Growing up in Norwalk Connecticut,
Joan began performing at an early age. She began piano lessons at six, and
studied for a few years before her first violin lessons at age eight when she
discovered a new focus for her enthusiasm. Joan proved to be a natural and
played with school and community orchestras before leaving to study violin
performance at Boston University. It was in Boston that she began playing with
bands and making an impact on the local music scene as a member of the
Dambuilders. During her time with the band, Joan expanded the role of violin in
rock music with her ferocity and daring. By using the violin for rhythm parts
instead of the more common decorative embellishments, she added a dynamic new
dimension to the band’s sound.
In the late nineties Joan began to
stretch herself musically, adding guitar and keyboard parts to the Dambuilders
recordings as well as co-writing several song and singing. Examples of these new
exercises can be heard on the Dambuiders’ Against the Stars ; for both ‘Luster’
and ‘Itch It’, Joan wrote the lyrics and handles the lead vocals.
A short time after Against the Stars
was released the Dambuilders disbanded and Joan began playing with old friends
Dave Shouse and Michael Tighe in Those Bastards Soul. Joan continued to explore
various moods and sounds during Those Bastard Souls' live shows and on their
release Debt & Departure and when TBS went their separate ways in 1999, Joan
and Tighe created a new group, Black Beetle.
Based in
New York City, the group was, for Joan, an attempt to grow as an instrumentalist
and find her voice as a singer. Forming the band also helped Joan, Tighe and
drummer Parker Kindred deal with the sudden death of their friend, lover and
band mate, Jeff Buckley. The group enjoyed good reviews and played and handful
of choice opening gigs for the likes of Morrissey and Patti Smith, but
ultimately their promise wasn’t enough to sustain them and the Black Beetle
project dissolved as soon as their grief dissipated. They disbanded in the fall
of 2002 after recording one album.
Fortunately, the end of Black Beetle
brought the beginning of Joan’s work as a solo artist and the creation of
JOAN AS POLICEWOMAN. The five song ep was written by Joan and produced by
Bryce Goggin, who has worked with Spacehog and the Lemonheads, among others. The
two met while Goggin was mixing Those Bastard Souls'second release, Debt
and Departure. The JxAxPxWx ep also features Ben Perwosky and
Rainey Orteca as well as former Dambuilders' frontman, Dave Derby.
JxAxPxWx has a song for every mood and has received favorable reviews.
It's also a great introduction to Joan's new musical direction.
In 2006 Joan released her first full length cd, Real Life to excellant reviews and followed up with a year-long world tour as well as acting as musical director for Hal Willner's Rogue's Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs & Chanteys and making appearences on upcoming Rufus Wainwright and Scissor Sister's recordings.
Growing up in Norwalk Connecticut,
Joan began performing at an early age. She began piano lessons at six, and
studied for a few years before her first violin lessons at age eight when she
discovered a new focus for her enthusiasm. Joan proved to be a natural and
played with school and community orchestras before leaving to study violin
performance at Boston University. It was in Boston that she began playing with
bands and making an impact on the local music scene as a member of the
Dambuilders. During her time with the band, Joan expanded the role of violin in
rock music with her ferocity and daring. By using the violin for rhythm parts
instead of the more common decorative embellishments, she added a dynamic new
dimension to the band’s sound.
In the late nineties Joan began to
stretch herself musically, adding guitar and keyboard parts to the Dambuilders
recordings as well as co-writing several song and singing. Examples of these new
exercises can be heard on the Dambuiders’ Against the Stars ; for both ‘Luster’
and ‘Itch It’, Joan wrote the lyrics and handles the lead vocals. 
A short time after Against the Stars
was released the Dambuilders disbanded and Joan began playing with old friends
Dave Shouse and Michael Tighe in Those Bastards Soul. Joan continued to explore
various moods and sounds during Those Bastard Souls' live shows and on their
release Debt & Departure and when TBS went their separate ways in 1999, Joan
and Tighe created a new group, Black Beetle. 
Based in
New York City, the group was, for Joan, an attempt to grow as an instrumentalist
and find her voice as a singer. Forming the band also helped Joan, Tighe and
drummer Parker Kindred deal with the sudden death of their friend, lover and
band mate, Jeff Buckley. The group enjoyed good reviews and played and handful
of choice opening gigs for the likes of Morrissey and Patti Smith, but
ultimately their promise wasn’t enough to sustain them and the Black Beetle
project dissolved as soon as their grief dissipated. They disbanded in the fall
of 2002 after recording one album.
Fortunately, the end of Black Beetle
brought the beginning of Joan’s work as a solo artist and the creation of
JOAN AS POLICEWOMAN. The five song ep was written by Joan and produced by
Bryce Goggin, who has worked with Spacehog and the Lemonheads, among others. The
two met while Goggin was mixing Those Bastard Souls' second release, Debt
and Departure. The JxAxPxWx ep also features Ben Perwosky and
Rainey Orteca as well as former Dambuilders' frontman, Dave Derby.
JxAxPxWx has a song for every mood and has received favorable reviews.
It's also a great introduction to Joan's new musical direction.
In 2006 Joan released her first full length cd, Real Life to excellant reviews and followed up with a year-long world tour as well as acting as musical director for Hal Willner's Rogue's Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs & Chanteys and making appearences on upcoming Rufus Wainwright and Scissor Sister's recordings.
