The Rise of the Modern Cowgirl – Jenna Paulette

Singer and songwriter, Jenna Paulette, also known as the ‘Modern Cowgirl’ is on the rise and there’s no stopping her! Through a lot of hard work, dedication, believing in herself, and never giving up, she is making her dreams a reality. Jenna’s a rising country artist and just released her brand new single, ‘Country in the Girl’. You can listen to her new single on Spotify and Apple Music. 

Jenna was born and raised in Texas, located in the Dallas area, she grew up in a town called, Lewisville. Jenna is one true cowgirl, she grew up in a beef cattle family, her family’s ranch was right on the Texas-Oklahoma line. She comes from a hard-working family and has three other siblings, two sisters, Alex and Madison (Madi), and one younger brother, Garrett. Her family ran a cow-calf operation, Jenna and her sister, Madi fell in love with it from a very young age. Jenna is very thankful that her Grandad William and her Uncle Tim poured just about everything they knew about cattle into her and her sister. 

Jenna Paulette with her siblings, Alex, Madi, Garrett and their Grandad, William Alley Jones

Jenna’s family saw that fire in her that she loved ranching and cattle. Her family taught her about regenerative ranching and how to treat the land. One thing that Jenna has never forgotten is her Uncle Tim’s words, “We’re not just cattle farmers, we’re grass farmers. If your quality of grass is good then your cattle are going to look good and you’ll have a sustainable operation.” She just soaked it all in and loved learning everything about her family’s operation.

Jenna Paulette, Photo Courtesy of Marion Wine

“I love the way cattle move, everything about them is peaceful to me even though it’s not peaceful all the time because it gets real western out there. I fell in love with ranching because of them. The goal is to continue our family brand and start my own cow-calf herd.”

Jenna Paulette

There are so many facets to the western industry, Jenna grew up ranching in more of a modernized way. Her family used tractors, trucks, and 4 wheelers on their property to move cattle and to get around. Later on, Jenna learned how to ride horses more seriously and then moved cattle on horseback. Now that she’s done it on horseback she thinks she’ll stick to horseback over the 4 wheelers. Jenna mentioned, “It’s just so much easier on a horse that knows what it’s doing.” Nonetheless, she loved her learning experience in the western world. Luckily, their cows didn’t have to move too far, they kept their pastures and pins close to each other so it’d be easy to move them even if it was just one person moving them. 

Jenna Paulette 4 wheeling with Uncle Tim & Jenna with family friend, Lane Rodgers on tractor

Jenna is a huge fan of rodeos and grew up going to them after all she is a Texan! She has a very high appreciation for the rodeo world, agriculture, and the cowboy way of life. As far as showings go in the western world, Jenna would love to dive into and learn cutting because she loves sorting cattle. 

Jenna Paulette, Photo Courtesy of Jenna Paulette

“I guess more than anything I’ve always been interested in the day-to-day kind of practical ranching side of things and really that’s where my passion lies. I would absolutely love to run things in a more traditional sense because I’ve experienced it now. I really love it and want to do that on a daily basis. There’s nothing that clears my mind like moving cattle, gathering them, and being on horseback.”

Jenna Paulette

Jenna Paulette , Photo Courtesy of Jenna Paulette

From the time when Jenna was just a baby to now, music has always played an important role in her life. Her mom would sing to her as she would rock her. Jenna would basically match pitch and coo back to the melodies her mom was singing to her. Her mom recognized that Jenna was melodic and could hear pitch from a young age. Jenna joined her church choir when she was three years old and continued throughout her childhood. In high school, she performed in many musicals, she had such a love and joy for singing which has carried with her into her adulthood.

Growing up Jenna was on her way with her family to visit the Grand Canyon. The Dixie Chicks album was playing in the families suburban and she knew every word. Jenna stated, “My mom and dad looked back in the rearview mirror, they’d turn the dial down and then turn it back up and I’d be right on the money as far as pitch and timing go. Singing right along as if the music was never turned down. They looked back at me and I’ll never forget it, they were like “You’re good, you can do this!” I was oh my gosh, that’s kind of when the itch happened.”

Jenna grew up singing all those 90’s country songs and every George Strait song you can imagine. Her Grandad, William Alley Jones kept George Strait music in his trucks on the ranch. They’d go out to check on the cattle and Jenna would go ride the 4 wheelers by herself and she’d just sing all these songs that kind of reflected the life that she loved living. At that point she thought to herself, she had to do this. Jenna wanted to represent this country-western lifestyle and couldn’t imagine not being on stage and being able to sing. She always knew in her heart that she wanted to do country music. 

For college, Jenna went to Savannah College of Art and Design in Georgia which believe it or not, she didn’t even apply there. In her senior year in high school, she was in a national musical and the college had seen her performing in Nebraska. She had prayed for a full-ride scholarship. Jenna just had this feeling the day of the performance that she was going to get a scholarship. After the show, the music director of Savannah College of Art and Design came up to Jenna and offered her a full-ride scholarship which was incredible because music scholarships of that magnitude are very rare. The scholarship was to sing in an ensemble, three guys and three girls. Jenna was basically one of the ambassadors of the school, there was no football team. In other words, the ensemble she was in was looked at in similarities of a football team as having to be present at everything.

Jenna had never imagined ending up in Savannah, Georgia for college of all places. It ended up being a great experience, she was very thankful for such an amazing opportunity and got her degree in marketing and graphic design. She always knew she wanted to pursue country music and that degree has helped her package and market herself for the ever-evolving world in the country music industry. 

Left photo by: Jenna Paulette – Right photo by: Kathryn Skeean

One thing in country music that Jenna has come to find out is that you have to have a lane to stick out, it needs to be different but also commercial enough for people to understand you. First Jenna would say she’s a cowgirl to people but people would just make it cheesy. One day driving, it struck her, she realized she’s not just any cowgirl, she’s a Modern Cowgirl. She isn’t just a cowgirl who listens to nothing but country music. She loves a good old school Merle and George Strait but also loves a vast variety of genres. Jenna loves a good mix between what feels modern and cool and what is traditional and real. Jenna’s goal here is she doesn’t want people to categorize her, yes she’s country, and yes she’s a cowgirl but she has a twist on things. She’s unique, ranchy, has a one-of-a-kind style sense and she’s making things punchy in a modern cowgirl way. 

Jenna Paulette, Photo Courtesy of Marion Wine

“It’s fun to watch people seriously relate and see me for who I am and appreciate what I’m doing because I freaking love country music and I can’t imagine doing anything else with my life. Nothing else makes sense of everything that God made me good at-all of it together makes me feel fully alive“

Jenna Paulette

Jenna’s new song, Country in the Girl was written by herself along with her two buddies, Smith Ahnquist and Jeb Gibson. She wanted this new song to distinguish the real side of country from the glamorized side of what people think country is or what they think cowgirling is. Jenna didn’t want to alienate anyone but she did want to make light of the distinguishment between the two. This song is perfect for her audience and honestly, people are craving somebody that’s true to themselves.

Jenna couldn’t believe how this song resonated with people, one day she decided to post it on her TikTok because it’d been a minute since she last posted on there plus she loved the demo she had done. To her surprise, the song took off! It went viral on TikTok, Instagram, and even Pinterest with over a million impressions on it. Jenna has been receiving a ton of messages a day from her fans asking if the song is out yet, what’s it called, and searching for it. Once she realized the song was going viral she got the ball rolling and has been working hard to get this new single released.

Jenna is coming out with her music video for “Country in the Girl” to be released soon and she cannot wait for y’all to see it! She uses real cowboys, hangs out with her friends, and creates some real magic. Jenna really enjoys making her music videos because she likes having the freedom of a small crew, she doesn’t roll up in a big trailer with a whole bunch of fancy gear and lighting. She doesn’t use actors, she shoots with real people, who are her friends and I don’t know about you but I think that is even more special.

Jenna Paulette with her sister Madi & brother, Garrett. Photo Courtesy of Jenna Paulette

Some advice from Jenna for someone wanting to pursue music is,

“Figure out who you are and what that looks like, sounds like, and feels like. You have to give people a reason to keep coming back for that same thing over and over again and providing that endless quality.”

Jenna Paulette on tour with Mason Ramsey, Left Photo Credit: Thomas Heney & Right Photo Credit: Delaney Royer

Jenna Paulette is an inspiration and she’s going places. If you haven’t already go check out her new single, ‘Country in the Girl’ available on Spotify and Apple Music. Stay tuned for her music video for ‘Country in the Girl’ coming out soon! You can check for updates on the release date for Jenna’s new ‘Country in the Girl’ music video on her website, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, or Twitter. She has recently announced her tour dates for 2021, be sure to check out where she’s performing!

Jenna Paulette, Photo Credit: Thomas Heney

“I feel that this song feels real and something you can grab onto, that’s just fun and lighthearted. I’m so thankful people have responded to it the way that they have because I was not expecting it at all. It’s just a huge blessing and I’m very thankful.”

Jenna Paulette