Music
Press
"It’s nice to hear something original these days. It’s nice to hear something from the heart. You won’t find much of that on the radio. Every song carries the same old structure, no one seems willing step out from under the corporate rug and sing a different tune, sing something filled with life experience yearning to be heard. Jess carries that tune.
Her music is filled with experience, heart, and soul. One listen to “Dani Young” or “My Own Life” will have you relaxing and wishing you had a warm cup of coffee to add to the moment.
It’s rare to find moments to relax. This world is go, go, go, right from birth, and we stretch ourselves thin, pushing every molecule in us to the max. It’s rare to find the moment to relax. But take a quick listen to Jess Parsons’ music. One listen and you’ll be sinking in your chair relaxing with not a care on your mind. Her music is like the quick therapy session you’ve been needing for the longest time. It’s rare to find the moments, but Jess brings those relaxing moments to life.
It’s not only just relaxing music, but heartfelt. A heart cry from life experiences, a wondering soul searching for what is right and not afraid to be honest. (Which is something we all could do from time to time.)
Every strike on the piano, every tune lifted by her beautiful voice, every pick at the guitar will have you transported to another time. Where life is slower, simpler, and where being honest is a good thing." - Kyle Moree - The Southwest Times
Jess Parsons has this way of really invoking a mood... creating a little universe in the space of a few verses. - Bob K.W., Musician (Independence, MO)
Discography
What Happens When They Stay - EP - 2008
Light of Your Eyes - EP - 2009
Photos
Bio
With painfully truthful lyrics, delightfully unexpected melodies, and a musical maturity beyond her years, Jess Parsons reminds us all that true passion is still alive and well in todays music industry. She has done more in the first two short years of her musical career than most artists in their first ten. Shes toured the country four times, recorded with some of the biggest names in Nashville, and played to audiences ranging from intimate house and coffee shop settings to full blown festivals.
Hailing from a small town in western Kansas, Parsons spent her time growing up in church sanctuaries and school choir rooms, anywhere she could get her fingers on a piano. She first began writing with her lifelong friend Michael McDaniel. The two created a hauntingly beautiful atmosphere within their music but parted ways musically when McDaniel chose to focus on his career as a writer. Parsons then began composing solo work inspired heavily by her newfound lifestyle, rarely living in one place for more than a few months.
During one of the longer stays in this whirlwind phase, Parsons teamed up with a young singer songwriter from the same small town by the name of Abi Robins. The two girls played and wrote together for little more than two months before they were playing everywhere from Kansas City, to Lubbock, Texas. Adding Parsons younger brother as a percussionist, the trio, performing under the name The Winter Wake Up, continued to wow audiences and., within months, found themselves in negotiations with a record company based out of Kansas City. Though the group declined the generous offer, they were anything but short of opportunity, taking to the road the summer and fall of 2007.
Once the year had ended, Parsons and Robins opted to retire The Winter Wake Up in favor of their own solo careers. The girls remained both friends and business partners as Parsons signed with Morning Bird Record, the indie label owned and operated by Robins. Parsons once again focused on her art as a solo performer, and in May of 2008 she released her first solo EP, What Happens When They Stay. The five songs were hardly enough to keep her growing fan base satisfied as audiences raved over the mellow sounds of Dani Young and the oddly addictive Fairy Tales, while Parsons musical and lyrical depth was elegantly displayed in the somberly defiant My Own Life, as well as the heartfelt and introspective September. In support of her new album the summer was spent in the most ambitious tour Parsons has yet to undertake, playing 27 shows in 31 days across 17 different states.
After another relocation, Parsons found herself at truly at home in the mountains. Now based in Denver, she continues to write and perform, sharpening her talents and winning fans every time her fingers touch a piano. Her touring plans include a short Midwestern run in the month of January while a coast to coast tour is in the works for the summer months. Audiences eagerly anticipate the release of Parsons full length album, A Very Short Year, set for late spring/early summer of 2009.
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