Country with a Cajun kick
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Country singer Jenny Brooks’ Fourth of July concert downtown will be a homecoming of sorts. The Nashville resident is an LSU graduate, a Slidell native and a woman who is proud of her Louisiana background.
Case in point. Her debut CD is titled Down in the Bayou, and features 11 original songs, all pure country with a bit of Cajun spice — and all written by Brooks.
“You know, 7 years ago, I packed up a U-Haul and moved to Nashville,” Brooks said. “And then I realized, ‘I’m a dime a dozen up here.’ Moving to Nashville with no game plan must have seemed crazy to people in Slidell, but in Nashville, I was surrounded by people just like me. And they all wanted to be a country singer. So I started developing my songwriting skills.”
It was another feather in her cap while she tried to find success as a singer.
Success came gradually to the girl who always knew she wanted to be onstage. As a child, Brooks performed at the World’s Fair in New Orleans. Later, she sang at professional sporting events, and eventually at Disney World. She even spent half a year performing for Celebrity Cruise Lines, which toured the Mediterranean.
“I really didn’t think I was that great of a singer, but the desire just never went away,” she said. “At some point, I knew I had to really pursue a career, and that meant I had to go to Nashville."
Her instincts were right. Brooks has appeared in several music videos, including Lonestar’s Let Me Love You and Tracy Lawrence’s Till I Was a Daddy, Too.
Her performance in Baton Rouge this weekend will include songs from her new album and a variety of cover songs.
“I’ll do some of my original songs, but also some Aretha and some Gladys Knight,” she said. “I want people to be able to sing along, you know? But I warn you, I can’t help my country twang, even when I’m singing Gladys Knight.”
Brooks says her CD says it all. “I’m a Louisiana girl and proud of it. Louisiana is so unique. There’s just no place like it.”
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