"Jenny Omnichord" is a solo side-project of 25
year-old Jenny Mitchell, vocalist, song-writer and
multi-instrumentalist for Guelph, Ontario's noted
young indie band The Barmitzvah Brothers. In fact, it
was the purchase of an omnichord in Jenny's father's
thrift store 8 years ago that set her along this path,
its carnivalesque, slightly Hebraic sounds leading two
young gentile girls to pick the somewhat ironic
"Barmitzvah Brothers" as the name for their band.
And while Jenny subsequently branched off into other
instruments, among them bass and electric guitars,
trumpet, banjo, and keyboards, it is the omnichord
that has always remained her first love, a slightly
geeky invention played by almost no one, capable of a
myriad of sounds and effects, and for some reason
scorned or unknown or ignored for almost all of its
life. Well, now, it is time for the omnichord to take
its rightful position among the upper echelons of
musical instruments, and Jenny shall be the liberator
who shall set it free, the vessel through whom this
most intricate of the keys shall finally achieve the
appreciation and respect that it so richly deserves.
Or not. Come what may, Jenny will still continue to
love and play it, will try to learn even more of its
many and hidden secrets, and will keep trying to
bring its joyful wonders to the world, whether we are
ready or not. So be prepared to smile, to be amazed
and to be bewildered. The omnichord is coming, and we
will all be the better for it.
