Eliza Jane & the Barnyard Gypsies

Eliza Jane has lived like a gypsy for most of her adult life. Having traveled the United States in a converted ambulance for well over a decade, she logged in 317,000 miles interviewing and recording the stories and dialects of literally thousands of people. Her journey would inspire her critically acclaimed one woman show Freedom of Speech, which she has performed across the country with runs at such prestigious venues as the New York International Fringe Festival (where she took home the “Best Solo Show” award), The Public Theater Off-Broadway, The Washington Center for the Performing Arts and for International BRAVO! Network’s “Arts & Minds” program, not to mention a featured showcase at the National Folk Alliance Conference in February of 2008 (where she also brought 150 kids to their feet in the FA tent and appeared on NBC with Ronny Cox). Freedom of Speech is now running at the Sidewalk Studio Theater in Burbank, California, through Sept 7, 2008.

An award winning stage actress for over twenty years, her uncanny ability to channel voices and dialects, has also brought her notoriety as a voice over actress. Eliza Jane is perhaps best known for her work as the voice of the eight female characters on Comedy Central’s hit animated series South Park, along with characters on King of the Hill, and the animated film Finding Nemo. After a lifetime of work speaking for others, with her debut solo album Gypsy Grass Eliza returns to her first love of music, the one place where she has always been able to truly find her own voice.

Growing up on a Chippawa Reservation in Northern Minnesota, Eliza’s mother was an attorney who was representing the tribe against the U.S. government, while her father was a drama teacher and playwright. Her sense of political activism would come naturally, but music was always her haven. She counts Helen Reddy’s “I am Woman” as her first favorite song, recalling disappointment when she discovered Reddy was not saying “I am invisible” but instead “I am Invincible.”

After Seeing El Shenkar play, Eliza would take up the violin studying classically into her adulthood. She now counts herself as one of her cherished mentor’s friends, and is collaborating with him on her newest performance piece, which she describes as “Laurie Anderson meets Tracy Ulman meets Tom Lehrer.” Constantly writing songs and performing, she fronted her first band at sixteen after her family had moved to New York, a girl three-part harmony group. The band played originals and covered 60’s tunes, playing clubs around town. Later in her quest to find her own voice, of which admittedly there are many, she also incarnated herself as “Bluegirl” an otherworldly operatic aria singer playing over electronic violin, in blue body paint. Part music and part theatre, she received rave reviews with the LA Weekly naming her “Best of LA.”

In 2006 Eliza Jane was involved in a near fatal car crash while traveling in New Zealand. Rolling down the side of a mountain, she narrowly escaped with a cracked head and broken hand. The head healed after some time, but Eliza worried that with a paralyzed hand she might never play violin again. It was then that she sought out and met accomplished fiddle teacher Richard Greene who helped her rehabilitate her hand through endless scale playing. This rehab would lead her to find a new love for bluegrass music. “Bluegrass was such a natural fit for me, it was initially the music of the people speaking out against injustice. My own path has been so much about the people and their ability or inability to be heard that bluegrass just makes perfect sense to me.”

In her songs “Jerusalem” and “SOS”, Eliza Jane reflects upon what she has learned in her travels, writing about the efforts of people to take their power back, to speak up and to believe that their voice matters. These are survival songs about traversing the depths and coming out on the other side. Having interviewed countless people from all walks of life, Eliza explains “I feel that I can draw parallels and share common ground. Now I am on a mission to tell their stories, and my own through music.” Like a true modern gypsy, Eliza Jane’s story is one of bridging the gaps, finding comfort in differences, and the ability to listen and find truth in all of the voices, however conflicting.
Known as "The Woman of a Thousand Voices," more about Eliza Jane can be found at www.elizajane.com