Jeanne Zano was born, raised and still resides in a small northeastern Pennsylvania town. Family is extremely important to her as she comes from a large family, second youngest with 2 brothers and 4 sisters. When she was 6 years old, two very important events happened in her life, one good, one very bad. The good ~ she started taking piano lessons which would be the beginning of a lifetime filled with music. The bad ~ her sister who was 8 years old, battled a war with cancer and lost. It was a devastating time for the family but her parents, strong willed and strong in their faith, kept themselves and the family together, and extremely close to this day.

Jeanne’s mother inquired into piano lessons for her when she was 6 years old because Jeanne would hear a song and then play it on the piano. Her

mother knew God gave her talent that should not be wasted. Jeanne continued to take lessons throughout childhood, into high school and also majored for one year in college for music. She accompanied the chorus from middle school through high school and also played the organ in church.

One day through a mutual friend, Jeanne auditioned for a band who wanted a keyboard player. She auditioned in a garage and got the job. Jeanne sang back up, but then they asked her if she’d like to sing lead. She said OK and her first song she tried was “What About Love” by Heart. At the time, Jeanne loved to sing but for the most part it was only in her bedroom, practically wearing out her cassette tape of Patsy Cline’s greatest hits and any and all Heart records she had at the time, namely Heart and Bad Animals. Pat Benetar was also a favorite as was Fleetwood Mac/Stevie Nicks. So, Jeanne started singing her influences adding to the repertoire of the band.

Her first big gig with this band which consisted of 3 girls and 2 guys, was at a local campground. Jeanne’s family came out and to quote her brother, “I couldn’t believe that voice was coming out of her. I never even knew she sang.”

Main Event started playing some local clubs and word was getting out about a female, keyboard player who also sings lead. Jeanne wanted to expand her horizons so she heard about a band who needed a keyboard player and was from a town about 45 minutes away and who played mostly out of town. She auditioned and got the job. The traveling started to wear on Jeanne so she looked to do something more local. As luck would have it, Jeanne was approached to join a band with local veteran band members from popular groups who had disbanded. The group became very popular locally as well as out of town.

After a few years, Jeanne felt it was time to move on and this time chose to play in a duo with a very talented guitar/singer/songwriter who was previously in a hugely successful club band. The duo also sometimes played with Bill Kelly previously from the very popular band, the Buoys. Jeanne started missing singing in the bigger venues and singing with a band, so she left the duo when she and a long-time friend who was also a drummer, decided to put together a band. That band would be her longest running band she was ever in and still continues to play in today, Flaxy Morgan. Jeanne played with Flaxy Morgan for almost 10 years, but then decided to start a family. She had 2 children within 2 years and thought her days of singing were over. However, Flaxy Morgan needed someone to fill in for the a few gigs one summer and asked Jeanne if she was interested. She said yes and the chemistry clicked once again and they asked her back permanently.

In September 2005, Jeanne entered a vocal talent competition at the Wyoming County Fair. Out of hundreds of entrants, Jeanne was chosen as a finalist to compete at the Fair. After making it to the top 3, she won the competition. As part of the competition, Jeanne received a monetary award, and the honor of singing the National Anthem and two songs as opening act for Jason Aldean at the Wyoming County Fair in 2006. Then in 2007, Jeanne was asked to return to be the opening act for Lorrie Morgan at the Fair. It was there that she met Mark Oliverius, Lorrie Morgan’s keyboard player and producer. Mark liked what he heard, introduced himself to Jeanne and invited her to Nashville to record at his studio. After speaking more with Mark and discussing her options, she decided to go for it. Jeanne went to Nashville in March 2008 and recorded 4 songs, one of which was a very special song she wrote for her sister Cathy entitled “8 Years of Life”, and then went back in May 2008, adding two more originals to her 10 song CD titled “Here I Am” that she recorded with Oliverius as producer.

Even though Jeanne has been in the entertainment business for over 20 years, she is proud to have recorded her first CD in Nashville, TN.

In addition to performing with Flaxy Morgan on the summer bazaar/picnic tour, Jeanne is getting a new band together to promote her new CD, “Here I Am”. When not performing, Jeanne enjoys writing music, spending time with her family, especially her 2 children, and staying active in her community whether it be leading the congregation in singing at her church or serving on the local town recreation board.

“My goal in life is to share my talent with others and hope this CD is very successful so I can continue to create more music and make a difference in people’s lives.” – Jeanne