Penni Jo was born in Wisconsin USA. After finishing secondary school, she joined an international Christian drama ministry where she served as a full time volunteer for 27 years, travelling for 13 of those 27 years; her travels have taken her throughout the United States, Canada, Germany, Sweden, the UK, Ireland, Austria, Italy and Switzerland.
Her 2014 album “Much Water” is a collection of original songs about faith, failure, joy and identity. In 2018 Penni Jo appeared on The Voice of Germany impressing the judges with the rawness and depth of her vocal performance.
Penni Jo has a wonderful husband and they have adult daughter. Penni Jo now lives in the Westerwald area of Germany.
2018 – Teilnehmer bei The Voice of Germany
2017 – lead and backup singer on FeG Westerburg worship CD II
2016 – lead and backup singer on FeG Westerburg worship CD I
2014 – Release of demo album “Much Water”
2014 – Berklee College of Music courses in Music Production and Songwriting
1997 – backup singer on “I Can Do All Things”
1994 – backup singer on “More Than Conquerors”
1991 – 1998 – backup singer, lead singer and music director, Covenant Players Catalysts units
1991 – 2018 – member of Covenant Players, Christian drama ministry
Elkhorn, Wisconsin — EAHS Alumni singer-songwriter Penni Jo releases her first self-produced single. “Easy and Light” is a piano ballad featuring soft vocals for a calm and restorative song based on Matthew 11.
Penni Jo was born and raised in Elkhorn, Wisconsin but has lived in Europe since 1996. She appeared on The Voice of Germany in 2018 with the song “Tom Traubert’s Blues” by Tom Waits. Her emotional performance moved the judges and the audience to tears. Penni Jo’s voice is heartfelt, raw and moving – and the single “Easy and Light” highlights her upper vocal range and softer tones.
After The Voice of Germany, Penni Jo was contacted by another local singer-songwriter Johanna Deis, who had appeared on the Sat1 casting show in 2014. The two planned a tour of their songs in 2020, but were only able to do one concert before the rest were canceled with the Covid-19 lock-downs.
“I have been writing my own songs since 2014. 2020 was hard because of Corona and 2021 was hard because of my mother’s cancer and my needing to fly home to be with her. Since coming back to Germany, I really feel the need to write more songs. And learning to produce gives me the chance to get my music out faster. I keep writing and writing.”
Penni Jo also sings with Westerwald band SomeSongs since 2016. SomeSongs performs covers of classic rock songs, as well as blues and soul, and has donated the honorarium to local charities., raising over 30,000 Euro in 8 years. In 2022, the band has co-written one song “If You’d Said”, and also has been rehearsing 5 of Penni Jo’s original songs. Will there be a CD? Only time will tell.
“Easy and Light” is available on all digital platforms 25 March 2022. Penni Jo is reachable on pennijo.com.