Jessie James: Pop Music’s Next Outlaw

Jessie James wrote a song for Carrie Underwood. Well, not exactly, but she almost did. “She said there were too many runs. It’s a pop song; it’s really weird that she wanted to cut it,” James explains when asked about why Carrie didn’t record her song. But just because one of the most famous women in country music didn’t end up singing her song doesn’t mean that the song wasn’t good…it was just the break Jessie James needed. “The song somehow got into the hands of the people at Island Def Jam in New York and after they heard it, they flew me up and loved me and signed me so now I’m here.” She’s probably better off.

When asked about her roots in music, James explains that she began singing at 5 years of age, but things really changed when she was 9…she entered a talent show and won. Not just the children’s division, but the whole thing! “It was the first time a child had ever won the overall competition.” This was the same age that James began writing her own songs and at the age of 15, she hauled all of her talent to Nashville, Tennessee. “I started writing with a lot of successful songwriters and met a lot of people and so when I was 17 I made a CD of about six songs and I shopped in Nashville and tried to get a record deal. Everyone said no. They said I was too much for Nashville, too pop, too intimidating to female fans and so that didn’t work.” She tried Nashville again after she graduated and that’s what led her to where she is today. She agreed when it was suggested that she was better off in the pop world.

A country girl at heart, James describes herself as “in the middle” of country and pop. “I am a pop singer, but I have a lot of country and twangy influences and they can’t be denied.” Many of her influences are country artists, including Shania Twain, Shelby Lynne and Leann Rimes. But that’s not the only side of her. “There’s also a side of my record that’s really stripped down; based on the lyrics it’s very acoustic and raw and real…so there’s two sides to my record.” If you’ve heard her debut single “Wanted”, you may agree that it fits in somewhere between the two sides. Co-written with American Idol judge Kara DioGuardi right after gaining a record deal, “Wanted” is a sassy pop anthem aimed to the very girls Nashville told her she was intimidating. The video, in which a sexy James plays a girl on the run being chased by very good-looking FBI type agents, was recently the “Video of the Week” on iTunes. When asked about it, James had nothing but good things to say. “It was fantastic! I had a great day. I’ve had a lot of artist friends who complained but it was such a fun day.” For the video, which took one 18 hour work day to shoot, she got to work with a makeup artist and stylist who work with Eva Mendes and Fergie respectively. Sounds like a great day to us.

When asked more about her soon-to-be-released album, James was eager to explain more about the differences in her sound. “I have a lot of influences obviously and it’s really difficult to just narrow it down to one thing. And I think that’s what the problem was with me for a really long time because I could not figure out what I wanted to do until I realized I don’t have to stick to just one genre of music. I can intertwine it all into one thing. And I think that’s really worked in my favor because there aren’t a lot of artists out there doing exactly what I’m doing.” She has definitely set herself apart from the pack! She’ll be getting the chance to prove it when she hits the road this summer to promote the release of her album in July. When touring is mentioned, she instantly gets excited. “That’s why you get into this. I got into it to perform for people, nothing else. This is what I love to do. It’s the ultimate happy ending to my story.”

So, what’s next for Jessie James? Besides a summer tour, she recently recorded a song called “Bullet” which was co-written by her good friend and fellow pop tart Katy Perry. You can hear the Katy Perry influence but Jessie has gone in and worked it to fit her style a bit more. The result? An awesome pop track that will hopefully be James’s second single. After all of that, we asked Jessie to send a message to her fans. “Thank you so much for all the support. It’s been amazing and I love reading your comments and your messages; they really pump me up! If there’s anything that you would like me to do or sing, or any place you want me to go, shoot me an email…I love hearing from you. Thank you so much; I’m having a great time.”

If you want to learn more about Jessie James, check her out on MySpace: www.myspace.com/jessiejamesmusic and follow her on Twitter! www.twitter.com/iamjessiejames. And be sure to download her single “Wanted” on iTunes and pick up her album when it’s released July 13th, 2009!