Growing up in a musical family, Joanne Allen discovered at an early age that she loved to sing.  Shyness and nerves used to keep her off the stage, but the desire to perform stayed strong. Joanne spent the early 1990’s singing backing vocals on various recording projects of her husband, singer/songwriter Steve Allen and other musician friends. During the late nineties, she occasionally performed a set or two of soulful-pop songs with a guitar duo and recorded two EP’s (Little Tragedies and Lucid) containing original songs penned by her husband. Steve, who wrote mostly rock/edgy-pop songs for his local band, wrote a jazz song for Joanne in 1999 and it was the perfect place for her voice. A journey began into the world of jazz and the discovery of many, many great Standards. Joanne was “home”.  Now, with about 70 songs in her jazz catalogue, she performs at corporate and private functions in the Region. A regular guest at Saturday Jam Sessions at Cat’s Caboose, Joanne enjoys the opportunity to perform with many wonderful jazz musicians from the area. A piano and voice demo project recorded last spring grew into a 12 song CD called “An April Breeze”, mostly given to eager friends and family. This year Joanne has plans to record a full band EP of more jazz standards and a Christmas CD.