Raised in the small Missouri town of Moscow Mills on a seven acre farm - her dad’s dream come true in small measure - music and performing seemed to be part of Jeanne’s life from the beginning. Seems music was always on in the house, her dad was always singing (she vividly remembers his versions of “I get a kick out of you,” and “Oh what a beautiful morning” from Oklahoma! - long before she knew the latter was from a musical), and her mom played a little guitar (“Leavin’ on a Jet Plane” is a clear recollection) and later a lot of piano and organ. Jeanne and her two book-end brothers used to set up boxes and bang away on the “drums” to classic rock, while Jeanne sang to any song on the radio, developing her harmonizing skills. While her younger brother pursued guitar, Jeanne took some piano lessons, played a little guitar now and then, and focused primarily on singing in school choirs and acting in school plays. Acting became the focus when she won a major theatre scholarship to Coe College in Cedar Rapids, IA, and furthered her stage craft and technique, while continuing to perform in choral groups.
Post-college, Jeanne decided she had better have a skill to fall back on, so limited her theatre while gaining her M.Ed. in School Psychology at Chicago’s Loyola University. After spending a number of years as a full-time school psychologist, Jeanne decided life was too short to spend all of her time working at a job that was not feeding her creative needs, and she began to pursue professional acting with more passion. She became a self-employed (read, “took a cut in salary”) actor and school psychologist, earning her keep by contracting with a number of area high schools and working from home much of the time. This new flexibility allowed Jeanne the time for auditions, shows, and the additional and unexpected benefit of becoming reacquainted with her guitar (she had bought her jumbo Taylor 615 about five years earlier - when she had money from working full time; she has since added a second Taylor - a K22).
It was during this time that some significant personal reflection and an obvious need for creative growth (launched in part by her discovery of "The Artist's Way") propelled Jeanne to begin writing her own songs. The connection with music was strong - it was her roots and felt like home - and she began putting most of her creative energies into songwriting and singing/playing out, primarily at local open mics in Chicago. She won the first open mic competition in which she competed, boosting her sense that this was the right path.
Jeanne’s songs tend towards pop-folk, slice-of-life stories, often set in open or alternate tunings, and her dynamic vocal quality and range and strong percussive guitar style have earned her comparisons to some major female artists, such as Joni Mitchell, Jonatha Brooke, Shawn Colvin, and Ani DiFranco. Though rooted in the folk tradition of storytelling, Jeanne's songs and performance style go beyond traditional folk as she creates an organic, infectious relationship with her audience.
After a year and a half of recording, mixing, and producing, Jeanne released her debut CD, "The Journey's about to begin..." on her own label, Arrigoberry Records, in August 2005. She performs mostly in and around Chicago, has done some regional playing, and is especially interested in the folk tradition of “House Concerts.” She continues to act in Chicago.
