First Mate Jeanne
Jen has been surrounded by all forms of music and the renaissance festival world, her entire life. For over a decade she has been known as a consummate crystal stick aficionado, known widely for her prowess and grace in juggling as well as deft showmanship and sales expertise. Throughout this time she has worked “on the road” in various Renaissance Festivals on the crafter side, as well as juggling, until she joined the ranks of entertainers with the Molly Hares.
Her musicianship is not a recent development. Early on, she began to play the harp with her mother, the talented Brandy Gergen and mountain dulcimer, tutored by a versatile musician and her father, Dan Gergen. Since then, she has added the bowed psaltery, various dulcimers and strumsticks, as well as branching out into rhythms with the spoons and numerous drums and shakers.
Jen’s newest musical achievement, portable enough to go to ren fest, is the didjeridoo. She has proudly mastered circular breathing, as done by the aborigines of Australia, from where the “dij” originated centuries ago.
Singing along with Celtic music from a very early age, Jen added versatility and appeal to Je Ne Sais Quoi with her clear melodious voice and vast knowledge of traditional and unique songs of the period and the sea. Now as First Mate on the Praying Mantis, she adds songwriting to her list of many talents for My Lady’s Cutlass.
