Press
“This Jeanne Jolly deserves a place among the great names of the 21st century singer-songwriters and they should in our opinion very quickly come up with a worthy successor to this handsome debut album, “Angels”.” Rootstime Magazine, Belgium
“Jolly is the rare soul who can appease hip-hop heads, highbrow theater aficionados and hardcore country fans alike”—Spencer Griffith
photo courtesy of VegaBlue Studios
Official Hopscotch 2013 Line Up
This Raleigh singer/songwriter’s road to country music has been anything but the traditional route. Trained in classical vocal performance — she earned a masters in it from the New England Conservatory of Music — Jolly then did a stint as pop jazz trumpeter Chris Botti’s featured vocalist. But Jolly grew up on the music of Loretta Lynn, the Judds and Tammy Wynette, and has returned to it with her debut, Angels. (Even her LP doesn’t come from where you’d expect; Angels is out on the label +FE, run by the R&B duo of Phonte Coleman and Nicolay Rook, aka, the Foreign Exchange, with whom Jolly sings.) Jolly puts all those influences together to great effect here. One track sounds like Sade accompanied by shuffling beats and pedal steel twang; another like she’s out to embarrass all the pop-country poseurs on CMT. She can even cover that beautiful voice in grit and go all Lone Justice/Maria McKee for a guitar-fueled tearjerker, and there’s even a waltz where that opera training kicks in and knocks your socks off. This is a promising start for a talented singer and songwriter.- John Schacht
Thursday, 4/25-Double Door Inn, 9pm
Press Quotes
“Her sound is a unique blend of strong vocals with a folk sounding melancholy reminiscent of Alison Krauss”
-Raleigh Downtowner Magaizine
“Opening for David Ford this night was Jeanne Jolly, a striking North Carolinian sing/songwriter whose voice carried hints of Linda Rondstadt’s early power with the delicate lilt of Alison Krauss”
-MetroMusicScene, Virginia
” she sings, her voice full of beautiful sorrow touched by a slight, soulful drawl”,
-Independent Weekly
“Jeanne Jolly’s singing cleanses like a warm summer rain. Strong and sure, it covers everything with a slight Alison Krauss-style melancholy and a hope for what’s to come. She stretches out her words, creating seductively lanquid lyrics”
-Andrew Ritchie, Indy Weekly
“Jeanne Jolly has a heavenly voice…Jolly embodies the traits of an established performer who has been playing juke joints and concert halls for 20 years. At her last performance in Durham at the Carolina theatre, Jolly blew away her hometown audience”
-Metro Magazine
“The very talented, Jeanne Jolly took the stage to perform Good Morning Heartache and What’ll I Do? Ms. Jolly is a very adept singer and is capable of communicating the emotional nature of these songs to an audience which translates in inciting an emotional response from listeners.”
-Jazz Review.com Article Chris Botti: An Evening at Davies Symphony Hall
(Review from our performance with the San Francisco Symphony)
“She has her own vocal style but I definitely hear touches of Rosanne Cash and Alison Krauss – and that is a compliment”
-Mark Rose, Music of the Triangle Blog. www.raleigh-durham-chapelhill-music.com
“Her performances as a guest singer with highly regarded trumpeter Chris Botti a few years ago proved that in a virtual sea of singers, she is more than a catch. But that was just jazz….The raw purity of what some would call “true” country is evident in each song, backed by sturdy country instrumentation — an imperative piece to the country music puzzle.”
-Metro Magazine
“Jolly’s performance was impressive; she really got to the heart of these pieces, sang them very naturally, with impeccable diction and nicely nuanced expression, and made them come alive for the overflow crowd of admiring listeners, from whom she received well-deserved enthusiastic applause….She planned a fine program to demonstrate that since she graduated from St. Mary’s she has learned to turn that youthful, innocent, and enthusiastic love of singing into a skill and an art that she can use to communicate with her listeners and make them love her singing. While she does not have a big voice, she does have a very pretty one and has learned how to use it well and to show it off to its best advantage. She will have a fine career”
-Classical Voice of North Carolina
“She has a very pure quality in her voice. She also has a warm down home personality and a stage presence so engaging when you watch her, you will be drawn right to her beautifully clear voice”
-Dr. Robert Holquist, Vocal Dept. Chair WCU
“A performance with the Pacific Symphony in California inspired a man in the audience to tell her that he cried when she sang “What’ll I Do” jolly said. “That is What it is all about.-creating music to reflect on memories, to bring joy, to heal and to communicate in ways you can’t otherwise.””
-Teresa Killian, ‘Songbird Takes Flight’ Western the magazine of WCU
“Her voice is a trained and undeniably beautiful instrument with which she has complete command. Yet it’s her soulful and subtly Appalachian tone that really resonates with audiences. This union of skill and soul is as rare as the combination of gorgeous looks and wonderful personality that she is also blessed with in abundance. She is simply the best harmony singer I have ever had the pleasure to sing with. Jeanne Jolly is a singer’s singer.”
-Bob Woodruff (Critically acclaimed Nashville singer songwriter: The Fields, Elektra/Asylum Records, Imprint Records, “Dreams and Saturday Nights”, “Desire Road”, recorded & performed with Emmy Lou Harris, Sam Bush, …)
JEANNE JOLLY is one of the most versatile singers I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with, The sweetness in her voice is only out shadowed by the sweetness in her soul. She’s a joy to work with on every level. . .
-Danny B Harvey (Rockabilly Guitar Legend)