Jeanne T. Arrigo

Raised in the small Missouri town of Moscow Mills on a seven acre farm
* her dad’s dream come true in small measure – music and performing
seemed to be part of Jeanne’s life from the beginning. Seems music was always on in the house, her dad was always singing (she vividly remembers his versions of “I get a kick out of you,” and “Oh what a beautiful morning” from “Oklahoma!” – long before she knew the latter was from a musical), and her mom played a little guitar (“Leavin’ on a Jet Plane” is a clear recollection) and later a lot of piano and organ. Jeanne and her two book-end brothers used to set up boxes and bang away on the “drums” to classic rock, while Jeanne sang to any song on the radio, developing her harmonizing skills. While her younger brother pursued guitar, Jeanne took some piano lessons, played a little guitar now and then, and focused primarily on singing in school choirs and acting in school plays. Acting became the focus when she won a major theatre scholarship to Coe College in Cedar Rapids, IA, and furthered her acting craft and technique, while continuing to perform in choral groups.

Post-college, Jeanne decided she had better have a skill to fall back on, so limited her theatre while gaining her M.Ed. in School Psychology at Chicago’s Loyola University. After spending a number of years as a full-time school psychologist, Jeanne decided life was too short to spend all of her time working at a job that was not feeding her creative needs, and she began to pursue professional acting with more passion. She became a self-employed actor and school psychologist, earning her keep by contracting with a number of area high schools and working from home much of the time. This new flexibility allowed Jeanne the time for auditions, shows, and songwriting. She began putting most of her creative energies into songwriting and singing/playing out, primarily at local open mics in Chicago. She won the first open mic competition in which she competed, boosting her sense that this was the right path.

Jeanne’s songs tend towards pop-folk, slice-of-life stories, often set in open or alternate tunings, and her dynamic vocal quality and range and strong percussive guitar style have earned her comparisons to some major female artists, such as Joni Mitchell, Jonatha Brooke, Shawn Colvin, and Ani DiFranco. Though rooted in the folk tradition of storytelling, Jeanne’s songs and performance style go beyond traditional folk as she creates an organic, infectious relationship with her audience.

Jeanne released two CD’s on her own label, “Arrigoberry Records” – her her debut CD, “The Journey’s about to begin…” in August 2005, and “Favorite Hymns, Live!” in January, 2009, after recording a live concert of hymns on her 42nd birthday (fall of 2008). Jeanne performs mostly in and around Chicago – both as an actor on theatrical stages, and as a singer/songwriter, with her guitar and fellow musicians. After focusing exclusively on music for a number of years, she went back to more film/stage work in about 2009.