Jill Olson was watching the 2002 Academy Awards with friends when, all of a sudden, she heard a very familiar song. Halle Berry had just won the Best Actress Oscar for her performance in "Monster's Ball," and conductor John Williams struck up the ban [+]Jill Olson was watching the 2002 Academy Awards with friends when, all of a sudden, she heard a very familiar song. Halle Berry had just won the Best Actress Oscar for her performance in "Monster's Ball," and conductor John Williams struck up the band -- playing "Broken Up and Blue," a tune Jill wrote and recorded with her band Red Meat! "I was in a state of shock," Jill admits.
Hearing her song -- which appears on "Monster's Ball" soundtrack -- on the Oscars was only the latest of a series of career highlights for Jill, a singer, songwriter and bass player who hails from Ottumwa, Iowa, but has lived in the San Francisco Bay Area since the late 1980s. Jill first made a name for herself with the Movie Stars, a Bay Area folk-rock band that toured extensively, sold out local clubs, and released two CDs. In the early 1990s, Jill toured as the bassist and back-up vocalist in John Wesley Harding's band, and appeared with Harding on NBC's "The Tonight Show." In the mid-90s, Jill helped found Red Meat, one of the California's most popular alt-country bands. Red Meat has toured the country three times, and has recorded three CDs for Ranchero Records, two of which were produced by Dave Alvin.
Alvin was also behind the board when Jill recorded "My Best Yesterday," her second solo album (following "The Gal Who Would Be King," released by eggBert Records in 1996). Her solo career allows Jill to write and perform songs with more of a pop/rock influence than Red Meat's honky-tonk sound; "My Best Yesterday" assimilates rock, folk and country styles into an amiable blend of pop-Americana that is sure to delight listeners from Bakersfield to Boston.
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