Jessie Baylin

All Music Guide:

New Jersey native Jessie Baylin began plotting her songwriting career at an early age, penning poems while still in elementary school and -- at the ripe age of 13 -- singing for customers at the Fire Sight Inn, a local jazz bar that her parents owned. Although moved by the work of Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, and Barbra Streisand, Baylin didn't compose her own songs until several years later, when she relocated to California after graduating from high school. She then settled in Los Angeles and honed her songwriting skills in private, eventually emerging with a batch of demos that mixed her jazz, country, and pop/rock influences.

After generating label interest through her demo tapes and a residency at the Los Angeles club The Mint (as well as recurring gigs at the Hotel Café, which paired Baylin with a number of other emerging songwriters), the singer signed with the Verve Forecast label and released her debut effort, Firesight, in 2008. She also became engaged to Nathan Followill, the drummer for Kings of Leon, and resettled in Nashville with her fiancé. The two married one year later.

Wikipedia:

Jessie Baldassarre known as Jessie Baylin is a Nashville-based singer/songwriter born April 4, 1984, in Gillette, New Jersey. Her debut album You was produced by Grammy Award winner Jesse Harris.

Baylin signed her first major label record deal with Verve Forecast. 'Firesight' was released on June 24, 2008 and debuted #34 on Billboard's Top Heatseekers chart. Little Spark is her third album released in 2012 released on Blonde Rat Records label, a label established by her.

Career

Born in Gillette, New Jersey, Baylin hung around in the bar and restaurant her parents owned throughout her childhood. Her mother would join her in singalongs of classic pop music, but by age 13 Baylin had discovered some of her greatest influences Nina Simone, Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday, Barbra Streisand and Judy Garland

Baylin moved to Los Angeles after attending Professional Children's School. Baylin wrote her first song with a friend and immediately knew she'd found her calling. Afterward, she cut some demos, resulting in a residency at the Mint, which led to a growing interest in her work in the record industry. She became a regular singer at the Hotel Café, emerging as a pillar of a vibrant grass-roots scene of young singer/songwriters. Baylin has since moved to Nashville, Tennessee to live with her husband.

Baylin's first album, You was an amalgam of pop, jazz, blues, Western swing, and other rootsy styles. The album was produced by Jesse Harris with Norah Jones, who co-wrote most of the songs. The album was released exclusively on iTunes.

Her second album, Firesight was released on the Verve Forecast label in 2008. The album was written by Baylin, Jesse Harris, Mike Daly, Mark Goldenberg, Greg Wells and Danny Wilde, and was produced and engineered by Roger Moutenot. Baylin toured in support of the album in 2009, supporting Marc Broussard.

Her third album, Little Spark was released on her own Blonde Rat Records label on January 17, 2012. It was produced by Kevin Augunas, and features studio musicians Waddy Wachtel, Greg Leisz, Jim Keltner, and The Watson Twins on backup vocals.

Baylin and her band have toured with and performed with Marc Broussard, James Morrison, Dolores O'Riordan, Brett Dennen, Animal Liberation Orchestra, Teitur, and Newton Faulkner.

Personal life

Baylin is married to Nathan Followill, the drummer for Kings of Leon. The two were married on November 14, 2009 in Brentwood, Tennessee at the Wolf Den Farm.

In popular culture

Her song "So Hard" taken from the album You was featured on the television show, Army Wives on Lifetime. In 2012, her song "Hurry Hurry" taken from the album "Little Spark" was featured on the television show, "Ringer" on CW, the 19th episode from Season 1, Let's Kill Bridget!.