What's the story?

Singer and pianist Jeni Saint is a refreshing performer on the acoustic circuit right now. Her captivating songs are reminiscent of early Carole King with hints of Tori Amos and Kate Bush. Her second collection of songs 'Avalanche Girl EP' will be available on iTunes in March.

Jeni grew up near Brighton and after several years in London she has returned to her roots.

She began playing the piano when she was four and took up the cello when she was eleven . It wasn't long before she was composing songs and short pieces. Aged 15, her songwriting talents were recognised when she won the BBC Song For Christmas competition. She entered their hall of fame alongside Gary Barlow. Keen to focus on her musical repertoire as well a continue to write and perform, Jeni took a music degree at Oxford University. She led a varied musical life performing with jazz bands and putting on singer-songwriter nights, very much against the grain of the tradition. After a battle against the university authorites, she filled her finals recital with musical works by Sondheim, Weill and Piaf instead of the usual Bach or Mozart.

Jeni has played several intimate gigs across London including The Troubadour, The 12-Bar Club, The Kashmir Klub and Sound. She was booked by Pete Lawrence as the first acoustic performer to play at The Big Chill Festival. This was during her stint as a 'singing cellist'. As a cello player, she has appeared on several tracks including Robbie Williams 'Rock DJ' and Mutya Buena 'Real Girl'.

After she'd spent couple of years in London, it became clear to Jeni that in order to learn about the music business, she would somehow have to get on the other side of it all. She landed herself a job in promotions with Atlantic Records and led a dual life writing and gigging her own material whilst at the same time holding down a challenging role promoting other artists. Helping to launch and sustain the careers of these multi-million selling artists, Jeni knew she'd never give up on her own musical career and in 2007, quit her job to refocus her creativity down on the south coast.

She bought a new piano, shut herself away down by the sea and in the months that followed re-discovered her true sound.