Nashville has enjoyed its share of female success stories over the past few years, but it's been a long time since country music has seen and heard the likes of Jennifer Hanson. With the soul of a gifted and seasoned songwriter, the voice of an angel, and a distinctly female point of view, Hanson comes to the table with an unusually potent mix reminiscent of great artists from Linda Ronstadt to Emmylou Harris, not coincidentally two of her biggest musical heroes. She's been preparing for this moment for years, having lived a life that gives new meaning to the term "artist development." The only child of two working musicians, Hanson was raised in a lower income neighborhood in La Habra, just south of Los Angeles. From the first, she was indeed exposed to a wide range of influences, not all of them musical.
"Growing up being influenced by pop music and rock music and country music, it took me a while to figure out just who Jennifer Hanson the artist was," Hanson says. "I guess I've been on this musical journey to find my voice."
With "Beautiful Goodbye," her irresistible leadoff single, and its accompanying video, Hanson certainly found her voice, hitting the country music scene right between the ears with a song that had everyone in and out of the business talking. One of those head-turning, breath-of-fresh-air singles that seems to come out of nowhere, "Beautiful Goodbye" only hints at the musical riches contained on Hanson's stunning, self-titled debut album. By any standard, Jennifer Hanson is a country album of uncommon depth and variety. As the album's co-producer and chief songwriter, Hanson busted out of the country music gate as an artist with an attitude, a vision, and a voice to be reckoned with, and the freshest sound to hit the airwaves in a long, long time.
Hanson's journey to Nashville was prompted by her father's move to Music City where he made his home and worked as a road musician for the country group Alabama. "My dad made the move to Nashville in 1987, and I started coming to town in the early '90s," Hanson says. "We'd circulate around and try to meet people, trying to find songs and get my voice down on tape. I was a young teenager and this was before LeAnn Rimes, so Nashville considered me too young."
In retrospect, Hanson realizes she was far from ready back then, but those early forays into Nashville's creative community ignited her passion for country music and served as a constant, sometimes painful, reminder of how much she had to learn and how much work there was to be done. "When I first got to town, I was young and impressionable and I didn't know what it was I wanted to sing about," Hanson says. "I realized quickly that in order to be an artist I had to find my place, my niche, and find out what makes me different."
Over the next several years, Hanson would find the answer to those questions, and find herself, through her songwriting. She moved to Music City full time in 1995 and wasted no time getting started. With a new hometown and her nose to the musical grindstone, Hanson learned to play guitar and made her first tentative forays into Nashville's songwriting community. Three years and countless songwriting sessions later, Hanson signed a publishing deal with Acuff Rose. She would later sign with Sony/ATV Tree Publishing where she currently writes. "Writing was huge for me," Hanson says. "Until I started writing songs and digging down deep, I was really lost. Songwriting helped me mold and shape who I am as an artist."
In finding her creative self without losing her sense of joy in the music, her sense of balance in a shaky business, or her sense of wonder at how it all came to pass, Jennifer Hanson has emerged as a fully developed artist and one of country music's most compelling new singer/songwriter's. Hanson recently celebrated her first 1 record with the self-penned hit " Leave The Pieces" recorded by Michelle Branch & Jessica Harp of The Wreckers, spending two weeks at 1 on the country charts. Other artists including Pam Tillis, Tracy Byrd, Kelly Coffee, Danielle Peck, Shannon Brown and even American Idol finalist Bucky Covington have also recorded Hanson's songs.
"I know that being an artist and making music is a lifelong journey," Hanson says. "So whatever happens, I'll be here writing and singing these songs and being a part of the Nashville community because that's what fills my soul, that's who I am."
