New Year's Day 2025 May all hope bear fruit may our tears be tears of joy may we live in peace **************** We take part in our annual Polar Bear plunge in Jacksonport, Wisconsin, one of the longest running plunges in the country. Diving headfirst into the New Year! First, there’s a party on the beach. Blankets, towels, beach toys; if it weren’t for the snow on the ground and our breath mingling as clouds you could mistake it for summer. We laugh, we dance, we do jumping jacks and push-ups up to the final countdown. Then as one, we run into the freezing waters of Lake Mic ..read more

In 2024, 49 new songs and spoken word pieces from 44 artists are glowing in the firmament of the Haiku Milieu-Universe. Each song is an incandescent star, a miraculous explosion of creativity. The artists and audience, drawn together by the gravity of shared wonder and connection, are a luminous constellation of hearts and minds. Creativity reminds us that, like the universe, we are bound by unseen forces that make us part of something greater than ourselves. We’re going to celebrate this and more at the Haiku Milieu Highlights show on Saturday, January 4, at FitzGerald’s. Stay tuned for more ..read more

Hope. When the fairy dust of hope sprinkles herself over my eyes and I being to feel the familiar tingles of a new idea break in me like the dawn of a new day, I can hardly remember when I DIDN'T feel this way. And when in a darker mood, wiping the mud from the splattered tires of someone else's bad mood out of my eyes, spitting it out of my mouth, I can hardly remember when I didn't feel THAT way. Feelings! We were in Missiouri, Texas and Ilinois for music over the last few weeks. If we fly and have to rent a car, we get a big one so if there's a fun field trip, we can drive. T ..read more

Dear friend and award winning singer/songwriter and Joe Jencks wrote “Let it Breathe” inspired by this Sunday Haiku Milieu: Lay down your weapons Love has got you surrounded There is no way out I had the pleasure of witnessing Joe's performance from the stage at Two Way Street Coffeehouse, contributing harmonies, and being part of the heavenly choir when Joe invited the entire room to sing towards the end of the song. Enjoy the video Robin captured of this special song. Learn more at joejencks.com. You can also enjoy Joe performing “Let It Breathe” solo live on TV here. You can find mor ..read more

Be part of it all! Sign up at jennybienemann.com. This Thanksgiving Sunday's Haiku Milieu is a celebration of our dear and beloved family and friends near and far, like those in the photo the band The Zimmerman, taken mere moments before we went onstage for our annual Black Friday concert of The Last Waltz at FitzGerald's. Photo by Jeff Givens backstage at FitzGerald's, November 24, 2023 I hope you, too had a spectacular Thanksgiving weekend with friends and family doing all the things that remind you that being alive is wild and precious gift.   And as wonderful as it was to celebrate ..read more

Jenny and Robin Bienemann play music on their back deck in Oak Park on Aug. 27, 2024.  On Friday, September 1, the couple along with a group of musician friends, will be playing at Fitzgeralds in Berwyn. The music will be focused on song’s inspired by Jenny’s haikus in her new book, “Sundays with Jenny.” (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune) Column: The joy and music / one couple has discovered / from writing haikus By Rick Kogan | rkogan@chicagotribune.com | Chicago Tribune PUBLISHED: August 28, 2024 at 5:00 a.m. What do you think of this? the beauty you see is merely a reflection of what’s ..read more

THE SONGS ARE COMING! THE SONGS ARE COMING! Friday, August 30, the Friday of Labor Day weekend, it's the third annual Haiku Milieu After Dark! Like a red carpet but for songs, Haiku Milieu Concerts are a cavalcade of world premiere songs inspired by a Haiku Milieu image and haiku, backed by a band of legends who have shared stages with musical heros too numerous to mention. The "After Dark" Haiku Milieu features sexy songs. Heartbreaking songs. Songs of love, loss and redemption - songs about things we can only talk about after the kids go to bed. These are the artists shari ..read more

Who knows why something resonates. I wish I knew.  Once, I was a substitute teacher and got to work with two sets of students in a row. The first class was incredible: they were doing what they did at a very high level, were harmonious and encouraging of each other, and really just needed someone to hold the space so they would keep doing what they were doing. The next class started later, was at a higher skill level, and while very invested in each other and each other’s work, they were fractious, testy at times with each other, calling each other out. The work they were doing would n ..read more

Well, that's a wrap on the Kerrville Folk Festival in Kerrville, Texas, where songwriters from all over the world gather to celebrate songwriting and the creative spirit.  Here's a quick recap: The Grassy Hill New Folk Song Contest happens over Memorial Day weekend in Kerrville, TX. Out of 1341 entries this year -- a record! -- there were 24 finalists. One of them was my husband Robin Bienemann, another was our dear friend Katie Dahl of Door County, Wisconsin.  Robin was one of the six award winners, and in the week between the competition and the 2024 New Folk Awar ..read more

It’s TRUE! Haiku Milieu comes to The Venue in Aurora, May 10, 8:00 pm. The trailer is all ready for you, here:  Get your tickets and get your carpools going, you do NOT want to miss this! 20 amazing artists, 7 who have never participated in Haiku Milieu before, at one of the premiere listening rooms in the Midwest!  I will be posting about these amazing Haiku Milieu artists for the next seven days straight. So get your beauty rest tonight. We ride at dawn! And as if that were not enough –  IT IS THE CELEBRATION FOR THE RELEASE OF MY BOOK, “SUNDAYS WITH JENNY!”  (You can g ..read more