Artist Information
Biography
On a cold October day in the mid 70's, Jesse Reid came into this world in Port Colborne, Ontario. He suffers from classic middle-child syndrome: he must be the centre of attention.Well, on stage anyway. Don't let his shy demeanor fool you.
Growing up amongst a large family of sailors made him realize early on that the sea was calling him. When a local newspaper writer was in his 7th grade classroom, Jesse's head wasn't as far in the clouds as some. He didn't want to be a racecar driver, nor an astronaut. No medical nor veterinary school was on his horizon. He told the man that he was going to go to sea...and with Greenpeace at that!
With his gaze firmly on the sea, he struggled his way through highschool playing in band after band, writing rock and roll songs, playing bars in which he wasn't even old enough to have a drink in...
A chance opportunity found him aboard a boat on the west coast with a ragtag group of activists who were Hell-bent on saving the rainforest. Jesse was sold. This was the life. Peace and tranquility at sea for a main course with a side order of social justice and adventure to wash it down.
He spent almost a decade causing trouble around the globe, getting arrested in foreign countries, missing flights, surviving by wits, brute force and ignorance at times.
A life at sea, however, eventually becomes a lonely one. After all that time pining away, writing songs about the things he missed and the love waiting back home, he decided it was time to pack in that life. We're glad he did. The shift brought him home to record his first cd, From Her Steps, a collection of tales he'd been longing to tell the folks back home.
The strength of the cd put him on the road, put him under the lights, and put in him a drive to get the stories told.
In the troubadour vain of Woody Guthrie, Jesse played from town to town, down one highway and up another, channelling the spirits of Stan Rogers and Steve Goodman.
A second record was quickly released as the material kept flowing. Employing some of Canada's finer musicians such as the late, great (Juno award winner)Willie P. Bennett, road dogs Dan Walsh and Roger Marin, he gave birth to his album Gravelly Bay. After more stints on the road,including Texas, where he played the legendary Gruene Hall, Jesse's back in Ontario, his third album is in the works for release in December 2008. Whichever direction he decides to take this new record, you can be sure it's all Jesse T. Reid
Instrumentation
Jesse T. Reid
-vocals, guitar, harmonica
Occasionally joined by upright bass and mandolin player
Discography
From Her Steps
2003
-campus radio play in Canada and US
Gravelly Bay
2006
-campus radio play Canada, US, Europe
Audio
Lyrics
Video
Photo Gallery
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Alaskan Hotel, Juneau, AK
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Marshall, NC
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Cicadafest, Niagara Falls, ON
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Antarctica
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Jesse high res
Download print quality (high-res) version
Press
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Live on Hunter's Gatherings
[+ Show ]
"Jesse Reid is one mean guitar picker and a helluva boat driver..." -the late Robert Hunt...
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Grassroots Musician
[+ Show ]
"Sometimes you can't escape your grassroots upbringing and sometimes you shouldn't, and whatever i...
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Jesse Reid and artist of the people
[+ Show ]
"Reid is an artist of the people; his country-tinged folk songs touching a core of truth within us a...
Setlist
typically 2-3 forty-five minute sets, interspersed with many comedic stories
songs from first 2 records:
Drop Dead Girl
Stationtown
Another Year Gone
To The Moon
Snow
Buddy
Hunches
Gravelly Bay
Mrs.
Maybe For A While
Agenda
Regret
Goin' Home Blues
Lawrence, KS
unreleased orginal material:
Maze
Fall From Grace
Helen
Fences
She Belongs To Me
Your Own Backyard
Cover songs:
Flowered Dresses (Karen Poston)
Broke Down (Slaid Cleaves)
Drinkin' Days Are Over (Slaid Cleaves)
Canol Road (Stan Rogers)
Billy and Jenny (Willie P. Bennett)
Home Again (Adam Carroll)
She Left Me For Jesus (Hayes Carll)
Have also participated in many songwriter workshops and festival songswaps.
