About Ginny:
“My songs are my journal entries. Sometimes they’re simply my observations of the world around me; sometimes they’re the conversations that I’m neither brave nor articulate enough to have with others.”
Ginny Owens has been turning those journal entries and otherwise inarticulate conversations into music and lyrics for a decade now. Four critically acclaimed studio projects, a live CD and DVD recorded at the House of Blues in New Orleans, and a Christmas album have comprised Owens’ first ten years of musical offerings.
Ginny’s story is decidedly as inspirational and hopeful as her music. Born Virginia Leigh Owens in Jackson, Miss., Ginny began singing almost as soon as she began to talk. Around the age of two she discovered the piano and the joy of harmonizing her voice to the instrument as she plunked out nursery rhymes and Sunday school songs.
At about the same time, Ginny became totally blind. Born with poor eyesight, doctors attempted to save her vision, but were unsuccessful. Still, Ginny affirms God has used this circumstance in her life for good.
“God’s faithfulness in times of trial has been the theme of my life, as well as the theme of my music.”
She led an otherwise typical childhood, from being an ambitious adventurer–climbing tall trees, riding bikes and playing in her family’s backyard–to being a varsity cheerleader, class Valedictorian, and ultimately attending Nashville’s Belmont University on a full scholarship. Upon completion of a degree in Music Education, Owens felt prepared to become the world’s best high school music teacher. Unfortunately, school administrators were not so easily convinced that hiring a blind teacher would be a good idea.
In an unusual turn of events, Ginny landed a publishing deal with BMG Music before she could find a teaching job. Soon afterward, music mogul Michael W. Smith’s Nashville-based boutique label Rocketown Records added Owens to its roster of incredibly talented singer-songwriters, and the rest, as they say, is history.
During the past ten years, Owens has sold nearly a million records and performed more than 1500 concerts, including sets at prestigious events like Lilith Fair, The Sundance Film Festival, and the White House. Her songs have been featured in a wide variety of television shows, and she has received numerous awards from ASCAP and the Gospel Music Association.
In 2005, Owens founded the Fingerprint Initiative, a non-profit service organization whose mantra is “Bringing hope to the world one touch at a time.”
“The heart of Fingerprint is to serve in our local communities and around the world. We’ve built Habitat houses, raised support to aid in freeing slaves, and visited families in third-world countries. And every day I realize how much more needs to be done.”
