Jess Klein (born 1974) is an American singer-songwriter. A native of

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...

, Klein learned to play acoustic guitar and started writing songs as a college student in

Kingston, Jamaica Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley Inter ...

, while working on a thesis "documenting dub poets and studying the musical landscape of that country." Klein moved to

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

upon her return home, and began performing locally. After independently releasing her first two albums, winning the Telluride Troubadour Songwriting Contest, and garnering several Boston Music Award nominations, she was signed to

Rykodisc Rykodisc is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, operating as a unit of WMG's Independent Label Group and is distributed through Alternative Distribution Alliance. History Claiming to be the first Compact Disc, CD-only independ ...

in 2000 by then-president George Howard. Klein's first release for Ryko, ''Draw Them Near'', launched Klein on a worldwide tour where she performed before 70,000 attendees at the

Fuji Rock Festival is an annual rock festival held in Naeba Ski Resort, in Niigata Prefecture, Japan. The three-day event, organized by Smash Japan, features more than 200 Japanese and international musicians, making it the largest outdoor music event in Japan. ...

in Japan. Returning to the U.S., Klein joined the songwriter collective

Voices on the Verge Voices on the Verge was an American folk, country, and rock band formed as a collaboration between four young, formerly-independent, female musicians: Jess Klein, Erin McKeown, Rose Polenzani, and Beth Amsel.Voices On The Verge Ready To Tour', B ...

, along with

Erin McKeown Erin McKeown (pronounced ) is an American multi-instrumentalist and folk-rock singer-songwriter. McKeown's music encompasses pop, swing, rock, folk, and electronic music, as well as several other genres. Music career They grew up in Freder ...

Rose Polenzani Rose Polenzani (born March 7, 1975 in Waukesha, Wisconsin) is an American folk musician. She was raised in the Chicago area and attended Knox College before leaving to pursue a singing career. She is currently living in Boston, Massachusetts. S ...

, and

Beth Amsel Beth Amsel is an American folk singer-songwriter. She grew up on Long Island and moved to Colorado at the age of thirteen. In 1997, she moved to the East Coast and joined the New England folk scene. In 1998, a reviewer described her as having a ...

. The foursome performed Klein's song "Little White Dove" on ''

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'' (often abbreviated as ''GMA'') is an American morning television program that is broadcast on ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends with the debut of a Sunday edition on January 3, 1993. Th ...

''. Klein's second solo effort for Ryko, ''Strawberry Lover'', was produced by RCA recording artist Marc Copely. It debuted as the number-one most-added album at triple A radio a week before its release, was given four stars by ''MOJO'', and received a plug from the nearly 80 million readership ''

Parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, float (parade), floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually ce ...

''. In 2005, Nerdcore Rapper

MC Frontalot Damian Hess (born December 3, 1973), better known by his stage name MC Frontalot, is an American rapper and web designer. Hess began releasing music as MC Frontalot in 1999. His first successes came through Song Fight!, an online songwriting and ...

posted on his website a rap breakdown using the beat from the Jess Klein song "Soda Water". Klein's sixth album, ''City Garden'' (five stars, ''MOJO'' Magazine) caused the ''

Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

'' to describe her as "Quite simply one of the most gifted performers this area has produced."

Discography

*''Wishes Well Disguised'' (1998) *''Draw Them Near'' (2000) *''Flattery'' (re-released in 2003) *''Strawberry Lover'' (2005) *''City Garden'' (2006) *''House of Satisfaction'' (2007) *''Bound to Love'' (2009) *''Behind a Veil'' (2012) *''Learning Faith'' (2014) *''Bootleg'' (2015) *''Back to My Green'' (2019)

References

External links

Official WebsiteInterview on the ATX Architects Podcast
{{DEFAULTSORT:Klein, Jess 1974 births Living people American women singer-songwriters Singer-songwriters from New York (state) American folk musicians Hamilton College (New York) alumni Musicians from Rochester, New York 21st-century American singers 21st-century American women singers