Singer/songwriter Janay Woodruff performs under the name JanaeSound. She started singing at the age of 9 with the Opera Theater in her home town of St. Louis, Missouri. Before moving to Maine, she was the opening act for Flo Rida in St Louis. You may have seen her perform a Beyoncé tribute at BeyDay at Port City Music Hall or crush Led Zeppelin’s Babe I’m Gonna Leave You at the All Roads Music Festival. She was the organizer of the State Theater’s Juneteeth event which raised money for Indigo Arts (helping Black youth in Maine connect with other Black artists) and Black Owned Maine (an effort to showcase and market Black-owned businesses and support the Black Community in need).

In 2018 JanaeSound released Diamonds, a haunting and hopeful song that helps us heal and know that the pressures we feel today will make us stronger on the other side. Big Room Studios collaborated with JanaeSound on a virtual-reality accented live performance of the song.

Talking to Aimsel Ponti of Maine Today, Janay explains, “I wrote ‘Diamonds’ in a dark place that’s all too familiar to artists or anyone with a dream; that moment where despite working the hardest you ever have in your life, you get stuck, all the doors close and the bad outweighs the good. In that darkness, doubt creeps in and you question everything. What am I doing? I’m not good enough, pretty enough, thin enough. I have no money and no team. I’m too old, and all my favorites (indie and mainstream artists) caught their break by now. I felt like it made more sense to stop than to continue pursuing music, but I was determined to push forward. With ‘Diamonds,’ I hope to encourage my listeners to keep going and never give up.”

The pandemic has impacted musicians and musical venues hard. JanaeSound continues to work on songwriting as well as dance and band rehearsal. Their new single “Feared” was released during the pandemic. It’s richly layered and helps us all find a release from the fears that hold us back. “In the track, I have a conversation with my fear. She’s doing the whole ‘let’s panic about a million things that could go wrong’ thing. I really do have that voice, ha-ha! She tries to talk me out of some of my best ideas. If I listened to her, life would be so boring,” said Woodruff, who released the track in June.

Janay is currently raising funds and seeking volunteers for her startup non-profit, Coded by Young Women of Color or CYWOC for short, to educate women ages 18-30 in an intensive 12-week course to learn how to code and then help them find jobs in Maine’s tech industry.