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A New Bell Strikes A Refreshing Tone: Singer Songwriter Jennah Bell

Jennah Bell grew up in a musical family and got her first guitar at age 13.
Jennah Bell grew up in a musical family and got her first guitar at age 13.

Jennah Bell’s love of music started with Disney movies and musicals. By age six she had matured past the soundtrack to “Annie” and discovered the magic of Stevie Wonder and the Beatles and began to understand the wide range of stories that music can tell. Jennah Bell joins host Frank Stasio in the studio for performance and conversation.

She asked for her first guitar by age 13, but playing music was still just something to do. It was not yet a calling. Bell was born into a family with rich musical roots that traversed jazz, funk, pop and soul: her father is Ronald Bell, and her uncle is Robert Bell of Kool & The Gang. Bell refuses to let her music be defined by any one genre. Her work begins with telling a story, and she says that is the telling of that story that decides the genre. Bell released her first full-length album in February and joins host Frank Stasio for conversation and live performance from “Anchors and Elephants.” Jennah Bell is performing at Summerstage Music Series in Durham on Friday, June 21 at the Golden Belt Campus.

 

Copyright 2020 North Carolina Public Radio

Longtime NPR correspondent Frank Stasio was named permanent host of The State of Things in June 2006. A native of Buffalo, Frank has been in radio since the age of 19. He began his public radio career at WOI in Ames, Iowa, where he was a magazine show anchor and the station's News Director.
Dana is an award-winning producer who began as a personality at Rock 92. Once she started creating content for morning shows, she developed a love for producing. Dana has written and produced for local and syndicated commercial radio for over a decade. WUNC is her debut into public radio and she’s excited to tell deeper, richer stories.