Janine Wilson

Janine Wilson

Janine has blazed a path from the backyard stages of her childhood in Columbus, Ohio, to some of Washington DC’s premier venues, including the Birchmere, the State Theatre, and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Millennium Stage.

Drawing comparisons to a young Bette Midler, Wilson’s eclectic taste has informed her style, with everyone from Etta James to Laura Nyro and Elvis Costello receiving their dues. Having benefited from the tutelage of some of Austin, Texas’ finest honky-tonk musicians, Janine further honed her vocal chops and cultivated her own inimitable stage presence.

With the backing of some of the capital-area’s finest players, Wilson’s live performances have accumulated both a loyal fan base and critical acclaim. According to Richmond’s Style Weekly, “…when Wilson digs her heels in and opens up her big voice, it’s best to pay close attention.” For his part, Mike Joyce at the Washington Post has called Wilson “poignant and seductive…” Clearly, Joyce isn’t alone in his admiration, as she’s become something of a fixture at the Washington Area Music Association’s Wammie awards, taking home kudos for being the area’s Best Blues Vocalist and Best Female Blues Vocalist, as well as awards for Best Blues Album and Best Debut Recording. Beyond the Beltway, Wilson has graced stages across the nation, including forays into New York, San Francisco, Austin, and New Orleans. In the process, she has performed with such luminaries as Delbert McClinton, Marcia Ball, and Coco Montoya.

Her debut release, 2000’s The Blue Album came in for high praise, with the Baltimore Blues Rag proclaiming: “Janine lets her sultry self run riot… The Blue Album should be a part of your library, but it may never leave your CD player!” Of Wilson’s abilities as a front woman, No Depression Magazine’s Buzz McClain noted her “impassioned vocals that, while powerful, never over-power the songs.” Perhaps Music Monthly put it best (and most succinctly) when it proclaimed: “…The Blue Album simply kicks serious ass.” With stellar production by Texan Don McCalister and DC’s WAMA Producer of the Year, Marco Delmar, it was selected as a favorite pick by the Washington Post and the Journal Newspapers.

Her latest release, Save Me From Myself (released with the assistance of her friends at BOS Music) finds Wilson growing bolder still, expanding her stylistic repertoire to include grittier roots rock, alt country, R&B and even a little traditional country-and-western twang. In late 2006 Janine, along with co-writer Max Evans, were awarded Honorable Mention from the Billboard World Songwriting Contest for Don’t Even Start and So Long as well as Honorable Mention from the 23rd Mid Atlantic Song Contest for those compositions and also It Should Be Me. In February 2007, Janine took home two more Wammies for Roots Rock Vocalist and Roots Rock Album! Featuring original material interspersed with covers by such varied artists as Melissa Manchester and Bruce Springsteen, Wilson weaves tales of love, heartache (and more than a little mischief) that will surely please her existing fans while garnering legions more.