Truck Topics
From Boise to Nashville: Country Artist Jennifer Anderson
The upcoming Expedite Expo in Wilmington, Ohio will feature 
good-looking trucks, recruiters, seminars and of course, entertainment.
Following in the Expo tradition of presenting family-oriented entertainment, this year's event will offer trucking music by Joey Holiday, downhome bluegrass from the Radio Ramblers featuring Joe Mullins and a special guest artist new to the Expo - Jennifer Anderson.
Supporting the release of her first CD, "Destination Unknown", Jennifer will take the Speedco Entertainment Stage on Saturday, July 28 to present her homestyle, edgy and energetic music to the Expo attendees in a free concert.
The Expedite Expo will be Jennifer's first performance at a trucking event and she says, "I'm really looking forward to playing at the Expo! Not many people know this about me but
I'm a former professional driver myself, so I can relate to what the hard-working men and women of the trucking industry have to deal with. It will be an honor to perform for them!"
Roots
Born and raised in a rural section of Idaho, Jennifer began singing at the ripe old age of 2 and first picked up the fiddle at age 10.
Inspired by her songwriter and musician mother, Jennifer's two sisters also have musical talent and the three siblings have performed together.
Music was a constant in her household: "My mom was into gospel and my father was a pop music fan (Helen Reddy, The Carpenters.) As for me, in addition to gospel, I always loved country."
"I started singing in churches, but I moved to country as soon as I was old enough to do it on my own."
Jennifer continues, "When I started singing with a band, we did country, classic rock and whatever it took to entertain the audience. Over the years, I've worked in dance clubs, private parties, county fairs - just about anywhere with a stage and a microphone."
The thirty-year old singer's career credits include opening for country superstars Toby Keith/Kevin Sharp and says that playing the Boise River Festival for an audience of 125,000 "was really exciting!"
Among her musical influences she lists Alan Jackson, Martina McBride, Anne Murray, the Judds... "and many others. I love them all!"
One of the pinnacles of her ever-expanding career came on January of 1989 when she was invited to Washington, DC to perform at the inauguration of President George H.W. Bush.
The early years
Jennifer tells us that she began working for a company at age 15 and by age 18 she had moved into a shipping manager position, the duties of which also included working as a forklift driver on the dock.
Her next job was at a UPS facility where she sorted freight for several years.
"I started out loading trucks from 3:00 am -9:00 am," the singer tells us. "I was playing in a band at night, so the timing worked out. A few years later, I got a driving route and I loved it."
"When I started it was an air route that took about three hours to run. When I finally made it to full-time route driver in a UPS package car, I would substitute for drivers who were sick, on vacation, etc."
"The routes were all different, ranging from 50 stops to 120 stops.
I loved it! It was a paid workout every day."
The dream
At one point Jennifer says that she had to make a choice between the workaday world at UPS or pursue her love of music and entertaining.
"Eight years ago I made the decision to go to Nashville. Eight months after making up my mind, I was here, looking for a job and an apartment. I went on a wing and a prayer and I've been here ever since."
She tells of an important working relationship that has helped propel her career: "I met Ricci (pronounced Richie) Moreno three years ago through a friend in Nashville."
"Ricci is a very talented songwriter and he has produced major artists like Kitty Wells, LeRoy Van Dyke, Jeannie C. Riley, The Kendalls, Donna Fargo and many others."
She continues, "He was retired and didn't really want to work with anyone else at that point. Fortunately, we hit it off so well that we've been best friends and songwriting partners since then."
"All of my spare time is taken up by writing. Ricci and I like to write together because if one of gets stumped, it helps to have the other person's opinion. Sometimes we'll go around and around over one line, but I think we usually come up with a decent product."
She explains, "I don't have as much confidence in my writing as I do in Ricci's, so it helps me to get his input along with him teaching me the basics."
"I write best about topics I'm passionate about, like when I'm really happy or really sad."
She has a number of self-penned songs on her first release, "Destination Unknown" including her pesonal favorite, "Touch me like that again". "I wrote it from my heart," she says.
Lately, this talented singer/songwriter has been concentrating primarily on writing, recording and making plans for her second album.
"It looks like we have some major label interest and we'll be having some meetings very soon," she says hopefully.
Helping others
Jennifer has a passion aside from music and is a devoted advocate for victims of domestic violence.
"We've had huge interest in the song "Destination Unknown" from the battered women and children's shelter at the YWCA in Nashville. where I worked for several years as a volunteer. They came to me and said that they wanted to use the song for their meetings as well as for radio promotion. That was a huge honor for me!"
"Although I have never experienced life as a battered woman, working with those women who have suffered this abuse was an amazing experience. The details have yet to be worked out, but I would like a portion of every CD's sale to go to fighting domestic violence."
A personal insight
So, after a number of years of performing and learning her craft, does she still get stage fright?
"When I was growing up, I was such a little ham!" says the singer.
"When I started playing with a band, I was a little scared, but it wasn't like I was up there by myself. But when you're playing in front of a huge crowd at a concert and you look out and see people everywhere, you get a little nervous."
"The funny thing is, I get the most nervous when I'm in singing gospel, whether it's in church or at a gospel jubilee. I love it, but I get really scared!"