Feature Artist: Jenny Biddle

‘Hoping for a hero‘ is the latest album due to be released 13th November 2020.. lovingly built and created by Australian blues and roots artist, Jenny Biddle.

With a listen to Jenny’s sound, you can pick up a feel of The Waifs meets Sarah McLachlan.. A taste of indie folk and roots with hints of country and a twist of blues..

The album she has created is filled with stories created over her life to date, and a career built on the development of a whopping eight thought provoking albums.

At first glance, you wouldn’t assume that her 5-foot-tall stature will burst into a fiery powerhouse of well-seasoned guitar expeditions and witty stage banter. Intertwining savoury melodies with speculative lyrics, Jenny Biddle, wraps herself around her guitar, and like a marriage between body and instrument, she commands the guitar to talk “with uncommon skill and absolute self-assurance” (Syke, 2013).

When on stage, her audience is compelled to join her on a voyage of passion and story in song.

Jenny has no fear in using her art and her platform to raise awareness and confront some of the troubling issues of our time.. From the sweet lulls of folk, to her raunchier tunes, dirty blues grooves, and easy-going country flavours, she’s got a song for every mood, boldly confronting depression and anxiety and asking for your hand along the way.

The big question is.. what is this story.. how has Jenny become the woman that she is today and come to the place of releasing ‘Hoping for a hero‘?

Who is Jenny Biddle?

Currently residing in the land of the Loch Ness Monster.. sunny Scotland, the Aussie indie blues and roots songsmith has handmade several acoustic guitars, plays a wicked blues harp, is a proficient pianist, can bust out bubbling banjo ballad and she dabbles in graphic design of album covers and merchandise.

All of the above, combined with releasing her music and touring the world.. she proudly shares that she is an entirely independent musician.

Eight albums into her career, she admits that she’s not attempting to write the next hit song, but instead fashions an eclectic mix of thought-provoking masterworks that give the feeling that you’re in the company of an old friend.

Destined to walk a musical path, she had a brief encounter with the ukulele at 4 years of age, moving swiftly to love affair with the piano, aged 5, followed by a lifelong love of the guitar at age 9.. Original compositions soon followed.

Jenny’s dark rock ‘n’ roll history

Jenny tells us that from age 12, she fell under the influence of a rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle that saw her regularly consuming 8 teaspoons of sugar in her cups of tea. Her music took a dark turn in this chaotic chapter; she was forbidden to write angst songs about her brother and agreed to receive treatment for her sugar addiction.

Suffice to say that she is still a chocoholic but she says that this eased upon the discovery that she is a lesbian.

Paying for her sins, she completed a 4-year BA Dip Ed degree in her home town of Sydney, but spent only a mere two days teaching in primary schools. Realising 10-year-olds were taller than her; she threw in the towel and hit the stage.

A life of music in the making

Jenny released her debut studio album, Chest of Drawers at Sydney’s most reputable live music venue, The Basement, in 2009. This album was met with universal praise..

“..beautiful, no-nonsense folk music”

Dom Alessio, Triple J

“..quite simply remarkable”

Trad & Now Magazine

In the company of Tracy Chapman and Passenger, Jenny‘s hit break up song Hindsight reached #8 in the iTunes Songwriter Charts in 2013.

She also held the prestigious title of Melbourne’s Best Busker 2010 – 2012, along with the People’s Choice Award at the Tamworth Country Music Festival Busking Championship 2012.

Her busking career peaked in a moment of serendipity when she met her wife while singing on the cobbled streets of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2014. Wooing her wife with original song, Village by the Sea, Jenny says she no longer feels the need to collect any more busking awards.

Fast forward to now..

The music video for her popular coming out song, Hero in Me, written and directed by Rebecca Greensill (Flying Man Films & Home & Away), sees Jenny in a lycra Superman suit, with lumps in all the wrong places as she sings “Be my lady and your hero I’ll be”.

Despite the awkward visual, Jenny was nominated for the Australian LGBTQI Award 2017 for her contribution to the LGBTQI community through music. She has since added a new verse to this coming out song in celebration of marriage equality in Australia.

Her most recent song Five Foot Tall, was inspired by the journey of starting a family with her wife, but Jenny would like to point out that she is in fact five-foot-one… but this ruined the rhyme.

Loyal fans have crowdfunded several of Jenny‘s albums, including Cover to Cover, an album of renditions with her on stamp on some popular favourites like Imagine, Hallelujah and Fast Car. But she’s most known for her blistering blues & roots version of MJ’s Billie Jean, packed with lively guitar improvisations and their subsequent facial expressions to set your socks on fire.

Celebrating 25 years of guitar playing, our striking female guitarist hosted workshops at festivals such as Port Fairy Folk Festival, and was sponsored by APRA as the 2013 Artist in Residence at Macquarie University lecturing about alternate guitar tunings, songwriting, performing, and advanced guitar techniques.

Despite her vast experience, she spends her spare time in front of the mirror, hoping to develop her guitar facial expressions in an effort to boost her meagre Guitar Hero score above 22%. Playing over 200 gigs every year since 2006, supporting the likes of Lloyd Spiegel, Jen Cloher, Tony McManus, Jeff Lang, and Cotton, Keays & Morris, and touring Australia, UK, Ireland, Germany, Canada and China, her stage presence is second to none. Her audience laughs and cries in all the right places, with “a banter which is honest, direct, personal, affectionate, funny and utterly engaging” she has “that peculiar knack for making a large space like a lounge room” (Syke, 2013).

Jenny Biddle is a striking, refreshing and sweet person, a master of her craft.

Inspiration for ‘Hoping For A Hero’

Jenny has told us that “the songs from “Hoping for a hero” came from places of darkness, light, and everything in between. Navigating the rollercoasters of life, this album became quite the eclectic mix of blues, folk, country, rock and roots, with the odd surprise here and there.”

“Although composing these songs was initially an act of medicinal reflection, I hoped my earnest musings would connect people to each other, but also connect the listener to their deeper self.”

“There’s an undertone of a longing for some kind of hero throughout these songs. In the past I’ve channelled my quest for happiness in futile directions, whether it be dreams, fame and fortune, image, romance, praise and approval, or the temporary relief of a binge-eating sesh at midnight.”

“If COVID has taught us anything, it’s that our priorities need a good shake up, and in fact some things we’ve valued aren’t nearly as essential to our happiness. I confront this notion in the tunes on this album.”

“Long Winters Day” addresses my struggles with depression and coming off anti-depressants, “Worrying Mind” is about befriending my anxiety, and for the grand finale, banjo-bubbling LGBT love song “Five Foot Tall” is heart-warming story about starting a family with my wife.”

“Added to this collection of new songs, I’ve also don new versions of some popular old favourites “Village by the Sea”, and the sequel to my coming-out song, “Hero in Me” with its added verse celebrating marriage equality in Australia.”

What is the key message of the album?

For Jenny, the album is ultimately about mental health.. she explains that “A lot of the songs address mental health issues, sometimes in an upbeat, groovy way, sometimes in a more intimate or sombre way. I hope to create a sense of connection. So many of us deal with anxiety, depression, and this album is like a warm hug.”

What does the future hold for Jenny?

Jenny is filled with creativity and adventure.. she tells us that ‘the future is certainly an adventure yet to reveal itself. I have an epic new chapter to look forward to next year with my first born due in March.”

“I’m excited and terrified all at once. I’ve enjoyed touring for the last 15 years, but with COVID putting a stop to gigs and international travel, and a baby Biddle on the way, I wonder how my music career will adapt to the new normal.”

“I’m sure there’ll be many stories and songs to come, but whether that takes form on a stage in a foreign land anymore, I don’t know!”

“Will this be my last hurrah till my kid is 22? Or perhaps a kids’ album will be on the horizon!”

What advice would you give to aspiring artists?

“In some ways it’s easier to be an independent musician these days. The beauty of doing it yourself, is you can maintain creative control, and create works that are true to you.”

“I’ve always believed in following my heart when it comes to music, and your tribe will find you as your music finds them.”

Where to find Jenny Biddle: