Today we’d like to introduce you to Jen Allen.
Hi Jen, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I grew up in a musical and performing family in East Tennessee and have performed my entire life in one capacity or another, which included musical theater, opera, choirs, dance, various bands and solo performances. I began playing guitar at age 8 and later moved to Nashville to major in guitar at Belmont University where I received my degree in Commercial Guitar with an emphasis on Composition and Arranging. After graduating, I ended up getting a job on the industry side of the music business and have spent a career working for various record labels throughout the years working artists’ songs to radio stations to receive airplay. However, during all this time I have continued to play in various bands playing many differing genres of music (80s, country, covers, originals, blues, rockabilly) and also taught guitar lessons to students of all ages for about 15 years. I currently work for Curb Records and I front my own rockabilly band called Jen Allen & The Tennessee Zip.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I don’t know that anyone ever has a completely smooth road and in life there will always be challenges: life, work, time, financial, creative, etc., but the big thing to hold on to is perseverance. As a woman not only in the business side of the music industry, but as a guitar player, there have always been preconceived notions that people may have. There have definitely been some glass ceilings over the years in the workplace, and it seems that it isn’t unusual for a few people to have some strong feelings about female guitar players (I will still occasionally get the proverbial, “You play pretty good for a girl..” type of comment), but not letting that negativity rule your life and learning to rise above it is an important thing.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
As stated previously, for my 9-to-5 I work artists’ songs to radio stations (known as “reporting stations”) across the country to receive airplay for a record label. I’ve worked at various labels throughout my career and have currently been at Curb Records for the past 9 years. These stations have days/times during the week that they accept phone calls from us label reps to discuss our current singles and it’s our job to get the stations to play our songs. I also do quite a bit of traveling to radio stations with our artists for promo visits. You have to have a little bit of a thick skin for this job as you hear “no” often, but it’s part of my job to utilize tools to turn that “no” into a future “yes.” We do that by using chart numbers, and also streaming numbers on platforms such as Spotify, YouTube, TicTok, Apple Music, etc. It’s definitely a rewarding feeling when one of the songs I’m working goes to #1. That accomplishment isn’t taken lightly and it is something to be celebrated. Also, this job is very relational, so you have to like talking to people, and you have to want to have a real relationship with them. It’s definitely not the job to do if you don’t like talking to folks every day. I also use that experience when I perform. There’s a connection you can build not only with the musicians that are playing in your band, but also with your audience AND with the folks at the venues where you perform. I truly believe in every aspect of life that relationships are key, and you have to really want to have them, build them, and nurture them. People can tell if you’re fake and putting on a fake face won’t help you in the long run, no matter what your goal in life is. We need people and we need each other.
For my creative/peforming side, I love to play guitar. Even though I love different genres of music my passion lies in rockabilly. If you’re unfamiliar with rockabilly it’s the original guitar-driven rock’n’roll that made up a lot of the music of the 1950s. It really began the “rock” movement and it heavily influenced the British artists, which helped lead the way for the “British Invasion” of the 60s. Examples of early artists are Elvis, Eddie Cochran, Carl Perkins, Bill Hailey, Wanda Jackson, Patsy Cline, Janis Martin and Gene Vincent. More recent artists that continue to carry the rockabilly torch in various forms (there are many sub-genres to rockabilly) are the Stray Cats, Reverend Horton Heat, Rosie Flores, The Cramps, Brian Setzer, Lee Rocker, Buzz Campbell, etc. There’s an energy and a drive to rockabilly that’s exciting and it incorporates a little bit of every style of music – blues, jazz, rock, country, swing – so it checks all the boxes for me. What I also love about the music is that you don’t have to be familiar with it to feel its energy. It’s very rhythmic and it just makes you want to move around to the music when you hear it and I can honestly say that playing rockabilly has made me a better guitar player. I’m a gear head (I love amps, guitar pedals, guitar pickups, etc) and I love all the cool things that go into dialing in that guitar rockabilly sound so every aspect of this genre excites me. Plus, there’s a camaraderie among rockabilly fans and musicians and rockabilly music just has a way of bringing people together who share a commonality for the love of all styles of the genre. Nashville has a healthy rockabilly scene and I love not only going to hear other musicians play and enjoy the music but I also love getting the opportunity to perform around Nashville with my band Jen Allen & The Tennessee Zip.
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
I don’t know if “luck” is the right word but definitely being in the right place at the right time has surely helped, as well as, making and maintaining relationships. I was hired for my very first industry job right after college because someone that I knew suggested me for the position. Since then, I have at least been able to get my foot in the door because of a relationship that I had. Did that secure the job (or the performance prospect) for me? Nope. I had to do that on my own and with my own merit, BUT having the initial relationship with someone gave me the opportunity to talk to the right people, but the rest was my responsibility. Again, life is relational. Get to know people and cultivate those relationships authentically. Most people want you to succeed and folks are willing to help you out, but you have to build those relationships.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @jentenzip
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/JenAllenTennesseeZip
- Youtube: @jenallenandthetennesseezip
