Saving Jane

“Hey...do you know the words to Bobbi McGee?”

Through a haze of woodsmoke and woozy late night chorus, she almost didn’t hear the question. But for some reason Marti Dodson sat back down at that campfire four years ago and made a new friend.

At the time, Marti was a college student at Ohio State University, where she sat in the back of her classes writing songs instead of taking notes. She brought the words to life on the rooftop of her broken down apartment building, playing around with a cheap guitar and a beginner’s chordbook.

One summer night she ended up at a campfire party hosted by a local musician. Self-conscious around the group of professional players, Marti was sitting quietly, listening to an incredible guitar player she had just met named Pat Buzzard. It was almost time to go home when Marti’s girlfriend piped up, “She can sing”.

Before long Pat and Marti made a musical connection that outlasted the campfire and forged into a deep friendship. When the duo headed into the recording studio to put down some of their songs, they contacted a local drummer to help them out with the recording process, and that’s how they met Dak Goodman.

They knew there was something special about the music, so the friends decided to start a band. They booked a show and borrowed a bass player from another local band before it occurred to them that they might need a name. Ideas were tossed around, but nothing felt right to the group. Then one late, delirious night at the studio, Marti was doodling on a blank notepad, illustrating a comic strip featuring the three of them as bungling superheroes. The title of the comic strip? “Saving Jane”.

The band recruited a lead guitar player and began recording an album. Fans were drawn in quickly by the witty, snarling lyrics and emotional vocals, and Saving Jane’s popularity continued to grow. Bass player Jeremy Martin joined the group in 2002, and with the recent additions of keyboard player Joe Cochran and guitarist Mike Unger, the lineup is complete.

In October ‘05, Saving Jane released their debut full length release, “GIRL NEXT DOOR,” on Toucan Cove Entertainment, and began their introduction to the world outside of Columbus. Armed with their title track, “Girl Next Door,” a defiant female anthem from the girl who never gets the guy, Saving Jane started 2006 climbing the radio charts and in February, 2006 made their debut on Billboard¹s Hot 100 Singles Chart. The group caught the attention of Universal Records and returned to the studio to add a few more tracks in anticipation of the re-release of “GIRL NEXT DOOR” for April, 2006 on Republic/Universal.

If you’re looking to get your heart broken and super-glued back together with a few hours worth of music, Saving Jane is the band for you. Don’t be the last to know about Saving Jane.

What started out as simply a campfire song between strangers soon turned into a musical connection in the form of the Columbus, OH-based alternative pop/rock group Saving Jane. It was at this bonfire that vocalist Marti Dodson (then a junior at Ohio State University) and rhythm guitarist Pat Buzzard first met and subsequently became friends. The pair began writing songs together and when the time came to record their work, local drummer Dak Goodman was recruited to help. The trio found something in each other, and the decision was made to form an actual band. Booking their first show, they took the name Saving Jane from a cartoon Dodson had been doodling one late night at the studio. As the band slowly began making a name for itself around Columbus, an additional lead guitarist, Kris Misevski, and a borrowed bass player from Goodman's cover band rounded out the group. About a year later, tensions within the band lead to the departure of their borrowed bassist, and Jeremy Martin replaced him in 2002. Two years later, as Saving Jane found their style shifting more from acoustic roots to alternative rock, their manager insisted that Dodson's be emphasized over the rest of the band; these changes eventually led to the exit of their lead guitarist. Mike Unger filled in the guitar gap, while keyboardist Joe Cochran completed the lineup later on. Saving Jane's full-length debut, Girl Next Door, was issued in October 2005 on Toucan Cove, and the title track found the band making their debut on the Billboard charts. Next signing to Universal, the band recorded a few additional tracks for an April 2006 re-release of their debut album on Republic/Universal. The early months of 2006 also saw guitarist Unger stepping down from the band for personal reasons; Brandon Hagan joined on in his place. ~ Corey Apar, All Music Guide