Jonanna Widner was born in Fort Worth and raised on a steady diet of Tex-Mex, barbecue ribs, and the Dallas Cowboys. She spent her teenage years cruising down I-30 to Dallas, spending many late nights obsessing over local bands in Deep Ellum and, occasionally, on Greenville Avenue. Such obsession continued well into her college career at Austin College in Sherman, a mere hour north of Dallas—this time I-75 was the conduit into the city's rock 'n' roll epicenter. After graduating, she remained in Sherman, soaking up the North Texas sun as a sportswriter for the local paper.

Like many a Texan, she was lured to Santa Fe, New Mexico, where she spent several years getting a master's degree and then working for the alt-weekly Santa Fe Reporter. But the Lone Star State still beckoned, and Jonanna returned to the Dallas-Fort Worth area, where she works as a freelance writer and editor, with her work appearing in many national publications. She continues to eat Tex-Mex and barbecue, curse Jerry Jones, and obsess over local music.