Jessica Lynne
Sometimes authentic country music artists do not grow up in what we would consider hotbeds of country music. Sometimes they grow up in Haslev, Denmark, the native town of current Seattle resident, Jessica Lynne, a sensational and rising country star and London Tone Music’s latest signing. She explains how it all happened: “When I was 12, I was home with the flu and our TV provider had a "chance channel" available for a limited time. Well, this time it was CMT and being at home with nothing to do and feeling really horrible, I just kind of left it on that channel and little by little just fell in love with the genre.” Faith Hill's, Wild One, a song that was #1 at the time, inspired her immediately. “I felt like she was singing about me,” she remembers. “It touched my heart in a way that I had never felt before.”
Making the move from Haslev to Seattle a few years ago was actually not as strange a transition as it seems. Her Dad and his family live in Seattle and Jessica felt that being surrounded by a supportive network of family would be the kind of positive energy she needed to adjust to the big change.
Once settled, Jessica wasted no time adjusting to both the physical landscape, which had many elements similar to Denmark, but to the musical landscape, as well. Her great songwriting and singing talent combined with her drive, focus, warmth and friendliness, made her not only an instant favorite with the country music promoters and clubs in the greater Seattle area, but also with other musicians in town. Jessica loves to write and play music so much that she is known to play almost every night of the week somewhere, sometimes as the headliner, other times as support for her many musical friends.
Songwriting is a natural part of Jessica’s life and she is often that young lady you see walking down the street singing into her phone. She explains, “For me, songwriting is something I can't not do. It just pours out of me. Sometimes it takes a while for a song to take its shape, sometimes it just comes out as one final product in an afternoon.”
So many people and experiences have influenced her songwriting; however, when asked to single out the songwriter who inspires her the most, she praises Nashville songwriter, Gary Burr. “His songwriting is so profound and touched my heart. He opened a whole new world for me on how songs could be written. This summer I was fortunate enough to meet him and tell him that in person. It was pretty inspiring.”
In 2011, buoyed by her belief in her original material and a successful Kickstarter campaign, Jessica released, Spiritual Cowgirl, a four-song collection her growing fan base loved. She followed that up in 2013 with a single “Mississippi in July” and an award-winning video of the song recorded at Seattle’s Columbia City Theater with her band, The Cousins.
2013 also began an amazing journey for Jessica with a local audition for the Texaco Country Showdown, the largest country music talent search in the United States. After winning a series of additional state match-ups, Jessica landed her the top spot as the Washington State Winner.
In February of 2014, she was chosen to fly to Nashville to audition for The Voice. Being in Nashville for the first time was something Jessica took full advantage of, soaking it all in, hearing music and feeling, as you can imagine, very much at home.
On February 24, 2014, she is releasing her first single for London Tone Music, Calling Me Home. Produced by Geoff Ott at London Bridge Studio, it’s a song inspired by how comfortable she feels in the Pacific Northwest. Between the familiar landscape and the fact that her music has been so well received by so many, Jessica wrote a beautiful country love song to her new home. A video for Calling Me Home is in the works.
Lucky for us, Jessica loves to perform and her plans are to continue playing anywhere and everywhere.
“Being on stage, I can die happy,” she says, “It is definitely my calling to be a performer. One of my great friends and inspirations told me before my very first show in Seattle to ‘just fill up the room with your energy’. I have kept that in mind ever since. I know I have a great responsibility on stage to entertain and touch the hearts of the people there - I am very aware of that with every note I sing and it keeps me focused throughout my performance. Sometimes it's hundreds of people and sometimes there's only one person there, but I want to put on a great show no matter what.”
