Joni On The Go - Artist Spotlight on The Divine Jennie Devoe!

Hey Friends, it's "Joni On The Go" for an exciting musical adventure and catch up with the joyful, soulful, singer and songwriter Jennie DeVoe! She's back on stage kicking things off at the Brown County Playhouse. February, 21st for one night only. Vibe to Jennie's unique blend of R&B/Blues with a dash of hippie-funk and some great storytelling. Get tickets here.

I've known Jennie for years and she was one of the FIRST artists to come and play LIVE on the FOX59 Morning show. In 2004, LIVE music on a morning news program was just crazy and no other local TV station was doing that combo thing of entertainment in the studio and going back to the anchor desk for hard news. As a music & entertainment & traffic reporter I knew this concept would work. After convincing the powers that be (Producers, News Directors etc...) I reached out to Jennie and she graciously agreed to perform LIVE at 7am in the morning! I also knew one of our first performers had to be an artist who had a lot of depth and soul and love for the community. No brainer, Jennie Devoe to the FOX 59 stage! And viewers loved the experience. Jennie brings her talent and heart to every stage and it's one of things I admire most about her not only as an artist but as a person.

Going to a Jennie DeVoe show is a true experience. You soak in the sultry, vibrant sound that she creates through the Blues, R&B, Pop, and her unique blend of what she calls "hippie-funk" and it's captivating It was fun to sit down and chat with the Divine Jennie DeVoe and find out what's next in her music bag of magic!

Joni Michels:

Jennie you're such a welcomed staple at legendary venues like the Brown County Playhouse and The Jazz Kitchen in Indy! What does your 2026 schedule look like at this point. Any surprises for fans?

Jennie DeVoe:

 "I think it’s pretty amazing that I’ve been a steadily employed singer & songwriter  with such incredible fans for so long in this city! It’s literally unreal to me.  To be able to support myself, sing jingles, travel all over the U.S. and even go across the pond and make 3 records in the UK just doing what I love is so lucky.  Credit to my band and our fans, truly, for loving & supporting us. We don’t take it lightly.  I feel a little lucky but also like I followed my heart and my dreams and I put myself out there and worked to write good songs and find my voice. I’m sure we’re still going because of the fans. And yeah, it’s  incredible to be able to play at cool intimate theaters & venues like the Brown County Playhouse on February 21st.

It’s a perfect venue for someone like me who loves when the lights go down and you and the audience begin the dance of feeding off one another for that high you can only create in that atmosphere. There’s nothing like it. I love this stage and so does my band.

You can’t mail it in when everyone’s quietly waiting for you to perform. I feed off of that attention, my focus comes together, stories come to me and I feel lifted. That’s the time I really center as a songwriter and begin the musical conversation with my band. It feels new every time if we remain present together. And yes, 2026 we will be many places!  The Jazz Kitchen in Indy, Taste of Tippicanoe festival in Lafayette, Blues in the Burg festival in Brownsburg, the Roachdale Blues Festival in Roachdale, Danville, Mooresville and some other cool places I’m excited about!

Joni Michels:

I hear you're doing a collaboration with another amazing artist, Dane Clark, who is out drumming with Mellencamp. Is this a duet that you both wrote together? 

When can fans expect to hear the new duet?

Jennie DeVoe:

"I love Dane!  He’s so solid and a talented and the consummate professional.  He loves drumming and he worked very hard to get where he is - a primo spot playing with John Mellencamp! He’s been with him 30 years! Along the way I worked with Dane when we were making Meijer Superstores commercials.

I got lucky and worked at a music studio in Broadripple with the guys who owned ripplefx: music studio - Bill Mallers and Chris Lieber. Dane played drums and I sang the lead for all those commercials and did the voice overs for five wonderful fun years. It was like a new mini song every week. The work was so good and really taught me how to sing on a mic in a studio under pressure. That’s where I met Dane. Later, he’d have me come sing background on his own original records or other people’s records he was producing.

The latest cool thing was he asked me to sing on a duet with him for his upcoming album, probably due out in the spring.  He wrote it with one of his collaborators. We had fun recording it.  He lets me feel out different approaches and he’s really good at letting me feel out where I feel right and then he reels me in, haha! He can play, sing, drum, write and produce so it’s fun to work with someone who speaks such a well-rounded musical language."

Joni Michels:

Your music and your lyrics are so rich and can really make a person reflect and feel so many kinds of emotion (especially this fan). Do you have a process for writing music?

Jennie DeVoe:

"Aww, man, thank you Joni.  Well, I’ve certainly feel I’ve felt ALL the emotions and been through a lot in my own life.  I was always sensitive and an over-thinker I guess.  It’s just in my nature so I guess I put it to use.  I’ve always liked to write things out even just for myself to see if I could explain things - to myself or to others.  Forming clear thoughts with words became an obsession and so then songwriting is the artist in me who likes to do that creatively and poetically.

I love painting pictures with words and metaphors.  And when people latch onto that, it’s such a great feeling to know they get what you are trying to say and sing.  Singing adds the potency and the final touch of emotion and winks and clever deliveries and tone.  It’s all free too!  Meaning, I can sit and do this and it doesn’t cost me a thing.  That is, until I turn it into a lasting recording.  I think writing songs has such power to work through things for the writer of the song first and foremost.  Then, after life balances itself a bit, you can approach songwriting as an art and a craft but still tap into your own life experience and life around you to make good songs relatable to others.

I love the exercise of collaborating with someone else and watching something form right in the moment.  I like working with good players so they can better hear where I’m going with an idea.  They can get there faster than me sometimes.  But I do like writing by myself too.  Songs for me come from so many unique moments.  One thought or one line and it grows from that seed.  Words first or melody first or guitar or piano chords first. I come up with melodies in my head way too much and I’m usually still fixing lines and melodies and rhythms even as I’m in the studio recording the song.

It ain’t over till it’s over, as they say.  Sometimes in the studio your senses and intuitions are sharper and things get more clear as to what the song itself wants to do.  Always follow where the song wants to go.  So I may start out with an idea and by the time I’m done writing, it’s taken on a whole new meaning even for me.  I’ve always loved to sing, so to do both, just makes me grateful I can do it on any level. "

Joni Michels:

Jennie you give so much back to community and your love for pets. How are you able to shine that love through your music? And have you ever written a song about any of your pets?

Jennie DeVoe:

"I love animals more than I can begin to express.  All animals - horses, dogs, cows, rhinos, elephants, cats, otters, birds, possums, turtles, penguins shoebill stork — you name it.  I’ve had the coolest encounters in life because of animals.  I had dogs growing up.  My Dad almost bought me a horse because I loved them so much.  I got to do a private show at Tony Stewarts house once and he had handlers from the Columbus Zoo there with a cheetah, serval cat, penguin, kangaroo…..I was in absolute heaven!  There were two baby mountain lions that were saved from the Colorado fires. The caretakers were amazing and made the environment and  nice and calm for each animal. I love my own animals so much and have had about 9 dogs and 4 cats while married to Rob. We just help where we can.

I have not yet written a song for just one of my critters. But if one of them passes I will get choked up when I sing my song Blue Sky Big Sun. They seem to be in there somewhere.  So many animals need help and adopted. I would love to see more laws protecting animal rights.  They have no voice so we have to speak for them. Caring is so easy. There are so many great animal rescues around our state and so many good national organizations.  Jump in, get your feet wet, find one you can be passionate about.  Find a congressman you can bug to change the puppy mill laws so animals don’t have to spend 8 solid years being bred in a cage and then discarded or killed.  It’s inhumane and it’s real.  We can all speak up. It takes a lot of noisy animal lovers to make change."  

Joni Michels:

What music or artist are you listening to right now and it can be your own because it's awesome"

Jennie Devoe:

"I'm always excited to hear a cool new voice or a song that pulls me in.  Ya know I’m into the Red Clay Strays.  I also like Lola Young’s voice.  I love Raye’s voice.  I like hearing stuff that inspires me to write or makes me wish I had written what I’m hearing."

Joni Michels:

Where is the best place for fans to find your music, new music and all things Jennie DeVoe?

Jennie DeVoe:

"I think we are all going back to good old fashioned websites.  People can find me, my shows, my music - all at www.jenniedevoe.com. Yes, I have Facebook pages and Instagram and I’m on iTunes and some of my music is on Spotify BUT I urge people, fans, music lovers to BUY from the artists you love.  The big giant names are kept afloat by labels but most artists are not.  And we know people love Spotify but unless you’re Taylor Swift, you’re not making a dime off the music you upload there as an artist.

Just like anyone who works, we all like to get paid so we can keep affording to make music. That simple. I just don’t think every music lover is aware of that detail. But yeah, www.jenniedevoe.com"