Music City Soul, Windy City Attitude
By Mark Gregory
Whether she is singing her heart out or just holding a conversation, there is one simple word that can sum up country music hopeful Jessica Erin – Genuine.
An up-and-coming singer with a southern-influenced sound and Midwestern authenticity, Erin hopes the two fuse to create a lethal combo for the music world.
A native of LaSalle, Illinois, a town roughly 90 minutes from Chicago, Erin knew she wanted to make singing a career at 8-years-old when she started performing in musicals.”Since I was a little girl, I wanted to be a singer, a veterinarian and save the world,” she said. “I realized I couldn’t be a veterinarian because I couldn’t stand seeing animals hurt and bleeding. And saving the world, it will have to be one person at a time. I guess I hope I can do that through my music.”
Erin has had chances to make non-country music a career, but knows things work out for a reason.
“When I was 15, I was offered to go to Broadway, but I would have had to move to
New York and that just wasn’t possible then,” Erin said. “I almost did a pop album, but I didn’t trust the major people I would have worked with. It is hard to walk away from something when you want it so bad, but in the end you have to follow your own values. Things happen for a reason. If I would have started in the business younger, I would not have had the respect that I do now for how much work it takes.”
Along with her natural twang, Erin said the country scene also fits her beliefs and lifestyle better. “In the pop world, it is more about who is dating who and what magazine they are in. It is not so much about talent, but more about what they did last Friday night,” Erin said. “People in the country industry are more trustworthy and are more down home.”
Erin moved to Nashville to pursue her career a little more than a year ago from South Florida where she had relocated from Illinois. She has since moved to Los Angeles.
“Right now that is where I have to be for my career,” she said.
On October 30, 2007, she released her first album, “Free To Be Me,” which is available on iTunes and www.jessicaerin.com.
Erin’s young, fresh, free-spirited rock sound is evident on many of her songs, including “American Girl”, “What You’re Looking For” and “Bad Girl.”
She also brings a sensitive yet seductive innocence to ballads like “I Can’t Let You Go” and “When Words Won’t Say.” “Say Goodbye,” a heartfelt, love-gone-wrong ballad is a diamond on the album and shows a tender, genuine side of Erin that is as real in her lyrics as in person.
“I was screaming,” she said of first holding her album. “My mom and I were jumping up and down. That is the biggest accomplishment so far in my life.”
After opening for Darryl Worley in last November at Joe’s Bar, Erin was home June 14, 2008, opening for multi-platinum, Grammy nominated artists Montgomery Gentry at Cedar Point Sportsman’s Club in LaSalle.
Erin’s goal is to attract fans nation-wide and knows she has a good start in Chicago.
“Chicago is the best fans for everything. Sports, music, whatever. They are devoted. That is one thing that you can’t get anywhere else. Chicago has heart,” Erin said. “It is a big advantage coming from there. There really aren’t many country artists from Chicago. Chicago is a huge country market available with the radio stations and Joe’s Bar is a great venue to play.
Erin still has dreams yet to be fulfilled, like being a household name and a staple on country radio like some of her influences, Martina McBride, Rascal Flatts and Keith Urban.
She understands, however, she can’t get upset if it doesn’t happen overnight.
“You cannot give yourself a time limit because people in music work on their time and they don’t care. It is not something where there is a deadline.
“I just hope I can keep getting my name out there.”
And as she continues to fight to break into Nashville’s inner circles, she will do so with the blue-collar, finger-to the- bone work ethic that is in her Chicago blood.
