Our Lady J is known for her visionary gospel styling, powerhouse pianist skills and unforgettable live shows. Along with the Train-To-Kill Gospel Choir, she has been delivering a new testament of post-religious gospel music to sold-out crowds throughout the world since 2006. A native Pennsylvanian, Our Lady J moved to New York City after a prodigious upbringing as a classical pianist, where she developed her unique sound of post-religious gospel music by combining her church background with New York’s glitzy rock-n-roll downtown scene. Having worked as a pianist and musical director for Broadway’s top performers, she recruited her friends and colleagues to form the “Train-To-Kill Gospel Choir.” Our Lady J quickly became a New York icon known for her technical prowess and soul shaking live shows, regularly selling out top venues with her choir by her side, including Joe’s Pub, The Zipper Factory, Highline Ballroom & Ars Nova Theatre. Before embarking on her solo career, Our Lady J (also known as Jonnah Speidel) developed her “stage legs” through accompanying and musical directing artists including Cyndi Lauper, Debbie Harry, Lady Gaga, Antony Hegarty (of Antony and The Johnsons), Jake Shears & Ana Matronic (Scissor Sisters), Taylor Dayne, Dar Williams, Armen Ra, Deborah Voight, and Broadway stars Chita Rivera, Bebe Neuwirth, Elaine Stritch, Gavin Creel, Christine Ebersole, Linda Eder, Rebecca Luker, Anthony Rapp, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Billy Porter, Steven Pasquale and Karen Mason. While collaborating with the aforementioned talents, she performed in venues including Carnegie Hall, The Town Hall, Radio City Music Hall, Alice Tulley Hall at Lincoln Center, CBGB’s, The Box, Birdland, Feinstein’s at the Regency, Highline Ballroom, Joe’s Pub and The Kitchen. She also toured extensively as music director for downtown artist Justin Bond throughout cities including Boston, San Francisco, Portland, Washington DC, Seattle, London, Montreal, Warsaw & Dublin. As a classical pianist, she has worked with American Ballet Theatre, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, and the Mark Morris Dance Group, where she was a featured performer in the MMDG Music Ensemble. In May of 2009, Our Lady J set out for her international solo debut at London’s prestigious South Bank Centre, complete with orchestra and gospel choir. She quickly became the buzz of London’s underground music scene and was asked to return for a successful 2 week run with the London “Train-To-Kill Gospel Choir” at the Soho Theatre in the summer of 2010. Other stops on her 2010 international tour included Berlin (Bar Jeder Vernunft), Dublin (The George), Manchester (Queer Up North Festival), The Ruhrfestspiele Festival (Recklinghausen, Germany), and Ireland’s Electric Picnic Festival, where she opened for pop superstar Robyn. Cities toured in the US include San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, Bard College (Annandale, NY), Bennington College (Bennington, NY) and Los Angeles, which she has recently made her home. Within a week of arriving in L.A., Our Lady J booked a monthly show at Ivan Kane’s Café Was and then made her debut at the legendary Roxy Theatre after only 3 months in town, a testament to her fast-rising star. Critics’ raves attest to the quality and star power of Our Lady J’s live shows: “Virtuosic! Our Lady J is a big, brassy blond, with an abiding love of gospel. The critics’ favorite bowls the audience over with her gospel stylings and pianistic skills.” - Time Out New York; “Powerful! Our Lady J knows how to rock the house. She will have you singing her praises long after the show is over.” - The Village Voice; “Stunning!” - New York Magazine; “The sultry vocals of Our Lady J are a regular presence on the New York City and London underground music scenes. From beautifully arranged covers of songs by Dolly Parton, Nine Inch Nails, and Alanis Morissette, to stellar, sometimes haunting, self-composed works, the sensation is truly genre-bending.” - Joseph Hassan, OUT.com; “The divine Our Lady J fills the theatre with such dizzying talent, it's as if the space can barely contain her. Many of the pieces are her own compositions: they're tales of love and survival, and, suffice to say, they are entirely bereft of religious dogma. It's a captivating hour, with musical moods that range from soaring to timid, playful to melancholy, emanating from her candle-lit piano. All that, plus she's likable and witty between sets, and not adverse to getting bold and explicit with her lyrics. A lady who really is the hostess with the mostest.” – Metro UK www.ourladyj.com