Biography
"One of Austin's true talents." -- Dave Obermann, KUT-FM, Austin, TX
Jean Synodinos listens with amazement to the stories people tell her. Those curious single pearls of wisdom, or the full volumes of odd things that just happen to people proving truth is stranger than fiction. In Jean’s case, it’s things like:
-- That humiliating defeat on a nationally-televised game show at the hands of a McDonald’s manager.
-- Those 500 meals of baked ziti consumed in a 2 year span while in a hit off-Broadway show.
-- The 6th grade teacher who suggested she never, ever sing.
Turns out that teacher was just dead wrong. With a voice that’s been hailed as “big league” and “show-stopping,” award-winning songs and accomplished acoustic guitar work, Jean is always out to push the envelope a little bit more with each song and each show. Energetically. Enthusiastically.
With songs that skate between genres, Jean jumps from rock to jazz to pop in order to find the right groove and tone for each song. Known for her dynamic performances, she lives to "read the room" and deliver shows that keep audiences returning for more. But those stories…
“It’s not to suggest that these stories necessarily find their way into songs, but these are the things we all tell each other to break the ice, to get to the next level, to know each other better,” suggests Jean. “Compare a life to a song, and it seems to me that the curious story is the equivalent of the good chorus, while the stuff of every day living, well there are your verses—and that’s the real meat on the bones, isn’t it?”
Following up on her acclaimed debut CD Lucky, Jean has just released Breathe. Picking up where Lucky left off, Breathe’s eleven tracks groove even harder musically and dig even deeper lyrically. The disc features thoroughbred performances by Charles Rieser on guitars (The Scabs, Boombox), Brad Houser on bass (Edie Brickell & The New Bohemians), and Rob Hooper on drums (Guy Forsythe, Colin Gilmore).
Jean lives in Austin, TX with her husband, guitarist and producer Charles Rieser and their new puppy, Freida. A breast cancer survivor, Jean reminds women to go get that mammogram. Always kind to animals, she also gardens in spite of repeated failures.
About that name
Do not be afraid of the last name. Say it like this: sin-uh-DEE-nus. Try it, it's easy.
Jean tells a true story about that last name...
A deeply earnest child, I am late in developing a sense of sarcasm. I’m in first grade and I go to my father and ask him for the English translation of our last name. I need to know for school.
I stand eye level with his workbench in the basement, ask the question and watch my father do something he rarely does – give me his full and complete attention to address this critical and excellent question! He says, "Why yes, Jean, there are two possible translations of our last name. The first, of course, is ‘member of the church council,’ from the Greek root word ‘synod.’ And the second is ‘one who screams loudly while walking on a road.’"
Again, let me say I am a humorless child. So I believe him (and continue to, well into my 30s). Plus, that second definition just makes so much more sense to my six-year old brain.
Flash forward. It’s the mid-80s. I wake up in Los Angeles and wonder why the hell I’m here. Unemployed and profoundly unmotivated, am thrilled to discover the L.A. Times want ads are made for people just like me! There it is, smack dab on the front page of ads: "Joker’s Wild Game Show Contestants Wanted," and I look no more, for I’m too busy conjuring visions of my certain winnings -- the all-expenses paid trip around the world, the new car, the mounds of cash that will make gainful employment completely irrelevant for years to come.
The next day I join other hopefuls in the corporate offices for the test of general knowledge, which is pretty easy to pass. I sail through the initial personal interview, but so does anyone who can smile and nod. They really start to separate the wheat form the chaff with the mock game, and boy, do I shine here. I’m enthusiastic! I understand the rules! I win the mock game!!
And I clinch the deal in the last step – the in-depth interview. The producers hand me an ace. They actually ask: what’s your last name mean?? Ah, bless them! I deliver my line like a seasoned comic: One Who Screams Loudly While Walking On A Road. They guffaw, they shake my hand and I get the nod. I’m IN, baby!
And I go buy a ridiculously short red dress for the taping.
The big day comes, and I am way, WAY too confident. You know the kid you went to school with who’s just a wee too sure she already knows the questions on (and answers to) the final exam? That's me – the kid you want to clock. Don’t worry, though, I get my karmic comeuppance.
There we are, on the set, under the lights, and look – it’s a live studio audience! Well, barely live. Median age is, I’m guessing, 73, based on the reflection of the lights off all that white hair. These gals have been sitting in those uncomfortable -- but free! -- seats for two hours already as other episodes have been taped, and their discomfort is audible. I Hoover up their discernable and specific kind of energy -- and I choke. How, you ask?
Jack Berry welcomes me and asks me That Question About My Name. What name? I do not remember my name.
Wait—uh—there it is, I know it now, I spit it out, but my… timing… is… ….off. I am really really not funny. Jack Berry doesn’t think so, the old ladies certainly don’t think so, and I don’t think so either.
I panic. I pull the lever and--oh no!!—I get the Mystery Category which turns out to be—aaaack!—Agriculture.
Now, my parents shelled out some serious coin to send me to the College Of My Choice, but I’m about to lose to a McDonald’s manager. The question, forever branded on my brain, is: "What grass feeds two-thirds of the world’s population on a daily basis?" I say wheat. But NO!! It’s RICE, people, and my opponent’s course of study at McD U. has clearly taught him well. He gets it right.
I gotta give the guy props, though, cause he knows the answer to the next question (answer: Helen Gurley Brown) which puts him over the top. So he gets the thousand bucks, the trip to New Orleans and the chance to come back for more fabulous prizes in the next round.
And I get $25 worth of Sue Bee Honey and a Rath Blackhawk ham.
I am told that these shows are in re-run on The Game Show Network. Because I live in fear of being found out through syndication, I come clean with you now.