Jen Van Meter, front woman, guitarist, and singer's grandfather was a friend of country legend Ernest Tubb. She grew up with the Osborne Brothers, Jeanie C. Riley, and Johnny Cash on the stereo. The country gene comes from there. On the other side of the family, her grandmother was an accomplished organist and her guitar playing uncle, the reason she picked up a guitar in the first place. With music in her blood and a childhood spent immersed in it, she became a student of mandolin, guitar, and songwriting in the Country Music and Bluegrass program at East Tennessee State University. And Jen Van Meter continued to hone her chops. While working at a music store in Johnson City, TN, she discovered the likes of Kasey Chambers who opened up another world of music and had a tremendous impact on her musical direction. In 2004, she took her talent to the stage with the critically acclaimed duo eighty1south. Soon after, her partner Caitlin won CMT's first season of "Can You Duet?" which left Van Meter on her own with a basket full of songs and a guitar. "I had to learn to find my own voice. It's been quite a journey of learning and growing. I've been doing the leg work and my calf muscles are finally starting to get a little more defined."
After years of wrestling with a country sound that was predetermined by her roots, Van Meter has found something new, something with a solidly accessible foundation, but with a haunting, darker twist. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.