Always Evergreen
Always Evergreen | |
|---|---|
 Always Evergreen - Jeanna Zenz (L) and Willow Osborne (R) | |
| Background information | |
| Genres | Folk, Bluegrass, Pop, Country |
| Instruments |
|
| Years active | 2020-present |
| Website | www |
| Members | Willow Osborne, Jeanna Zenz |
Always Evergreen is an American folk music duo formed in July 2020[1] by Willow Osborne of Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, and Jeanna Zenz from Watford City, North Dakota, now living in New York City. The duo's repertoire is primarily folk, bluegrass, pop, and country, and includes original songs written by Osborne and Zenz, and covers of songs by Harry Styles, Taylor Swift, Kacey Musgraves, Lord Huron, Henry Mancini, and others.
Osborne and Zenz met when the two were in the summer 2020 cast of the outdoor Medora Musical in Medora, North Dakota.[2] The group's initial performances starting in 2020 were released in their YouTube channel and by livestream. The duo has released, individually and together, more than a hundred music videos over ten years, going back to 2011. Their first live concert performance was virtual on April 10, 2021, with Osborne performing from Pigeon Forge and Zenz from New York City.[3] The duo adapted their harmonies and instrumental styles to overcome artistic and technical challenges such as Internet latency. Osborne and Zenz are returning to the Medora Musical for the summer of 2021.[4]
Willow Osborne[edit]
Willow Osborne was born October 3, 2000, in Huntsville, Alabama. When Osborne was age 3½, her mother took her to the Dixie Stampede dinner theater (now Dolly Parton's Stampede) in Pigeon Forge. Osborne attended a performance by banjo champion Gary “Biscuit” Davis.[5] She told her mother she wanted to play the banjo as her career. Her mother looked for a toy banjo for Osborne's fourth birthday but could not find one. At the last shop, her mother met Davis, who committed to teach Osborne if her mother bought her a real banjo.[6][7] Osborne studied banjo under Davis for eleven years.[5][6] Home-schooled in other subjects, Osborne graduated high school at age sixteen.[6] She is currently an online student at Arizona State University[6] studying biological science.[8]
Osborne's YouTube channel has 64,500 subscribers[9] Her videos have more than 21,329,000 views, including her November 12, 2012 video of Foggy Mountain Breakdown, made at age 12, which has 12.3 million views. Other videos with more than 1 million views include her 2013 video of Ground Speed (1.7 million) and her 2014 video of Dear Old Dixie (1.2 million).
Notable live appearances: Osborne began playing professionally at age eight.[10] Osborne appeared in three theatrical productions at Dollywood,[5] and was onstage for three seasons[11] at Dollywood's Bluegrass and Barbecue Festival.[7] She was a featured performer with Rhonda Vincent and The Rage in the February 3, 2014 broadcast of the WoodSongs Old-Time Radio Hour, an internationally broadcast radio and television program on PBS.[12] Osborne has performed with Dolly Parton,[5] the United States Navy Bluegrass Band and Pat Flynn.[6] From 2010 to 2018, she was a regular performer at the Country Tonite Theatre in Pigeon Forge.[6] Osborne performed in the summer 2020 Medora Musical.[13]
Film appearances: Osborne was one of a small number of musicians featured in the internationally circulated 2018 IMAX film “America’s Musical Journey,”[6] narrated by Morgan Freeman.[8] The film was featured at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, DC, and other IMAX theaters is 21 states and in Australia, Austria, Canada, China, France, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, The Netherlands, the Philippines, Russia, Spain, Turkey, and the United Kingdom.[14]
Jeanna Zenz[edit]
Jeanna Catherine Zenz (pronounced ʒiː-nə zɛnz) was born April 19, 1996, in Minot, North Dakota. She graduated from Watford City, North Dakota High School in 2014, where she was active in theater[15] and played varsity basketball.[16] She graduated three years later, in May 2017, from Minnesota State University Moorhead, summa cum laude, in theater arts.[17] In 2016, Zenz won second place in the State of Minnesota competition of the National Association of Teachers of Singing in her division of the Musical Theatre category.[18] In 2018, she moved to New York City to pursue a career in music and theater,[19] returning to North Dakota in the summers of 2020[13] and 2021 to appear in the Medora Musical.[4]
Filmography[edit]
Theatrical releases
- America’s Musical Journey (2018)
References[edit]
- ↑ Always Evergreen – About, July 31, 2020.
- ↑ “Medora Musical: The Greatest Show in the West!,” Bismarck Tribune, July 6, 2020.
- ↑ Gathering Storm Music, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTvcQnUgNwU, April 10, 2021.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Medora Musical Facebook page, “2021 Cast, April 20, 2021.”
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 “Willow Osborne – Stars 2 Come Interview,” Stars 2 Come website, December 23, 2012.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 “Willow Osborne,” Deering Banjos website, retrieved April 12, 2021.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 “Meet Willow Osborne: Our 13 Year Old Banjo Playing Superstar,” Country Tonite website, July 15, 2014.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 “America’s Musical Journey Makes Its Way to IMAX,” Cowboys & Indians magazine, February 15, 2018.
- ↑ Willow Osborne, retrieved May 2, 2021.
- ↑ Randy C. Lockhart, “Willow Osborne,” Country Artists Magazine, April 29, 2018.
- ↑ “11-Year-Old Willow Osborne Performs ‘Dueling Banjos’ & ‘Coal Miner’s Daughter’ Mashup In 2011,” retrieved April 12, 2021.
- ↑ “Rhonda Vincent & the Rage Plus Willow Osborne,” Kentucky Educational Television, season 16, episode 3, also aired April 25, 2015. Her PBS appearance is referenced in Gordon Castelnero and David L. Russell, Earl Scruggs – Banjo Icon, page 191, quoting her on Scruggs’ influence on her and other banjoists of her generation. An excerpt of the performance is at “13-Year Old Willow Osborne - w/ Rhonda Vincent & The Rage,” February 3, 2014.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 “The 2020 Medora Musical Cast!,” June 11, 2020.
- ↑ America's Musical Journey website.
- ↑ “Washburn excels at play contest,” Minot Daily News, November 21, 2013; “Tied to the Tracks,” Roundupweb.com, November 23, 2011.
- ↑ “Jeanna Zenz,” MaxPreps.com website.
- ↑ Commencement Program, May 2017, Minnesota State University Moorhead, May 12, 2017.
- ↑ “2016 Minnesota NATS Music Theater Final Round—Winners List,” retrieved April 25, 2021.
- ↑ Jeanna Zenz, LinkedIn.
External links[edit]
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