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Jillian Rae Live Session

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Jillian Rae is a multi-talented violinist, lead vocalist, and songwriter whose creative and dynamic style of violin playing, along with her lifelong experience as a performer, lend her an assured stage presence. She has an innate ability to create hook-laden tunes affirming the positives of life in the face of struggle and disappointment.

Like many of Minnesota's finest musicians, Jillian Rae grew up in the north, on the Iron Range - an environment as open to country and folk (and yes, polka) as it is to pop, rock and blues. Growing up in a music-loving household, Jillian was hooked early when she began taking violin lessons at age 7. From there, she began to sing, dance, perform, and has been working hard at perfecting her art ever since.

After years of study, performing and teaching, Jillian opened a music school, The Music Lab, in 2011 with her pal and fellow musician, Josie Just. Located in Minneapolis' Nokomis neighborhood, The Music Lab is Jillian's vehicle for passing on all she has learned - actively teaching voice, violin and viola to youth and adults, with (of course) an emphasis on performance. In 2013, additional space was acquired and The Movement Lab was added, in partnership with Stepheni Hubert - expanding the school's offerings to include dance and fitness courses for all ages. Jillian has been a heavy hitter in the Minnesota music scene for years, playing with as many musicians as humanly possible.

In the past, she had been known to lend her fiddle chops in the Duluth-based band Two Many Banjos, and also spent some time fronting the local pop country staple, The Killer Hayseeds. Currently, when she isn't performing with her own band, you can still catch her playing fiddle and singing with a number of bands around town: Corpse Reviver (Early American Folk, Bluegrass), Steve Kaul & The Brass Kings (Folk Revisionist), Brian Just Band ('60's California Pop), The Fiddle Heirs (5 fiddles and a bass), and The Blackberry Brandy Boys (Cosmic Country).

As FM Network Program Director and Music Director, Eric oversees many aspects of JPR's broadcast day. He still hosts the occasional Open Air or classical music shift, and is the driving force behind JPR Live Sessions - our popular series of live in-studio music performances and conversations.