Nine Years on the Road: Jeni Grouws Looks Back as the Avey Grouws Band Prepares for Its Final Show

Be the reason future generations know what mattered in Decorah. Fund Decorah News today. DECORAH — After nearly a decade of touring, songwriting and building a loyal Midwest following, the Avey Grouws Band is preparing to take the stage one last time. For singer Jeni Grouws, the upcoming performance isn't about mourning the end of the band. It's about celebrating the life they built together on the road. "It's not sad, but it is," Grouws said with a laugh during an interview. "That's not a very eloquent answer, but it's just the truth." The final show will take place in Chatfield, Minnesota, a fitting location not far from Decorah, Iowa — one of the communities that supported the band from the start. For Grouws, the geography matters as much as the music. "When the last show ended up being booked in Chatfield, I knew at least we were close to part of the base that upheld us from the beginning," she said. "Decorah and the Quad Cities were our home bases." It's the kind of full-circle moment that makes sense for a band that began in modest circumstances and gradually carved out its place in the Midwest blues and roots circuit. A Road Life That Became a Family The Avey Grouws Band didn't come to its conclusion suddenly. The decision unfolded over time, sparked in part by guitarist and bandmate Chris Avey deciding it was time to move on. "It wasn't something that happened quickly out of any emotional feelings," Grouws said. "It was just life decisions. That happens a lot in business, and it definitely happens on the road with musicians." Touring, she said, is exhilarating but demanding. The endless travel, unpredictable schedules and time away from home inevitably take their toll. "It's a hard life being on the road all the time, and it's hard on the relationships you have," she added. But those years also forged something deeper than a typical working band. Over nearly 10 years, the group evolved into a kind of traveling family. "We've been stranded on the side of the road," Grouws recalled. "We've been sick on the road in somebody's random bathroom. We've laughed ourselves silly, and we've been angry with each other." There were also moments that felt almost surreal. At one point, the band even found themselves sharing a stage with blues legend Buddy Guy. "Literally, Buddy Guy was on stage with us," she said. "We were playing for him. Those kinds of crazy moments, we've had so many of them." That mix of triumph and chaos is part of what Grouws hopes people remember about the band. "It's just a family on the road," she said. "This last show is going to be bittersweet, but more than anything, it's going to be a celebration." The Sound of a Band Growing Together The final show will double as a kind of musical retrospective. Grouws said the band plans to perform songs spanning its entire catalog, some of which are deep cuts and throwbacks. "There are songs we haven't performed on stage in years," she said. "Part of it is that they're harder to do live." But for one night, the band plans to pull them back into the setlist. "We're going to do them all," she said. There may even be a return to the stripped-down acoustic style that marked some of the band's earliest performances. "There were times when Chris and I were doing things acoustic, and a lot of people saw us just that way," Grouws said. "I hope to incorporate that into the show at least for a song. Just kind of go old school." The band's songwriting process evolved organically over the years. Their earliest release, the EP Road to Memphis, came together shortly after they won the Iowa Blues Challenge, which gave them the chance to record at a studio in Otho, Iowa. At that stage, the writing was mostly separate. "That first EP was some Chris songs and some Jeni songs that we brought together," she said. One track, however, hinted at the collaborative chemistry that would come later. "The one song we wrote together was 'Beck and Call Girl,'" Grouws said. "And that became one of our signature songs." As the band developed, the process settled into a rhythm. Avey would send short musical sketches, sometimes just 10 or 20 seconds long, while Grouws worked on lyrics and melody. "He would send a whole bunch of them," she said. "For me, I have to feel it. If something hit me right away, I would start writing." Once she had lyrics and melody in place, the band would bring the song into rehearsal and build it out collectively. "In the long run, it worked pretty well for us," she said. Avey Grouws Band outside The Haymarket in Decorah (Photo by Erik Dutcher). A Leap Into Music For Grouws, the band also represented a major personal leap. Before committing fully to music, she worked at KDEC radio station in Decorah. Eventually, she made the decision to leave that career behind. "I left my full-time job at the radio station to become a full-time musician," she said. "I left that career to start an entirely different crazy career in my late 40s." It was a risk, one she acknowledges with a sense of disbelief even now. But looking back, she said she feels proud of the journey the band took. The next chapterThe end of the Avey Grouws Band doesn't mean Grouws is stepping away from music. In fact, she said she is entering what may be her most ambitious chapter yet. She is currently finishing a solo album that marks a stylistic expansion beyond the band's blues roots. "I'm using the same feelings and flavors that I had for Avey Grouws Band," she said. "But I'm expanding on it." The new material leans into a broader American roots sound. "There will be blues, but there will also be Americana," she said. "Maybe a bit more texture." Recording for the project has taken her to Nashville, where she has been working with a producer known for collaborations with Keb' Mo', as well as Grammy-winning drummer Casey Wasner. Several prominent musicians appear on the album as well, including Drew Smithers of the Marcus King Band and Emmanuel Echem of the Tedeschi Trucks Band. The album, she said, will be titled The Music House, named after the Omaha space where much of the songwriting took place. Even the timing of the project carries personal significance. "Here I am at 52 years old," she said. "It's crazy to think that at 52 I'm making my solo debut full-length album." Still, the excitement is unmistakable. "I'm ready to take it on," she said. "I'm super excited." Jeni Grouws (Photo by Madeline King) One Last Show When the Avey Grouws Band takes the stage in Chatfield, Grouws insists the night will not be about nostalgia alone. Fans can expect the same energy, humor and loose-knit chemistry that defined the band from the start. "It's going to be the same kind of fun you've always had from Avey Grouws Band," she said. Whether the band was playing a small bar in Mabel, Minnesota, or a larger venue like Buddy Guy's club in Chicago, their philosophy stayed the same. "It's the same show for us," she said. "It's just a matter of how dressy we get." And that trademark onstage banter between Grouws and Avey is not going anywhere. "We're always going to say stupid things on stage," she said. "Chris and I are always going to have ridiculous, silly banter. That's who we are." If there is one thing she hopes fans take away from the band's final bow, it is the sense that something special happened in a place that rarely gets national attention. "There were a group of people in Iowa who came together in the most unlikely circumstances," she said, recalling how the band first met at a blues jam. What followed, she believes, left its mark. "I think we made a nice dent in the music history of Iowa," she said. "We worked really hard, and we made a show and a family on the road that we could be proud of." And when the final chord fades in Chatfield, she hopes the feeling in the room will be simple and lasting. "I hope people walk away thinking, 'Man, we're going to miss them,'" she said. "But also thinking what a cool thing it was that the Avey Grouws Band was here." Avey Grouws Band at The Haymarket in Decorah (Photo by Erik Dutcher). To keep up with Grouws' journey and learn more about her upcoming solo album, check out jenigrouws.com or Jeni Grouws Music on social media. Find tickets to Avey Grouws Band's upcoming final show here. Get the inside scoop! Subscribe to the free DecorahNews.com newsletter and receive local news, expert analysis, and stories that matter most—straight to your inbox.