Where are you from?
I’m from Elmira, NY. It’s tucked away amidst the hills of maple trees and the Finger Lakes region of upstate NY.
What is your earliest memory of music?
My Mom used to sing to me and my sister when we were very young and she had a beautiful voice, so that is in the back of my memories. I would also watch reruns of the Lawrence Welk Show and HeeHaw. My parents would leave the room when these shows came on, but I was really taken with the live performances on the TV. Then, in the Summer before I turned 5, I remember showing up at my church called the Park Church. It’s an old historic place that has this phenomenal pipe organ. I asked the choir director to let me join the choir. He almost said no due to my young age and because I hadn’t learned how to read music yet, but he agreed to let me in and I felt really proud to be singing with everyone.
When did you start being an artist?
I think I have always approached life as an artist. As a child I started doing ballet when I was 3 years old then I began singing in the church choir at 5. By the time I was 6 I became a gymnast and was I creating my own routines for competitions. Around the same age started learning instruments – piano, flute and oboe. I would practice for hours every day. I fell in love with music and even created some of my own compositions. Through my teenage years I wrote poetry and short stories. Finally, all of this morphed into my work as a songwriter and performing artist. So, I think I was just born this way…
How would you describe your style?
Nouveau Blues. It’s really a blending of Blues, Americana, Jazz, Rock influences that I draw from and have been inspired by.
Are there any particular themes or messages that you often explore in your music?
Much of the music I’m writing these days is drawn from my very human experiences of loving, relating.
What is the meaning behind your stage name?
Well, Jen is the shortened version of my birth name (Jennifer). Ambrose is my last name. For my band – Jen Ambrose & The Mystics, I was trying to find a name that evokes something other worldly and magical. The musicians are so talented, that they really do create a magical feel with this music.
What is the story behind your most famous song?
Under Your Spell is from my Plenty Of Nothin’ To Do album. It’s a nostalgic tribute to my roots and the memories associated with a local bar in my hometown called Kingsbury’s. It’s an upbeat song that speaks to my struggle of trying to move on and make a new start in my life, only to be irresistibly drawn back to the grasp of an unforgettable person from an unforgettable place. Like me, Kingsbury’s has long since gone, but sometimes I feel a strange nostalgia for that place, for the smell of stale beer and for the people who used to be there.
I wrote the Under Your Spell after stepping away from music during a difficult year to be with my parents as they were dying. The uplifting tone of the song became of balm for me after so much personal loss. When I returned to Oregon, I started collaborating with my co-writer, Ken Orsow, who inspired many of the signature guitar licks throughout the song. This became one of the first songs we recorded for the new album.
What is the hardest thing about being an artist?
Finding the balance between creating and the rest of my life which includes earning enough money to provide for me and my husband who deals with chronic illness. Also finding a balance between my relationship and friendships and the personal time I need to create and perform.
What’s the best thing about being an artist?
I feel most alive when I am doing my music. Ever since I was a young child, music helped me cope with life and feel more balanced mentally and emotionally. Being and artist is who I am.
What are your goals for your music career?
Both with my solo performing and my band, I look forward to growing my fan base through touring, performing at blues festivals and outdoor festivals and opening for more well known artists. I love performing at mid-sized theaters and would like to find booking opportunities to showcase my original music. A big dream is to perform at Austin City Limits!
I am also reaching out to music supervisors for possible syncing opportunities in movies and upcoming shows.
What do you like to do in your free time (outside of music)?
I love being outdoors. It evokes all my senses and I feel stronger physically, emotionally and mentally when I spend time in nature. One way I do this is gardening. This Spring I re-dug our 30ft. garden bed and my husband and I planted it with some starts I picked up from the Grower’s Market. The property we live on lots of big, beautiful old trees plus a lot of flowers and fruit trees. I love watching the birds and pollinators make their homes amidst all the growing things.
I take walks as much as I can. There are some nice wooded trails just a mile from my home that I really enjoy. Even taking my dogs on walks around the property is really restorative to me.
I wrote many of my earliest songs about nature and seeking to restore our balance with the natural world. I love observing nature through the seasons. It’s endless cycles of life and death and rebirth are always changing but also timeless. Nature is poetry to my music but it also feeds my body and helps me feel connected.
Do you get involved with charities or causes that are important to you?
Yes! I have used my music to springboard a number of causes. This past March I put together a show in Grants Pass, OR and teamed up with a group called MINT – Mobile Integrated Navigation Team. They’re a non-profit organization providing resources like medical support, advocacy, warming/cooling shelters to unsheltered people. The show had an amazing turnout and helped bring awareness about the increasing houseless situation in my area. We were also able to raise some monies from ticket sales to put towards MINT. https://www.facebook.com/share/wJbr5HRozprh3B58/?mibextid=LQQJ4d
Grants Pass was recently in the news for a case brought to the Supreme Court – Grants Pass vs. Johnson . Unfortunately, the ruling was not good news for the unhoused. The recent decision essentially makes it a crime for people to camp or sleep on public lands, even when there are not other shelters available.
Tied in with this issue is another group that I am involved with.
Another issue that I have supported is raising awareness about human trafficking. Proceeds from my previous album called Tidal Wave, I donated to an organization called Not For Sale Campaign: https://www.notforsalecampaign.org. This group helps rehabilitated people who have survived human trafficking by creating opportunities for shelter, education both in the United States and all around the world.
I have also been involved with a number of environmental justice campaigns and events. Just last week I performed at an event celebrating the stopping of a logging operation here in Southern Oregon. Southern Oregon forests contain critical habitat and old growth forests that are home to the Spotted Owl and also very prone to the ever increasing wildfires that the West Coast has been experiencing in recent years. The Federal Court in Medford Oregon ruled in favor of halting this logging operation and the ruling will become a template for other court decisions weighing in on the importance of preserving forests. Here is an article from the Klamath Siskiyou Wildlands Center who does incredible work to preserve the forests of out region: https://www.kswild.org/conservation-efforts/ivm-court-date-n3rj4
What is something that people would be surprised to know about you?
Well, I guess if you really know me, this will not come as a shock, but I am and absolute foodie!! My Mom was Sicilian and the best cook I’ve ever known. I grew up eating amazing food. Now, I’m lucky that my husband is an incredible cook! He grew up in Mississippi so brings a whole addition of foods to table. But I’m not just a foodie, I am a passionate local/wild food foodie. We have an incredible year round Growers Market in town.
A few of my favorite booths are:
The wild mushroom booth – chanterelles, morels, shiitake, hedge hog, and so many more!
There’s an organic veggie booth with the best carrots in the universe!! My dogs and I can’t get enough!
The fish monger comes in from the coast with wild salmon that is amazing!
Plaisance Ranch – organic free range beef and delicious organic wines. I also perform at their vineyard.
Plus, right at home, our garden is doing great this year with a lot of fresh of veggies and our chickens lay some of the most wonderful eggs.
When I have the opportunity to eat a meal consisting of 90% local and regional organic food, life is at its very best for me. If I am lucky, I can imagine myself at 90 years old, still visiting the growers market and eating like a Queen. I love it!
What does a typical day look like for you?
Let me introduce to you Paco (chihuahua), Zippy (lab), Call (calico), Shop Kitty (tabby) and “The Ladies” (13 chickens). My day begins with walking the dogs, letting out the chickens and then feeding all the animals. If it’s Summertime, I water the gardens then I head off for my walk before it gets too hot out. When I return home – I hydrate and eat!
Depending on what is happening on that day, I may have some work to do. We host an AirBnB at our place so I might work on cleaning and prepping for guests. I also do some part time work as a substitute teacher with the local school district, so I might be in the schools that day. I also have a part time merchandiser job with a card company a few days a month.
My work life is based upon my music schedule. I can’t commit to a 9-5 job because I often perform midweek, or I’m out of the area. However, my performances are often seasonal so I choose outside work that supplements my music income but also gives me the flexibility to continue building my music career without compromising it.
If I have no work or gigs, I follow up on computer work, interviews, practice and write music. In the evenings I like to eat home cooked meals and take a relaxing evening watching a show with my husband and animals or spending the night working on music or rehearsing with the band.
If I have gigs, then it’s go-time! The day centers on prepping for the show, getting the set list together, instruments, planning my outfit and loading the car. When everything else is in place I shower then head off to my gig. Eating is reserved until after the show and I am especially aware keeping hydrated all day and during my performance.
Do you have any upcoming projects we can be excited about?
I’m writing new material for my solo project and for the band and also with my co-writer Ken Orsow. We have a few ideas that are being finalized and I plan on being back in the studio this Summer!
What are some of the standout tracks on your latest project?
The music on Plenty Of Nothin’ To Do goes into some really unique places throughout the album but a few songs standout.
The first song, Under Your Spell, is a perfect way to begin the album. It’s a catchy, upbeat blues/pop tune – Cheryl Crow meets Bonnie Raitt. Inspired by my hometown of Elmira, NY it’s a song about leaving, returning and reuniting. It’s just a fun song!
Love & Money is a unique track on this album. The theme is emotionally heavier. The musicians did a fabulous job with the instrumentation bringing out a Santana like feel throughout the music. I wrote most of this song some years before putting the album together during a really difficult time when I felt like life demanded more from me than I thought I could manage. Somehow I did and this song came out of that adversity.
Crazy Love features some lush vocal harmonies. This tune has a swing-jazz/blues feel that makes it a lot of fun. I also add a little of my flute on the instrumentation which adds to the retro feel of the song.
Familiar goes is an entirely different direction. It has a solid Americana groove. I started writing Familiar during Covid. It’s another song about being apart then coming back together after a long time away. It’s about connection, reconnecting, remembering and loving.
What are your favorite topics to write about?
Relationship, relating, love – love that is lost, unrequited and jealous, love that is passionate and enduring and loving in all its messy, beautiful and raw aspects. I also speak to themes of human empowerment – taking ownership of Self when facing adversity or loss. Much of my music comes from my own life experiences. Writing songs is like journaling. The music helps me cope with the complex emotional landscapes of living.
How do you deal with creative block or artist block?
First, creating the time and a safe space in which to create is really important to me. Then, just showing up and letting anything happen, even if it’s going over scales or writing blah, blah, blah… Releasing judgements and expectations is really critical. When I’ve experienced creative blocks in the past, I seem to place high expectations upon myself that I’m only worthy as an artist when I produce finished songs. Sometimes, however, life is creating me and I’m more immersed in my personal experiences than I am in reflecting upon them. Trust and believing in my own process is really important and I also being extra patient and gentle with myself. In time, even writer’s block seems to fade…
What is the best advice anyone has ever given you?
I believe in you so believe in yourself.
What was the best show or tour you have ever been on?
One of my best shows was actually one of my earliest performances about 15 years ago. I was invited to open up for the 60s folk rock legend – Donovan. It was his first tour in decades. What made it so memorable was that it was at this beautiful historic theater that seats about 725 people. It was a sold out show. I opened the night with my solo performance with songs from my first album called Nectar Of Your Dreams. At the end of my set, I got a standing ovation! This was the first time this had ever happened for me and I was almost in tears.
Afterwards, I got to hear Donovan do a terrific solo show. Following his performance, Donovan and I, my husband and a few friends hung out in the green room. We talked for hours and drank wine. At the end of the evening, Donovan gave me a kiss! It was definitely an unforgettable show in all regards!
What’s been your favorite moment of your career so far?
My first rehearsal with the new band in January 2023.
In the Summer of 2021, I was just getting ready to launch this album – Plenty Of Nothin’ To Do. At the same time it became clear that I was developing issues with my voice and I was diagnosed with vocal polyps. That Summer I had numerous outdoor performances in high heat and during hazardous smoke conditions due to months of intense wildfires tearing through the West Coast. This caused inflammation and damage to my vocal cords and I was forced to stop singing. My album release was stalled and I had to quit all music projects in which I was singing. I wasn’t certain I would be able to sing again and I had to quit singing for over year to heal and slowly rehabilitate my voice.
By the Winter of 2023, I was told by my Otolaryngologist that I could cautiously start singing again. With the help from my drummer, Kevin Masterson, I put together my band – Jen Ambrose & The Mystics. Since then we have been building our band at the same time that I have been releasing the music from the album.
Although a night rehearsal with the band might not seem all that glamorous, to me, getting the guys together and being able to sing again for our first rehearsal on that snowy Winter’s night in January of 2023 is one of the all time favorite moments of my musical career so far!!
Where can people find your music online?
Thank you so much Harmony Hub for your time and introspective questions and for sharing a little bit of my story with your audience. It means the world to me! I appreciate all you do to support independent artists like myself!
Keep the Flame Alive!!!
Most sincerely,
