Josie Aiello

Josie Aiello: Back On The Scene
Interview conducted December 2006 in Chicago, Il, United States
By Jackie Lee King


Three backup singers are warming up in the green room just over the back kitchen of a club on the north side of Chicago. They tighten up harmonies while going over parts for the evening's concert. Still, the star of the show, Josie Aiello is off making sure all of the details of her record release party goes well. Even though she should be resting, Ms Aiello bursts in and begins working the crowd.

The record release party at Marty's in Chicago, IL (her home town) is packed to the gills. Old and new friends, industry professionals and family are all gathered to hear the new songs from the president and CEO of Lady J Entertainment (Josie's own record label).

Aiello is an award winning songwriter that takes her own life issues, ponders tem and then presents them to world. Where I Am, the title track finds Aiello at a cross roads in her career. "I tried to run my life, but it's been running me. Disappointments my friends; who needs enemies. Confused about heaven and scared as hell, yeah I got issues...well," lyrics from Where I Am.

Where I Am has the intensity of her previous release Unkunvenshunal Girl, but chills out vocals with music and incorporates neo-soul with hip-hop, Latin and world beat rhythms. She is multi-talented individual that knows that it takes more than one person to creative a great body of work. From the stage the gives shout outs to producers, songwriters and musicians that have helped her achieve her current project.

Her band comprised of young hungry musicians that walk a spiritual journey with Aiello. She has incorporated some youth members from her church that bring their own musical influences to Josie's style. The Where I Am is more of a group project tan one person's vision. The CD includes local artists: Ladee Flipside, Devin Thompson, Pastor Chris Harris, J. Stokes and Chrystal Harris. Make no mistake, it's all Josie, but she is more like the conductor in this train ride.

Aiello took some time before and after the show to convey where she currently is and where she wants to be. Looking back, Aiello has always been a part of something special. When she was nine years old she worked in her Dad's Sicilian restaurant on the north side of Chicago.

"I would make the salads for the meal. The salad station was just around the corner from a piano in the main dining room. On weekends my older sister would wait tables and sing for tips. One afternoon I told my parents that I wanted sing. They said No, you can't sing, but I was determined and the one time my sister gave me the mic, I never gave it back to her."

Though growing up in a restaurant, she is the fist one to admit that she can't cook. Her talents would flourish elsewhere, and initial persistence to sing carried her along her dream of being a professional singer.

Relocating to Los Angeles Aiello was rewarded with voice over gigs as well as singing in the studio with artist that she had toured with on the road. Some of her voiceovers even made it back to the Midwest in that she can be heard on WNUA 95.5 in some of the station identification spots.

"I was out in LA and my friend Brian Culbertson (A internationally renown keyboard and trombone smooth jazz musician from Decatur, Illinois) and he was doing station ID's and he called me up and said, 'you wanna make some dough?' and I was like yes! (Josie then demonstrates...a vocal hey-a-a-hey...and the stations call letters bringing chills up my spine.) Now you know!"

Spending a number of years in Los Angeles, she developed her own hybrid sound; a Midwestern view with Sicilian roots ala' LA flavor. She continued to fill out other artist harmonies with her backup vocals but expanded her talents to songwriting; which is how she hooked up with Quincy Jones.

"He (Quincy Jones) heard that song (Heavy Heart, written with Henry Mason Jr.) on a demo and saw that I was just going for a publishing deal. And he was like, 'who is singing that song?,' and I said that's me. So I went to his house, but I only had a five song demo. He asked me if I had anything else, but I had just moved out to LA and I didn't have any money for a demo. I then asked if there was a piano around, and he said yeah. So I plunked out a couple of cords for a couple of other songs, and that's how he signed me as an artist. The next day I had a deal faxed to my attorney. That was one song and he just felt that it was a well written song, and I won the USA Songwriting Competition with that."

Aiello was now getting her footing in the LA scene. She was singing duets with Kenny Loggins and featured vocalist on the soundtracks for five movies, Southpark, The Out Of Towners, To The Max (Featuring another Chicago treasure Michael Jordan),That Thing You Do, and most recently seen singing in The Guardian. She had just released her first record Unkunvenshual Girl and now sh - Unrated Magazine

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