Jenn Cristy Jenn began playing the piano  at an early age. The classically trained musician won numerous honors, including  the Tennessee Piano Teachers state contest. By the time she began  college at Indiana University in 1997, Jenn could play the piano, violin, flute  and guitar. One of the reasons she was interested in IU — which gave her a full  athletic scholarship because of her swimming prowess — was its music program.  Jenn initially majored in music at IU, but the demands of being a student  athlete did not match those placed on her by the music department. The 2000-2001 school year  was Jenn's last year of NCAA eligibility as a swimmer and she went out with a  bang. In August 2000, she competed in her second Olympic trials. In the spring  of 2001, Jenn was named Swimmer of the Championships at the Big Ten conference  meet, followed by a third place win at the NCAA meet. Her stand-out swimming  finale led to an invite to sing the national anthem before a Hoosiers basketball  game. It's there that Indiana rocker John Mellencamp heard Jenn and invited her  to his studio to audition. Jenn was hired as a background vocalist and played  percussion on Mellencamp's 2001 album and tour , "Cuttin' Heads." Jenn, a native of east  Tennessee, is the daughter of Steve & Lou Ann Cristy and has two older  brothers, Sam & Matt. © 2000 - 2004 Mellencampband.com.    Publication and Kevin  Plummer. Copyrights for all materials on this web site are held by the  individual authors, artists, photographers or creators. Materials may not be  reproduced or otherwise distributed without permission of Mellencampband.com and the  content's original author.