Jennie DeVoe
Jennie DeVoe is an independent singer/songwriter with a soulful-blues-americana vibe whom Bonnie Raitt calls, "A great songwriter," while Indie-music.com’s Heidi Drockelman says, “Jennie is a truly unique vocal talent…Her powerhouse voice can stop you in your tracks but it also possesses a sweetness that surges and sears the soul.” DeVoe is a performer who connects with her audience like no other. Says Melissa Mayer of the Boone County Sun, "DeVoe's voice is a delicious mix of scratchy blues and sweet low notes. Her music is born of a unique marriage of folk and funk. She sprinkles in rhythm and blues sounds and a few well-chosen covers to create a great live show. She also manages to draw the audience in with her anecdotes and personal stories between each song. It's hard to attend one of DeVoe's shows and not feel like she's your personal friend by the end of the night."
DeVoe is a prolific writer, with songs stuffed in drawers and often filling up her own voicemail with ideas. Notes Soultracks’ Howard Dukes, “…her songwriting captures the wittiness, world weariness, hope and simple brilliance that is blues music at its best." A fiercely independent artist, DeVoe has declined numerous major label offers, and built a rock-solid career on her own terms. She has produced four studio albums, four live CDs, a Christmas album and a DVD on her own label, Rubin the Cat Records. SonyRED was so impressed with the critically-acclaimed "Strange Sunshine," and "Radiator: The Bristol Sessions," that they offered her a distribution deal, bringing her to many new ears, while still allowing her to retain her artistic freedom. She has been voted Best Local Musical Artist/Group in Indianapolis by NUVO Magazine readers 12 years running, and was named one of Indy's top 50 "Entertainers of the Decade" by The Indianapolis Star.
Attracting fans of all ages, Jennie DeVoe deftly wows audiences of all shapes and sizes. She thrills festival and concert-series goers, one minute having them on their feet and dancing, in the next scooping up their laughter with her “accidental comedy," and in the next hypnotizing them into awed attention with her powerful voice. While DeVoe is at her best in front of a listening audience, she never fails to entertain and captivate with her talent, humor and personality. Notes Melissa Mayer, “DeVoe always provides her audience with an irresistibly good time.” Her live shows are, to quote Ann Arbor, MI DJ, John Bommarito simply “Magic.” No matter the venue, DeVoe makes you feel like you’re in your living room with old friends – “Until,” says NUVO’s Rob Nichols, “she knocks you flat with her amazing voice, and you forget where you are entirely.” Adds Blues Revue Magazine’s Hal Horowitz, “DeVoe's melodic, gutsy songwriting--pushed by a vibrant, multi-hued voice that can shift from a catlike purr to a gospel wail and a snarling rasp within seconds--this under-the-radar singer has the talent to be a major force on either side of the Atlantic.” Singer-songwriter Carrie Newcomer confirms, “Jennie DeVoe is an artist that sings with genuine depth, she's strong and powerful and yet willing to be audaciously vulnerable. Jennie DeVoe is unmistakably the real deal.”
Stuff you should know:
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• Jennie's song, "How I Feel," was the 1st place winner of Billboard Magazine's World Song Contest (Best Pop Song, 2004), just one of her many "Best Of" honors.
• Her songs have been added to rotation on Triple-A and college radio stations across the country, and been licensed to several well-known television shows (Dawson's Creek, Joan of Arcadia) and to a national ad-campaign for jewelers.
• Jennie was among a handful of artists, including Jonny Lang, Henry Rollins, Bo Diddley and Billy Bob Thornton, to be featured in national print ads for Klipsch Audio.
• Corona Beer licensed her song, “Red Hot Sun” for a year-long radio campaign.
• She has been a Top 10 Finalist in the Wildflower Festival songwriting competition, and placed in the John Lennon Songwriting competition.
• In 2011 DeVoe was asked to adapt her original songs for a sold-out show with the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, and again the following year with the Muncie Symphony Orchestra.
• In 2012, she and her band played for 20,000 people at Super Bowl Village in Indianapolis, opening for songstress Patti LaBelle.
• She's performed all over the country, including at the last Lillith Fair, and opened for greats like Bonnie Raitt, Joe Cocker, Lucinda Williams, Jack Johnson, Ray Charles, and many more.
• A dedicated animal-lover, DeVoe has leant her voice, time and music to numerous animal causes, including working with famed race car driver Tony Stewart and his foundation, as well as giving her song "Give A Little Love" to the nationally-syndicated program PetPals TV as their theme song. She has even served as a special correspondent on several PetPalsTV episodes.
• DeVoe is a sought after Voice-Over Talent. Some of her notable clients have included Reis Nichols, Bill Estes, Red Gold, Meijer Stores, and Simon Malls. Learn more about Jennie’s voice-over work here. Reis Nichols and several jewelry stores nationwide used three of her original songs in their ad campaigns as well.
• She is currently the voice of the new multi-state tourism campaign for the Indiana Board of Tourism VisitIndiana.com.
• She has recently performed shows with John Hiatt and Robert Cray, and has had a full calendar performing at music festivals and packed shows from Michigan to the Indiana State Fair and more.
• Jennie is among artists such as Buddy Guy, Aaron Neville, Roseanne Cash, Joe Satriani and many more featured in the book, “Their Love of Music,” by photographer Steve Azzato. She is also one of the few musicians featured in the book, “Indiana at 200: A Celebration of the Hoosier State.”
• DeVoe's latest studio release, "Radiator: The Bristol Sessions," was her first effort produced in part through a hugely successful Kickstarter campaign, with The Tony Stewart Foundation being one of the projects biggest supporters. DeVoe raised over 260% of her goal through the popular fan-funded website, which allows fans to pledge anywhere from $1 to $10,000 to a creative project, in return for rewards ranging from copies of the finished project, to private concerts in their living rooms.
• "Radiator" is DeVoe's 3rd collaboration with famed producer John Parish, best known for his work with PJ Harvey, Tracy Chapman, The Eels and most recently, KT Tunstall. The new CD also features Robert Plant's bass player, Billy Fuller, on all tracks.
• DeVoe is frequently sought after to sing the National Anthem for major events, most recently for Game 3 of the NBA Playoffs and for Indiana’s Bicentennial Celebration, for which she also served as an emcee.
• She is currently working on music for a new studio recording, collaborating with a New York ad agency, as well as her 2023 touring calendar.
• She is working on her next CD now!
• DeVoe lives in Indianapolis with her filmmaker husband, Rob, and their three dogs.
