Biography
The The High Plains Reader of Fargo, ND calls 26 year-old Jessie “A siren of the first order. A gorgeous voice that pulls you under and refuses to let you go.” With unique and interestingly beautiful vocals, Jessie’s lyrics and music swell with references to her own experiences growing up, moving on and returning to the ranch she calls home in Western North Dakota. “My music is often quite personal, but I have found that from Chicago to Houston, twenty-somethings and fifty-somethings alike can relate to what I write…the push and pull between the comfort of home and the concern about how we fit in the big, wide world out there.”
Jessie has been traveling solo nationwide, touring colleges, universities and coffeehouses around the country since signing with W2, a booking agency out of Nashville, TN four years ago. She has also been busy promoting music from her two albums “This Road” and “A Place to Belong.” This winter tour took her from North Dakota to Minnesota, Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, South Dakota, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Iowa, Nebraska, and Missouri.
Jessie began her musical career singing alongside her father, and at the age of 12, she began penning original compositions with a sound that has been described as progressive, alternative and folk. “The isolation of growing up on a working ranch in Western North Dakota allowed me the freedom and space to develop creatively,” Jessie says of her songwriting. At sixteen Jessie recorded her first original album, “This Road” and at a young age proved herself not only as an accomplished and talented performer, but as a gifted poet and songwriter as well. Audiences were captivated by her honest compositions about the ranching lifestyle and her midwestern surroundings. Her first release quickly sold over 1500 copies.
In 2001, one year after the release of “This Road,” Jessie went across the state to attend college at the University of North Dakota and was offered the chance to tour and perform music nationally with W2, a college booking agency out of Nashville, TN. Jessie toured with W2 while finishing her degree from the UND and in 2005 signed with Barking Dog Records, a label founded to identify outstanding artists from the Upper Midwest. Her latest album, “A Place to Belong” was released in the spring of 2005 and has received rave reviews.
Jessie traveled full time for W2 and was on the road two or three weeks a month. In 2007 she recored a live CD with her hometown band “Lonesome Willy," which is now available on i-Tunes. The release of two original albums and her crowd-pleasing performances have taken Jessie across the country, touring major colleges and coffeehouse venues from Idaho to Massachusetts. With a blend of story telling and crowd interaction, original compositions and music from a variety of artists and songwriters such as Patti Griffin, Lyle Lovett, Jewel, Bruce Springstein, and even Elvis, Jessie reaches out to audience members allowing them to get to know her on a personal level.
Although education and music have taken her away from the buttes of the badlands and the close-knit community of home, Jessie has not forgotten where she came from, and her music continues to reveal this. Whether in a small coffeehouse setting or a jam with a full band, Jessie’s performances deliver honest, personal experiences. Listeners leave her show knowing exactly who Jessie is--and love her for it.
Jessie has shared the stage with, Bobby Vee, Dan Seals, Keri Noble, The Wilkensons, Chuck Suchy among others.
Information on Jessie’s latest release “A Place to Belong”
With unique and beautiful vocals backed by simplistic acoustic instrumentation, Jessie’s lyrics swell with references to her own experiences growing up on a ranch in Western North Dakota and uprooting from the familiar. From rootsy instrumental textures including harmonica, pedal steel, slide and dobro guitar to quirky touches like vibes, cello, accordion and oboe, Jessie’s music on “A Place to Belong” are grounded by her acoustic guitar work and an outstanding rhythm section. Sometimes angry, sometimes sarcastic, sometimes hopeful and often melancholy, her music is rooted in relatable, personal situations. It represents the push and pull of a twenty-something trying to find happiness and a place to belong in a world that often seems too big for a girl from the sticks.
Instrumentation
Jessie Veeder-Guitar and Vocals
Discography
"Sundown" on the Chillout Compilation CD.
Links
| http://www.jessieveeder.com |