By Roz Weis,
Jeni Grouws of Decorah embarks on an 8-month artist-in-residency program in Nebraska in the coming weeks. (Photo courtesy Julie Simiele.)
Decorah musician Jeni Grouws will launch an eight-month artist-in-residency in Omaha, Nebraska later this month, and her last few weeks in the area will be filled to the brim with concerts, solo shows and outdoor appearances.
Coupled with a hectic performance schedule, she’s putting her talents to work at an upcoming outdoor concert Sept. 14 at the Red Barn Campground in Lansing.
Residency
The local performer was accepted into an artist-in-residence project with the Omaha nonprofit Playing with Fire.
Grouws said she submitted her proposal based on what she wanted to do as an artist, and if she had the time, space and financial support to do reach her goal.
Playing with Fire’s mission, according to their social media platforms, is “to champion local non-profits and foster connections between people across the globe, all through the magic of free live music concerts”.
“They want musicians to be able to focus on their craft, and they offer a residency at The Music House as a way of allowing this focus to happen,” Grouws said. “My proposal to them focused on being able to take time to write and to enhance my skills as a player, ultimately providing a concert at the end of my residency. With a desire to have a real connection with the Omaha community, I also offered up a songwriting workshop and visits to the area schools to speak about music.”
Grouws said she wants to give back to the community during her residency.
“If I’m going to live within this community for eight months, I wanted to be sure I also gave back,” Grouws said. “Most exciting to me is the concert at the end of the residency will include Omaha area songwriters.”
The area musician will be taking her experiences from her decades in Decorah with her, including her creation of the “Jeni Grouws and Friends Live at the Winneshiek County Fair” and the “She Writes” songwriting workshop she hosted with Arthaus to help her create something special in her temporary home.
She said, once she gets to Omaha, she will start researching an ideal location and a date for the finale concert and will keep her Decorah connections updated.
“While The Music House residency doesn’t come with a stipend,” she said, “they help offset the cost of living by providing a place to live. And a truly beautiful one at that. I can’t believe that I get to live there, and I’m truly grateful.”
During her residency, she plans to attend as many open mics and blues jams as she can, in a continuing effort to become acquainted with the music scene.
Grouws credits much of her success to the support she’s received from the Decorah community.
“It’s really crazy to think that all of this is happening at this point in my life and it’s really thanks to Decorah,” she said. “My first open mic was at T-Bock’s in Decorah, and I shook the entire time.”
According to Grouws, she only started writing music at the encouragement of her WMC therapist Ron Hougen, who literally wrote a prescription for her to write a song.
“Which I swore I’d never be able to do,” she said. “But I did it, and then released my EP ‘Scenic Route’ recording in 2008 thanks to encouragement from family and friends. My EP release was at Arthaus. My first-ever bands were here in Decorah. Done Doin’ Laundry let me into their group, and I felt so very lucky. Then Absolute Hoot came out of Jeni Grouws and Friends Live at the Winneshiek County Fair.”
She said the encouragement she received in Decorah has taken her to where she is today.
“None of what I’m doing, from hitting the Billboard charts to headlining a blues festival for the first time this past weekend would have happened if it weren’t for the community of support that exists here,” she said. “I’m pretty certain there were folks here that thought I could do this long before I actually thought I could. That’s a pretty special thing.”
Songwriting career
Decorah radio listeners know Grouws well. After an 18-year career in radio broadcasting in Decorah, Grouws left the radio business a few years ago to pursue a full-time musician’s schedule.
Grouws now performs solo shows, and she also tours with Avey Grouws Band.
Blending blues, roots, rock and soul, the band has become a Midwest favorite and performs throughout the country. The two-time top 10 billboard charting band is popular in the area, traditionally performing at one of the canopies during Decorah’s Nordic Fest each summer. Joining her in the Avey Grouws Band are Chris Avey, Bryan West and Randy Leasman.
“The only reason I’ve been able to do what I do now with Avey Grouws Band is because of the atmosphere and encouragement Decorah has offered,” she said.
Sept. 14 concert
The next few weeks will be busy for Grouws. Her final days before leaving for Omaha will be spent putting the finishing touches on her set for the Sunset Sessions in Lansing Sept. 14.
Working with a few other organizers in the area, Grouws is helping the Red Barn Campground and Restaurant on Lansing’s west edge, in welcoming award-winning songwriters for a one-day festival titled Sunset Sessions.
Grouws will join Kevin Burt, International Blues Challenge winner and Gulf Coast artist from Iowa City and Frank Martin Bush, an award-winning artist from Wisconsin. Also taking the stage for a portion of the day are JR Brink from Waukon and three area young people: 18-year-old Elayna Hook, daughter of Byron Hook and Emily Hook of Decorah; 17-year-old Annie Ellingson from Waukon; and 14-year-old Hudson Thirtyacre from Shueyville.
Sunset Sessions starts at 3 p.m. with featured musicians Hook, Ellingson and Thirtyacre; and then from 4 to 6 p.m., the headliners will take over.
Those attending also are invited to stick around after the show for some campfire songs with JR Brink.
Red Barn owners Terry Ely and Jenetta Williams Ely hope to host events like this in the years to come.
Grouws said the Sept. 14 event is the perfect send-off for her next chapter.
“For me, this is an opportunity as a songwriter whose roots started right here in Decorah to say thank-you and I love you to the area before I leave for these eight months,” she said.
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