Biography

Creative and Dreams Music Network and Fred Cannon are proud to welcome Jean Bayou.

Jean Bayou, musician, singer and songwriter, is a wonderful eclectic mix of poignancy, wry humor and surprises. Despite being an accomplished and talented musician and songwriter for more than 30 years, whose talents were always well received by family, friends and peers, it was not until relatively recently that Jean stepped out onto the stage and into the subsequent limelight. With song titles that include, ‘Mammogram’, ‘Torture (Cynic’s Vacation)’ and ‘Hatchetman’, her songs will make you laugh, her songs will make you cry, and they will always make you eager for more.

The youngest of five children, Jean grew up in the Hudson Valley of New York State. When she was 5 years old, Jean began to play piano by ear, although she also took lessons until she reached age 13. Her paternal grandmother also played by ear, and they would sit at the piano together and pick out tunes. As a child and teenager, Jean was a huge fan of The Beatles, and taught herself to play most of Abbey Road and the White Album on the piano. Her mother would always ask her to play her favorite songs by The Beatles. Neither of her parents were musicians, but they encouraged their daughter’s obvious aptitude by providing music lessons. As well as piano, Jean began playing clarinet in elementary school, guitar at age 12, and was a percussionist in her high school band and played vibes in their jazz band. When the time came to go to college, Jean opted for a Bachelor’s Degree in journalism. She had considered majoring in music, but decided
against it, feeling that this would take the fun out of a subject she dearly loved.

In 1978, shortly after marrying, Jean and her husband moved to Benghazi, Libya. While there, she presented a weekly radio show on state run ‘Radio Jamahariya’, where she played two hours of American popular music, supplied from her personal record collection which she had shipped there when they moved. In 1980, Jean and her husband relocated back to the US, and it was while Jean was a stay-at-home mom to three children under 5, that she started to write her own songs, mainly for the enjoyment of herself, her children and friends. She performed in her children’s classrooms and also appeared on a couple of local cable access TV shows. Even though she was becoming a prolific songwriter, and receiving favorable feedback, she still primarily continued to perform and write for herself and a close knit community of family and friends.

In the mid 1990’s, Jean discovered the Songwriters’ Association of Washington, (SAW), and it was her participation in their weekend song camp retreats and open mics that eventually led to her taking to the stage on a regular basis, as well as offering encouragement and support to other local songwriters. A couple of years ago, she was afforded the opportunity to perform on the
stage at the Library of Congress, as part of World Intellectual Property Awareness Day. She became SAW’s President, a position she held for 8 years, and was twice awarded a WAMMIE for Executive of the Year by the Washington Area Music Association, (WAMA). It was during her time as President of SAW, jamming and performing with other musicians, which made her realize that this was what she was meant to do, and wanted to do, more than anything else.

In 2010, Jean released her debut CD, ‘Just About Everything’; many years of writing and recording in various places with various people had finally come to fruition. Her style of music is diverse, and can be best described as a synthesis of all the things she has heard and played in her lifetime. Her song, ‘Mammogram’, is one of the featured tracks, and it was used by the Susan G. Komen Foundation in a PSA for breast cancer awareness month in southern Arizona. Jean already has new material for a second CD. Of her inspiration, she says, “I absolutely love to make people laugh, or at least smile, and I like things (and people) that make me do the same. I also have a host of serious songs. I mostly write from experience – my truths – which just happen to be the truths of many other people I know.” She is also considering an instrumental release of piano compositions.

Jean currently lives in Florida, where she has quickly become a vibrant member of the local songwriting community, but she continues to keep in touch with her friends from the DC Metro
Area and SAW.All good things come to those who wait, and the music and personality of Jean Bayou has definitely been worth that wait.

For more information about Jean Bayou, please email us at info@creativeanddreams.com.

“It all starts with a creative dream.” – Fred Cannon