Bet on the Wind by Jenny Reynolds

"That was a pinnacle part of the drive, partly because I had never been so close to the Mississippi, and because at the moment of crossing it, I suddenly realized moving to Texas was the right thing to do."

In relocating, Reynolds leaves behind her a distinguished past in New England. Her current release, Bet on the Wind, was produced by Richard Gates (Paula Cole) and Chris Rival, and features Mary Chapin Carpenter guitarists Duke Levine and Kevin Barry. Nominated for a 1999 Boston Music Award for her debut CD Colored in Poetry, Reynolds has shared the stage with many East Coast-based singer-songwriters, including Bill Morrissey, Catie Curtis, Ellis Paul and Patty Larkin. She is an artist and Associate Producer of Signature Sounds¹ Respond compilation, which to date has sold well over the $100,000 mark, all benefiting Respond, Inc., of Somerville, MA, an organization that provides shelter and services to battered women and their families. Reynolds is also an Associate Producer of Respond II, which features Dolly Parton, Patty Griffin, and Ani diFranco.

This life-long native of Boston grew up listening to James Taylor and the Beatles. Hailed as "...a gifted guitarist..." by the Boston Herald, Reynolds started playing when she was 8; listening to Joni Mitchell and Bonnie Raitt helped Jenny to learn guitars weren't just for boys. Songs and melodies have always been a major part of Reynolds' everyday thoughts.

"Like many musicians, I heard music in my head from a very young age, but what¹s weird is that I thought everyone else heard it too, like some bizarre form of Muzak." Reynolds frequently got sent to the principal¹s office for tapping her feet in class. "Mr. Achue didn¹t know how to respond when I told him I was just tapping to the music."

She became a high school English teacher after graduate school, and performed at open mikes like the Old Vienna Coffeehouse in the early nineties. While she continues to do creative writing workshops with kids in schools and teaches guitar, Reynolds left formal teaching after a few years to pursue songwriting full-time, and went on to headline venues like Club Passim not long after.

Having the sincerity of a hopeless romantic, Jenny Reynolds is gracious and insightful in front of audiences, often infusing a clear love of performing with a playful sense of humor. She continues to tour nationally and while her music is often featured on major network television, she still plays like she is from your hometown.

Venues & Appearances Include:

The Iron Horse, Northampton, MA

Club Passim, Cambridge MA

The Kerrville Folk Festival

The Bluebird Café, Nashville, TN

The Philadelphia Folk Festival

The Somerville Theater, Somerville, MA

The Portsmouth Music Hall, Portsmouth, NH

The Bitter End, NY, NY

The Living Room, NY,NY

The Cactus Café, Austin, TX

Uncle Calvin¹s Coffeehouse, Dallas, TX

Seattle Folklore Society, Seattle, WA

Fox Run House Concerts, Sudbury, MA

The Blue Door, Oklahoma City, OK

Westside Folk House Concerts, Lawrence, KS

♫

"Reynolds has all the makings of a singer-songwriter that will be ranked with the likes of Sarah McLachlan and Joni Mitchell..."

--New Texas Magazine

 (Four stars for Reynolds' new CD, Bet on the Wind) "Reynolds [has a] smooth-as-velvet voice, a gorgeous instrument that she puts to stunning use on the optimistic ballad, 'Bet on the Wind' and a cover of Peter Gabriel's 'Mercy Street'...."

--Bill O'Neill, Cape Cod Times

"Bet on the Wind [is] a stunning collection of soulful tunes rooted in the simplicity of the Americana music tradition"

--Bay Windows (Boston), Sept. 2002

"Jenny Reynolds is a wonderful new performer with great melodies that sometimes remind me of Karla Bonoff [with] vocal inflections like Natalie Merchant, Jenny is someone to watch."

--Rounder Records artist Les Sampou

"What a voice [she] could give mouth-to-mouth over the phone!"

--J.D. Rose

Program Director, KFAN (Fredericksburg, TX)

"...a gifted guitarist..." "...melodically elegant..."

The Boston Herald

"... [Jenny is] ...among the most promising new songwriters..."

--The Boston Globe

♫

Recordings: Bet on the Wind (national release 2003); Bare (Acoustic EP, 2000); Colored in Poetry (1998); The Respond CD (Signature Sounds, 1998).

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