How many of you grew up in a musical family? I did and music has remained a big part of my life, thanks in large – to my mom. She played guitar and sang country songs. The guitar and singing inspired me from a young age and the music became a huge passion. Others have also grown up in musical families… and it has inspired them to roll with it, embrace it, pursue it and to carve out a career in it. Music is truly magical, with its ripple effect. Once it touches you, all your aspirations can be realized. I believe music artists are born and not made. In saying that, Jenna Nation was born to perform! I’ve never met an artist, who’s voice can become an orchestra of melodies, tones and ranges that only the best can bring. After graduating from Berklee Summa Cum Laude, she moved back to Toronto to stretch her newly acquired music muscles… and the response has been overwhelming. Toronto does love their music artists and Jenna Nation has loved them back with her incredible performances.
Her new track Roses, has just dropped and it’s the song that every couple should have on their stereo when they might want to – soften the mood/temperature in the room. It’s a love song and she wrote it with a very special person in mind… which has remained nameless, but can be picked out of the crowd for that glowing smile, that never fades. Jenna Nation has been immersed in music since childhood, due to her mom playing guitar and singing, and her dad on the drums. It has influenced her musical passions and her songs have garnered some much-deserved attention and accolades. Her fourth album, ‘You Don’t Know’ was named Canada’s Best R&B Album of the Year (#9 for all genres, Canadian Music Magazine) and one of the 10 Best Records of the Year (Village Voice Magazine). Her next single ‘Killer Love’ jumped to #1 in its first week of release on VGR Radio in the UK and at #6 and #4 on the Radio Indie Alliance Top 10 Charts.
I’ve included the link for Roses, a must listen to love song.
Jenna has performed at a Grammy Week Showcase and at the Official JUNO’s After Party in Calgary. She has over 250,000 views on YouTube and is regularly charting in the Top Ten on the Worldwide Indie Charts and top 5 on several UK radio charts. Her album is currently playing on 750+ stations worldwide. In addition, Jenna has appeared at several famed festivals including RBC Bluesfest, the Newport Folk Festival, Boston Outside of the Box Festival just to name a few.
JENNA Nation boasts a soulful and even jazzy vibe to her music. Long-time influences include Michael Jackson, Ella Fitzgerald, Judy Garland and Stevie Wonder – a notable name with whom she aspires to collaborate with. JENNA Nation has worked with a number of Grammy and JUNO-nominated producers and songwriters including Boi-1da, Tommy Brown, Victoria Monet, Travis Sayles, Roger Ryan, Kinetics and One Love, Ryan “Ghost” Bowser, Elev3n, Druski, and Young Wolf Hatchlings among others.
Jenna’s music has been featured in numerous major media outlets, including iHeart Radio, Sirius XM, State of Hip-Hop, CP24 Television, Voice of America Radio, Music Canada Magazine, Musique Plus Video Channel, FYI Music News, Canadian Music Blog, Addicted Magazine, Canadian Beats, TunedLoud, Talent Watch TV, MusicPerk, mi2n (Music Industry News Network), Songwriters of Canada, and Global TV.
She was my guest and I reached her in Ottawa via Zoom. She was outstanding and extremely gracious and kind, like many true superstars.
HNMAG “You started your career in Opera and Jazz. Did that prepare you for your current music career?”
JENNA “Technique is so important, but it helped me to develop my sound, to get better control of my voice and understand my range. It was very, very important and still is today and I still use the techniques.”
HNMAG “Do you also teach singing?”
JENNA “Yes I do, but I haven’t been teaching too much lately… I was working at a music school, but I’ve only kept a couple private students that I continue with.”
HNMAG “You have an amazing story about your childhood. You grew up in a musical family that inspired your own musical career?”
JENNA “My mom sings, not professionally, but as a child I was always singing with her. My dad plays the drums, again not professionally but his side of the family is all musical, they play instruments, write music and are in the music industry, so it was always part of my life.”
HNMAG “Your new track – Roses, is very soft and very romantic. Did you write it with someone in mind?”
JENNA “I did, yes (laughing).”
HNMAG “And do they know that you wrote it for them?”
JENNA “They do, yes they do.”
HNMAG “How often would you write a love song?”
JENNA “Very often, because the contents of R&B music is usually about true love and relationships. I find it easier to write songs when the emotions are strong. I write a lot and I’d say that most of my songs are about relationships – whether that’s breakups or meeting someone new.”
HNMAG “How much of your own personal stories or experiences would you put into your lyrics?”
JENNA “A lot, really – most of my songs come from some part of a personal experience, … but they’re not all full truths, cause sometimes I’ll embellish things or put things into a song, that I’ve heard a friend talk about, or I’ve seen it on the TV or a movie… and it happens to fit well with the song. I pull from many different things for inspiration in my music.”
HNMAG “You’ve opened for some amazing artists such as Shawn Mendes, Snarky Puppy, Lauv and Chromeo. Flash forward a couple years… if you could have an artist open for you, who would it be?”
JENNA “That’s a good question, because right now, there are so many great artists that I’d like to open for (laughing), so it’s hard to imagine them opening for me… but that would be amazing! I love some of the newer R&B artists, like H.E.R. or Ella Mai. I love Alicia Keys (laughing), but I don’t see her opening for me, I’d love to open for her though or even do a show together.”
HNMAG “Who would you dream of collaborating with?”
JENNA “Alicia Keys is definitely one of them, Stevie Wonder as well… he’s absolutely amazing. I don’t know if I’d be able to sing if I was on stage with him. Ther’re not many people I’d be star struck over, but Stevie Wonder is one of those people that I might be (laughing). I’ve listened to him all my life and he’s been such a huge influence in me. He’s such a musical genius.”
HNMAG “Do you play piano?”
JENNA “I do… not amazingly well, but enough – where I can write a song and do basic accompaniment for myself.”
HNMAG “You have a song called Sway, which has some beautiful acoustic guitar in it and you sing it in Spanish. Are you fluent?”
JENNA “I’m getting there; I studied in high school but it’s been a few years since I spoke it. Over the years I’ve picked up more, here and there… I have a lot of Latin friends. In these last couple of months, I’ve enrolled in a Spanish class again and have a tutor, so I’m really hoping to get there. I’ve just always loved the language and I speak French as well, which made it easier to pick it up, because there’re many similarities. I like to travel a lot and many of those places have Spanish speaking people, so it’s great to be able to communicate.”
**To clarify, the song was originally written by PipoBeats and sung by Luis Fonzi.
HNMAG “Because your voice is capable of so many ranges, would you experiment with that range when you are working with a new melody?
JENNA “There’s usually a melody that will come into my head but I will play with it a little, to see if there’s a better option that would fit better for my voice. Another technique I’ll use, is changing the key of the song to see what’s best for my range.”
HNMAG “Would you do vocal exercises before every performance or recording?”
**JENNA “I do… and that’s where some of my operatic, jazz and vocal training come in. I do recognize the importance of warming up your voice before you sing. It’s a muscle, so you want to warm it up, just as you would for a 100 m sprint, or you can pull something. Same thing with your voice, it’s important to be warmed up if I were to jump right into a high belting song. Your voice will sound much better if you do warm it up. I do regular exercises with my voice, so it doesn’t get rusty and especially now, since there’s not much performing happening.”
HNMAG “What are your methods for warming up your voice?”
JENNA “I like to drink tea beforehand; having everything warm just feels good. Mint tea or anything mint opens up the sinuses. I’ll then do scales and arpeggios to warm up my voice… going up the scales by tone.”
HNMAG “You studied at Berklee College of Music in Boston, where you graduated Summa Cum Laude with your Vocal Performance Degree. How much do you attribute your education to success in your career?”
JENNA “I spent 4 years in Boston at Berklee and I had some training in voice and theory prior to applying for Berklee and I knew that music was what I wanted to do. Berklee was my no.1 pick and when I got in, I screamed (laughing), I was so happy. It was a great education because it really made me well rounded, not only as a singer but as a musician and understanding the music industry. I did everything from ear training to conducting to classical, jazz history, counterpoint and other ensembles that you get to participate in. There was Latin, Country, Rock or specific ensembles that are focused on a band or artist. It really opened my eyes in terms of styles and I was really able to develop myself as an artist – its where I started focusing more on my song writing. The more I did it, the better I became at it… it gave me the confidence to be a better songwriter and not just a singer.”
HNMAG “After finishing your schooling in Boston, were there no opportunities for you to pursue over there?”
JENNA “After finishing school, I had a working visa in the US and I really wanted to go to LA… but I was looking at New York, because it was closer to home and I had some family in New York as well. Boston is a great city too for music… but it felt safe to come back to where I’m from. Toronto has been an amazing option for me and there’s a huge music scene there, it’s been really good for my career. There’s a lot of talent that’s come out of Toronto… and I’m really happy with the move that I made; I can still go to LA, New York or Nashville whenever I need to, and I do that quite frequently. I might end up in LA someday… but Toronto has been good to me.”
HNMAG “Because you are so schooled in Jazz and Opera, can we expect more Jazz in the future?”
JENNA “I’ve always loved jazz and I still listen to it… I even have performances where I do some jazz from time to time and I’d definitely consider doing a jazz album in the future. Currently, I’m working on my own music and pushing that forward but eventually, I could see myself going back to it, or at least putting together a jazz album.”
HNMAG “Do you have any more songs recorded that you’ll be releasing this year?”
JENNA “I have an EP coming, which is going to be a 5 song EP. I have a few singles sprinkled in there as well, probably 3 or 4 outside of the EP. This time has allowed me to do a lot of writing (laughing), so I have a lot of music coming.”
HNMAG “You’ve performed for the Prime Minister of Canada, as well as multiple music festivals. What would you consider your favourite festival to perform at?”
JENNA “I’d say the RBC Ottawa Blues Fest was one of my favourites because I’m originally from Ottawa and grew up going to that music festival every summer, watching my favourite music artists perform. I used to tell myself, ‘someday that’s going to be me’. It was 2 summers ago that I was able to perform on the main stage and it was a dream come true. It’s something that I’ve always sought after, so it was really big for me to have it actually come true, it felt really good (laughing).”
HNMAG “You must really miss live performances?”
JENNA “I really do. I went from performing every weekend, and to not have that anymore, it’s been tough. It’s honestly the favourite part of what I do – the performing.”
In a recent visit to Los Angeles JENNA performed at several venues, including the Live Nation HQ in Beverly Hills – garnering a rave review from Music Connection Magazine… “Her stunning voice and melodic sound captivated her audience …This Ottawa native is the next big thing in the music industry. Not only does she have a sensational voice, she also interacts with the crowd labeling her an international superstar…JENNA is definitely an artist to look out for and an artist everyone should have on their playlists.”
JENNA Nation should be on everyone’s playlist. Her voice is absolutely Grammy worthy and it’s only a matter of time before the world is shouting her name!