Regardless of the genre, a gut-level honesty connects Redding with her audiences. The songs on her CDs are a soulful mix of self-penned roots music~ blues, country, jazz, and rock n' soul~ that resonate from her own life experiences and observations as well as her interpretations of songs by prolific writers who have influenced her.
Redding's CD, How It Is, spent three months in the Top Ten of Roots Music Report's Blues Chart. The emotive song stylist was honored to be invited to perform another cut from that album, her poignant song about older child adoption, "A Family to Love," at the Rhode Island State House on National Adoption Day. A former Americana radio program director and morning show host, Redding has been an invited guest speaker for the Connecticut Songwriters Association, and a guest on radio and television throughout the United States.
Her first CD, Run With It, recorded in Nashville, and her follow-up albums, The Running Kind and How It Is were played on more than 250 radio stations worldwide. "The Running Kind" was featured on the daytime drama All My Children and Redding's "Pink Slip Blues" aired on the syndicated personal finance show Sound Money. Her song, "I Want Everything" from The Running Kind CD was in the comedy film Moving McAllister.
Redding has many sides. She has shared the bill with major country acts including The Mavericks, Lee Roy Parnell, Asleep at the Wheel, Hank Williams Jr., and many others. In the folk direction, she has performed numerous times at The Guthrie Center, Arlo Guthrie's venue of "Alice's Restaurant" fame, and she has showcased at the heralded Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, selected from over 400 applicants. Redding's spiritual vocals have helped her raise church rafters, singing solo a cappella and backed by full choirs and instrumentation. In recent years, from sultry to swinging, she's enjoyed singing blues and jazz in the upscale inns of the beautiful Berkshires, mixing it up from time to time as the mood beckons.
JoAnne Redding has lit up stages from New Orleans to New England, with full bands at fairs and festivals, clubs and concert halls, and pared-down and acoustic for more intimate venues.