to have you on percussion and I look forward to doing it again real soon! Thanks for making the journey in the midst of such busy times. Lucas Goetz, it was great playing with you again! Thank you for all your extras that made getting the right gear for the guys a breeze. Enver Hampton, it’s so great playing music with you again! Not only are your bass vibes super sweet, your vibe vibes are the best. Always great to have you!

THANK YOU
to Jeff, Jodi, Rob, and all the staff at the Tractorgrease in Chilliwack,
to Jeff, Alyce, Steven, and all the staff at Cafe Deux Soleils in Vancouver,
to Pat, Jimmy, Toby, and all the staff at the Ironwood in Calgary,
to Trevor, Andrew and Phil at the Mercury Room in Edmonton,
to Jesse and the staff at the Slice in Lethbridge
and to Caleb, Peggy, Amanda at the Root in Lloydminster.

Special thanks to Micheal Donley, Jesse Padgett and the Trips and Jamie Prentice for including us in your show at the Kelowna Community Theatre. It was definitely the highlight of the tour, and was very special for many reasons.

Super thanks to my team,
Paula Danylevich at Hype Music for the great work at publicity and getting those college radio stations playing the new album! Looking forward to our May adventure!
Scott Pilling at National Hearing Lab for hooking us up with the great reviews outside of Canada! Amazing work Scott!
and
Bob Martineau for all his work at Country Radio and getting these stations playing the 2 singles for “Shoe” and “Movin On”

THANK YOU
to all the radio stations for playing the singles. Your support means the world to us!
BC: CHMM – Mackenzie
Saskatchewan: CKBL (The Bull) – Saskatoon, CIBN – Buffalo Narrows, CILG – Moose Jaw, CJSL – Estevan, CFSL – Weyburn,
CKSW – Swift Current, CJSN – Shaunavon,
MBC Radio Network – La Ronge
Ontario: CKCI – Sarnia, CKTI – Lambton Shores, CFRM – Little Current
CFDY – Cochrane, CJDL – Tillsonburg
Quebec: CHIP – Ft Coulonge, CJMQ – Sherbrooke,
CFBS – Lourdes De Blanc Sablon
Nova Scotia: CKOA – Glace Bay, CJQC – Liverpool
Digital Radio: CBC Country Sirius XM Channel 171
Feature Play: CJVR – Melfort, SK, CIXM – Whitecourt, AB,
CKBI – Prince Albert, SK, Country 94 – Ottawa, ON, CKKY – Welland, ON
CJKX – Oshawa, ON, CKYC – Owen Sound, ON

And all the features at CBC across the country! AMAZING!!!

I am looking forward to the next leg of the journey in the other direction. Eastern Canada bound! Check out our tour dates for details 🙂

Excited to announce the National CD release tour dates for “This Life of Mine“!
We’ll be heading out west in April and east in May. Hope to see you at a show! Please share the dates with friends that you think would like to come watch us play. All the Canadian shows are with a full band, and the 3 US dates are duo performances. See you on the road.

Hey Everybody!

I don’t even know where to start! Making this album was one of the most amazing experiences of my life, and it just keeps getting better.

I want to give a huge thanks to John MacArthur Ellis and Nick Stecz for being there for the big launch! It was an absolute pleasure working with you guys again.

Big thanks to my amazing and supportive husband John Antoniuk. Thank you all for helping me make this record happen! Enver
Hampton, it was wonderful to have you back on stage with us, and I’m looking very forward to our April tour!

To my family, friends and fans! Thank you! To everyone who made it out the CD release shows, and to those who were rooting for me in spirit, I am truly humbled by the support you have all shown me. Thank you for your beautiful presence!

To Derek Bachman, my Grandpa Garry Thurber, Marlene Antoniuk and all the spirits in my life. I miss you all so much, sometimes it actually hurts. But I am comforted by the fact that you have been with me through this everyday. I am so thankful for the lessons I was fortunate enough to receive from you and will carry that with me always.

Thanks to Carol Cairns and the staff at the Artful Dodger, and to Don Griffith and the staff at the Bassment, for treating us so well and providing the perfect venues for this event!

Thanks to Mike Shymko and Troy Denet for doing a great job on sound! It’s always a pleasure working with you! And to Sasktel Video on Demand and Bamboo Shoots for coming out to film the Saskatoon show! I’m so glad that I’ll have a longer lasting memory of the big night!

To Mike Donley, thank you for bringing us to Bottega Studio! Jamie Prentice, It was an absolute pleasure working with you as engineer! Thanks for singing bg’s on Fools. I can’t wait to work with you again! Jesse Padgett, Thank you for playing on Shoe and for sharing your space with us and showing us great time! I look forward to our show together in Kelowna!

To Dana-Marie Battaglia, Thank you for helping us document our experience and for singing some bg’s along the way 🙂 Your footage made a great video for the title track!

I want to give a special thanks to Sarah Johanson who took the cover photo for “This Life of Mine”, and to Shannon Bruner for having me model for her photography class. I had no idea that I would find my album art that day! Thank you Both!

Huge thanks to Matt Smith, Taylor Leedahl and Dana-Marie Battaglia for helping me make a great little collection of videos! “Shoe” and “Movin’ On” were a blast to make! The new video for “This life of Mine” will be launched in March! Details to be announced!

To Paula Danylevich at Hype Music and Bob Martineau, thank you for running a great publicity and radio tracking campaign!
I also want to give a huge shout out to FACTOR, Creative Saskatchewan, Sask Music, Rawlco, and the Saskatchewan Arts Board. I am incredibly lucky to be able to afford the opportunity to fulfill and share my artistic visions. I am very excited about the new album!

Thank you all for your support!

ONE WEEK!!! My new album “This Life of Mine” will be released next Friday, February 26th! You can pre-order the album right now at https://itun.es/ca/F_3mab. : )

I’ll be at the Artful Dodger in Regina on Friday Feb 26th, and the Bassment in Saskatoon on Saturday Feb 27th! Producer John MacArthur Ellis, drummer Nick Stecz, bassist Enver Hampton, and John Antoniuk on guitar and vocals, will be joining me for a weekend of great music!

REGINA
https://www.facebook.com/events/155844948122212/
http://www.artfuldodgerarts.com/Contact.php

Hello all!

The video for my new single “Movin’ On” is out today! Have a peek and pass it around!
I want to give a huge thanks to Taylor Leedahl who helped make this fun and spontaneous homage to the wonderful city of Toronto a reality!
We had a blast shooting it and I love how she’s put the puzzle together. It was great working with you Taylor!

You can get the “Movin’ On” mp3 immediately when you purchase the pre-sale of “This Life of Mine” on Friday Jan 29th on iTunes! Come back here for the link on Friday!

Official CD release shows are at the Artful Dodger on Friday February 26th in Regina and The Bassment on Saturday February 27th in Saskatoon.

More to come!

Thanks to FACTOR, Creative Saskatchewan, Sask Music, Rawlco and the Saskatchewan Arts Board.