Bio

Short (10 words):

Janis Carper: award-winning songwriter, soulful vocalist, and masterful guitarist.

Medium (50 words):

Janis Carper is an award-winning songwriter, singer, and guitarist with eleven recordings to her credit — including her acclaimed 2020 solo album Sweet Relief and the 2025 single “Black Moon.” Her soulful vocals and well-crafted songs have been heard at festivals, concert halls, and radio programs nationwide.

Long (180 words):

Take Bonnie Raitt, Shawn Colvin, Rosanne Cash, and Lucinda Williams and put ’em in a blender, add a dash of Bruce Cockburn and Kevin Welch, serve in a salted glass, no straw. That may be the best way to describe singer/songwriter/guitarist Janis Carper, whose clear, powerful vocals and aggressive guitar playing skillfully convey the messages of her well-crafted songs — in styles ranging from country and swing to folk, rock, and blues.

An award-winning songwriter, Carper has won songwriting honors at festivals including the famed Kerrville Folk Festival in Texas, and has toured internationally in the off-Broadway hit “Woody Guthrie’s American Song.”  Her 2020 album Sweet Relief — a collection of 14 original songs written and performed entirely by Carper, recorded solo during the COVID-19 quarantine at MiCasa Studio in Enterprise, Oregon — is her eleventh full-length recording and one of her most personal. Her 2025 single “Black Moon” continues that streak of honest, road-worn songwriting.

Alongside her solo work, Carper performs with songwriter/vocalist Carolyn Lochert as Jezebel’s Mother, and the most elusive band in the northwest, The Strange Striders. She’s toured as lead guitarist with rising Americana star Margo Cilker, as well as all-woman country rockers Ashleigh Flynn and the Riveters. She is also the founder and director of the Wallowa Valley Music Alliance, a beloved non-profit she has helmed since its founding in 2004 in rural eastern Oregon.