Biography

In her travels, Jennie has appeared at the Mid Atlantic's most prestitious festivals including Apple Farm Festival, Bridgeton Folk Festival, with return visits to Philadelphia Folk Festival, Bethlehem Musikfest and Boston Folk Festival. She is a Smithsonian Folkways/Fast Folk Artist.

Jennie is vocally supportive of issues concerning the environment, homelessness, domestic violence and diversity and has performed at a host of benefits as service to those causes. She views songwriting as a treasure hunt for images and emotions, and an expression of individual spirituality. Her stage presence is all about the magic of communication. She often encourages the audience to participate. Jennie is best known for her unusual array of percussion instruments, wild bird calls and metaphoric writing style. Her song "The Spider and the Butterfly" was included on the WXPN Kid's Korner compilation entitled Live and in Curlers.

Mad Ferret's Enviro-Aid compilation included Jennie's "Tofu Song". A Meet the Composer grant was awarded to Jennie in January 1999. Jennie is a featured artist in Robert Wuthnow's book "Creative Spirituality". She was honored to accompany John Flynn with backup vocals and percussion on his recent "live" cd entitled "To The Point".

Jennie Avila has shared the stage with Pete Seeger, Janis Ian, Richie Havens, Kate Wolf, Baba Olatunji, Tom Rush, John Gorka, Jonathon Edwards, Trout Fishing in America, Cheryl Wheeler, Catie Curtis, Vance Gilbert, Patty Larkin, The Kennedy's, Tony Bird, Tom Rush, The Nields, David Massengill, Chris Shindell and comedian Robin Williams.