via delarue at New York Music Daily
Raleigh, North Carolina country singer Jeanne Jolly’s latest album Angels has a lot of great tunes and great stories. Jolly is conservatory trained, with a jazz background: she had a money gig singing in a well-known pop-jazz band for awhile. In the last couple of years, she’s honed her chops on her home turf, embracing the country styles she grew up with there. Much as the album blends oldschool country with rock, it’s a million miles from New Nashville. Although Jolly’s voice can give you goosebumps, she saves the pyrotechnics for when she really wants to nail a lyric or drive a chorus home. Her songs usually follow a narrative: she’s got an eye for detail, likes to work the suspense for all it’s worth, and her band is sensational. She’s at the big room at the Rockwood on March 1 at 7 PM with eight-string guitarist Chris Boerner and drummer/keyboardist Nick Baglio…
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via Jason Gartshore at Americana Review
In an age where stardom can be instantaneous, it’s always nice when you are made aware of an artist that has been quietly developing their craft in to something really special. North Carolina native Jeanne Jolly has taken a long and varied road prior to the release of her debut full-length album, “Angels”, having resided in Boston, Los Angeles and of course, North Carolina. The result is a solid, warm and varied album that will satisfy virtually all who are fortunate enough to listen.
There is a little bit of jazz, a little bit of roots rock, and a whole lot of straight ahead country music. The opening track, “Angels of Hayward Street”, seemingly sets an early, dark tone for the album, but Jolly then takes us over to a beautiful love song with the second track “Sweet Love.” A class of lost souls has their story told on “Happy Days Cafe.” One of the best aspects of this album is that it’s tough to categorize, which makes it a perfect Americana record.
Trained in opera, Jolly really demonstrates her incredible diversity on several of the tracks on this album, but none more so than on “Tear Soup”, a story song about trying to get past total and complete heartbreak … to varying degrees of non-success. It takes a special talent to be able to weave in a classic country sound with opera, and Jolly pulls it off in spades. In fact, I would suspect this task has never been attempted before now…
link to full review
Jeanne Jolly loves old-time over-the-top country heartbreakers; the bigger the break, the better. So when it came time for her to write a tribute to honky-tonk humdingers like “Stand by Your Man,” she naturally poured on the pity. She made “Tear Soup” a spicy stew of he-done-me-wrong retaliations (reversing his pictures on the wall, trashing his records), a deliciously crooked waltz where a quick yodel of grief slides into an instant aria of anguish.
“Tear Soup” is a packed track on “Angels” (+FE Music), the first CD from Jolly, who grew up in Raleigh, N.C., on the magnetic melodrama of Tammy Wynette and Loretta Lynn. The record showcases her vibrant, versatile, operatically trained voice, her playfulness, her fondness for edgy textures. She’ll display these dynamic qualities on Feb. 23 at the Mauch Chunk Opera House when she performs ..
READ FULL INTERVIEW HERE
BUY TICKETS TO JEANNE JOLLY @ MAUCH CHUNK OPERA HOUSE, SATURDAY, FEB. 23, 8pm
“Angels” is a compilation of original songs that dig deep into the roots of folk and Americana music. The music, the lyrics and Jolly’s unmistakable signature voice places the 33-year-old in a category with the likes of Emmylou Harris or Mary Chapin Carpenter…
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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)
