Jessica Robinson

It's not often that you find a hummingbird with all the bells and whistles attached...this is one awesome album.

Saskatoon singer/songwriter Jessica Robinson teased us a couple of years ago with her single releases "Story of My Life"(2000) and "Sittin' On A Goldmine"(2001), both of which earned some heavy duty radio airplay at the national level. Finally, we get this marvelous debut album; and it lives up to everything promised in those earlier releases, which incidentally, are not included on this Steve Fox produced collection.

The album's lead single, "I'll Save My Prayers(For Bigger Things)", has been another radio hit for Jessica Robinson, and there's a lot more here that will follow suit. Most of the material has a strong, positive message theme, thanks to the intriguing songwriting, most of which comes from a combined effort by Robinson and Fox. They co-wrote seven of the songs on the album.

Several tunes stand out, with "Little Dirt Road" leading the way. This is a two-steppin', toe tappin' item, and it's co-written by Jessica Robinson with Nashville's Greg Becker who teamed with Robinson before on their "Story Of My Life" song. "Little Dirt Road", a semi-autobiographical story song, smells like a huge hit for the lady from Saskatoon who truly has the potential of being one of Canada's next big country music exports.

Other winners here come in the haunting 'lost love' song, "There's Something About Planes"; and the equally powerful "That's Where I'd Be", which sounds like it would also fit neatly on a Martina McBride album. The album's title track song "Hummingbird", is another positive message supported by a lilting melody; while "Smoke and Mirrors" is about the closest to a hardcore country hurtin' song that you will find on this collection.

The album also boasts a rare female version of the Dan Fogelberg classic "Leader of the Band", which Jessica Robinson dedicates here to her late father.

"Hummingbird" was produced by Steve Fox, and save for the closing song "Bridges Behind Me", which was tracked at Sound Edge Studios in Saskatoon(with Robinson showing off some of her own fiddle playing skills); the album was recorded in Nashville with A-Team players, mixed at The Warehouse in Vancouver(Bryan Adams' place) and mastered at The E-Room in Toronto...all of which provided the aforementioned "bells and whistles"...and one listen to the end product proves the point. - Larry Delaney - Country Music News - February 2005

Some people are loaded with a variety of talents…Jessica Robinson takes that to the extreme. Here’s a lady who has carved out a wonderful career in music – which is blossoming even as we speak – but music is only one segment of a quite fascinating life that she leads.

Take for example that Jessica Robinson is a certified scuba diver who has plied her craft in the water caves of Mexico and old naval sunken battleships, let alone the freezing lakes of her native Saskatchewan… and that she has worked as a flight attendant (surviving an engine flameout experience while on the job)….and take also the fact that Jessica Robinson is a music teacher, with an armful of accredited students…some of whom have gone on to their own career in Canadian music fields. Jessica is also a whiz at graphic arts – creating the artwork for her album and promotional material, a craft that has now put her services in demand, including the artwork on Steve Fox’s new Lunch With Chet CD.

None of the above however will match Jessica Robinson’s finest culinary achievement – she unabashedly claims to have created the ultimate delicacy:- a toasted cheddar cheese & raspberry sandwich !!

“What…you’ve never heard of combining jam and cheese in a toasted combo”, says Jessica. “I thought everyone was into that. They don’t know what they’re missing…of course, it’s got to be just the right flavor, texture and it all depends on how you spread it on the bread… there’s an art to creating the “perfect” sandwich.”

Jessica also possesses a sharp wit and sense of humour.
But it’s the music we are here to talk about…and there’s lots to talk about, since music has been part of her life since she was four years of age.


THE LITTLE DIRT ROAD

“My fondest childhood memories are surrounded by music” recalls Jessica. “My parents wanted to raise their family in the country…and boy did they go out in the country. We started out in a little log cabin at the end of a long dirt road…we had one bedroom to start with… they added some rooms as each year passed by, and it soon was our castle. Our main source of R&R was joining my dad on his guitar singing country songs around an outside campfire…we sang everything from Willie and Waylon to Anne Murray, to Dan Folgelberg… my dad loved Folgelberg’s Leader Of The Band song, and he played that role with our little family”.
It comes as little surprise that the one ‘cover’ song on Jessica Robinson’s just released debut album Hummingbird, is a ‘right on’ version of Leader Of The Band…and she dedicates her performance on the disc to her late father, Paul Robinson, who passed away a few years ago. He was 47. One of Jessica’s original songs on the album is entitled Little Dirt Road… the song tells “the story!!

Jessica attributes many of the talents she has been blessed with, to her parents. The music came largely from dad; her mother Simone was an art teacher, which has inspired Jessica’s work in graphic arts.

“Music has been with me since I was four years-old. I started playing violin when I was six – I was trained in Classical Violin. In 1988 I was named Fiddle Queen Champ in a Prince Albert Fiddle Fest. But all the while, I really wanted to be a singer…I used to sing in my bedroom…the thick logwood walls made it very private, and nobody knew I was practicing to be a singer. But when I turned 15 I got very adventurous …and I forged my parents’ signature on a contest form to compete in the Nintendo Vocal Mania …and I ended up in the Top Ten of 4,000 competitors. Mom and Dad were pretty upset about me going behind their back…but they told me they were proud of their daughter’s accomplishment as a singer.”


TALENT CONTEST WIN CREATES OPPORTUNITY

That breakthrough would later lead to Jessica winning the GX-94 (Yorkton) Contest, one of Saskatchewan’s most coveted Contests…and that win lead to exposure on radio, which eventually led to being ‘discovered’ in the big world of country music entertainment.
A Roland Music rep servicing the Saskatchewan music store circuit, brought Jessica’s vocal talents to the attention of Mike Clute, a noted Nashville producer (Michelle Wright, Diamond Rio, etc); and he invited Jessica to Nashville where he cut her first recordings The Story Of My Life and Sittin’ On A Goldmine. Although that “developmental deal” didn’t materialize into a major label signing, the releases to radio in Canada were an instant success with both tunes charting Top 20.

Soon, through a chance meeting with fellow Canadian Steve Fox at the Bluebird Café in Nashville, and then later when he hosted the Saskatchewan Country Music Awards where Jessica was performing (and winning awards), the pair began combining their musical chops, creating songs that would eventually make up Jessica’s first album, Hummingbird.

“For whatever reason, Steve and I seemed to be able to relate on all levels with our music…the very first song we wrote together was There’s Something About Planes… it ma - Larry Delaney-Country Music News-August 2005