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 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.