# Jenny Bruce

Jenny Bruce (also known as Ghoste) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. She has shared the stage with John Oates, Sophie B. Hawkins, Vanessa Carlton, and Avril Lavigne, among others. Her songs have been featured in The Ghost Whisperer, Six Degrees, King of the Hill, Meet My Folks, Dawson's Creek, among others. In 2001 her song, Amsterdam, won first place for Best Pop Song, in The Billboard Songwriting Contest.

## Early life and education

Jenny Bruce was born in New York, New York (November 14, 1966) to parents Duncan and Tamara (née Kahan) Bruce. Her father, Duncan Archibald Bruce, was an author and her mother was a writer.
Bruce taught herself to play the piano at age five when she wrote her first song, and later taught herself to play the guitar in her early twenties. She attended the all-girls Chapin School in New York, New York from grades 1-12. During high school she became the class pianist and also performed in musical theater.
She attended Barnard College in New York, New York and completed her junior year in Paris, as part of Columbia University’s Reid Hall program where she also began working as a jazz singer and waitress at The Hollywood Savoy. She joined the band, SAY which received radio airplay and had a local following. In 1990, Bruce returned to New York and finished her senior year at Barnard College, and holds a bachelor's degree in European History and a minor in French Translation. Bruce is fluent in French and English.

## Music career

During her junior year in college in 1987, while studying abroad in Paris, Bruce began performing in nightclubs and restaurants. She joined the French band, SAY which garnered airplay and had a local following. Upon returning to New York, New York, she began performing in clubs and festivals and started writing songs for her first album titled, Jenny Bruce.

### 1990s

Bruce released her debut, self-titled album, Jenny Bruce in 1997. Tracks, "Music to My Ears", was featured in Dawson's Creek.

### 2000s

Bruce created a local following in New York and performed at clubs and festivals as well as opening concerts for Sophie B. Hawkins, Gavin Degraw, and Avril Lavigne, among others. She garnered a following and continued writing songs and released four more albums.
In 2001, she released, Soul on Fire and she was approached by a Los Angeles publishing company to license her songs in film and television which successfully placed many of her songs in major network television shows.
In 2006, Bruce released, Left of July.

### 2010s

Bruce took a break from her music career beginning in 2005 citing,
Bruce released, Firefly in a Jar in 2015.

### 2020s

In January, 2020, Bruce released the album, Ghoste.

### Awards

In 2001, Bruce won 1st place for Best Pop Song in the Billboard International Songwriting Contest. She was invited to perform and accept her award at Nashville's Bluebird Cafe where she was awarded an arch top guitar.
| Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
| 2020 | Deep Water | CCVM Best New Song Scholarship | Won |
| 2002 | Make It Right | Songwriters Hall of Fame Award | Won |
| 2001 | Amsterdam | Billboard Songwriting Contest | Won |

### Songs in film and television

| Year | Production | Title | Role | Network |
| 2011 | Childrens Hospital | Restless Heart | Writer, Performer | Adult Swim |
| 2009 | All My Children | Room In My Heart | Writer, Performer | ABC |
| 2009 | All My Children | Cross My Heart | Writer, Performer | ABC |
| 2009 | All My Children | Home | Writer, Performer | ABC |
| 2008 | All My Children | Running | Writer, Performer | ABC |
| 2007 | Six Degrees | Cross My Heart | Writer, Performer | ABC |
| 2007 | Six Degrees | Saint Cloud | Writer, Performer | ABC |
| 2007 | Six Degrees | Alive and Wide Awake | Writer, Performer | ABC |
| 2005 | Ghost Whisperer | Home | Writer, Performer | CBS |
| 2003 | King of the Hill | Home | Writer, Performer | Fox TV |
| 2003 | Meet My Folks | Music To My Ears | Writer, Performer | NBC |
| 2003 | Meet My Folks | Amen | Writer, Performer | NBC |
| 2003 | Jake 2.0 | Anybody Out There | Writer, Performer | UPN |
| 2003 | Jake 2.0 | Music To My Ears | Writer, Performer | UPN |
| 2002 | Glory Days (2002 TV series) | Music To My Ears | Writer, Performer | The WB |
| 2000 | Dawson's Creek | Music To My Ears | Writer, Performer | The WB |
| 1999 | 30 Days (1999 film) | Freddy | Writer, Performer | Film |
| 1999 | 30 Days (1999 film) | Uptown | Writer, Performer | Film |
| 1995 | Sex and the Other Man | Captive Heart | Writer, Performer | Film |

## Discography

* 1997 - Jenny Bruce
* 2001 - Soul on Fire
* 2006 - Left of July
* 2015 - Firefly in a Jar
* 2020 - Ghoste