Jessica featured in the Metro Spirit
November 7, 2007from Metro Spirit Issue #19.14 :: 10/29/2007 – 11/04/2007
Not Carole, but close
Despite success in Atlanta, singer-songwriter Jessica King remains one of Augusta’s best-kept secrets. Now the word is coming out at Joe’s Underground.
AUGUSTA, GA – When one thinks of today’s female pop artists, visions of faux divas and teen trouble makers quickly come to mind. For every Madonna, it seems that there are at least a dozen Britneys attempting to clutter up the airwaves with regurgitated pop drivel or working overtime to become the latest celebrity to be pictured in handcuffs on the front page of one of a dozen National Enquirer clones.
Gone, it seems, are the days (at least when it comes to mainstream music) when respected female artists such as Carole King were the talk of the music industry. On Saturday, Nov. 3, fans of truly talented female artistry can rejoice as songstress Jessica King performs with several other area singer-songwriters at Joe’s Underground in downtown Augusta.
Three on YouTube:
While considered a new artist to many in the CSRA, King has been performing since her mid-teens and possesses an impressive list of accomplishments to show for all her hard work.“I was born in a small farm town in southwest Georgia,” says King. “I started playing piano at age two and got really bored with that at 12. I found a guitar at age 12 and just started playing. I began playing ‘professionally’ at 15 and was touring the Atlanta scene before I could even drive myself to gigs.” Along the way, King would make a couple of pit stops. One was a four-year stint at Hollins University, the other at tryouts to perform on the Lilith Fair tour.“I was a finalist out of about 20,000 submissions for the Atlanta shows,” says King. “It was a really fun experience, and I ended up being selected as the runner-up. There were two winners since there were two shows in Atlanta. The winners got to play at Lilith Fair and hang out backstage with all of the major artists. The runner-up got some lawn tickets and a T-shirt. Nice, right? It was awesome, though. I learned a lot through that experience, especially about a certain lead singer of a certain winning band.”Despite falling short of securing a spot on the Lilith Fair tour and her less-than-friendly confrontation with the “certain lead singer of a certain winning band,” King was far from turned off from sharing the stage with other artists.“A big moment for me was winning an open mic night at Eddie’s Attic in Atlanta,” says King. “Eddie’s is legendary, and getting to come back with my name (albeit with two others) on the bill was awesome. Performing is such an integral part of who I am, though, that every performance is important to me. I love it.”Just don’t get any preconceived “Lilith Fair” notions of what a Jessica King performance might be. Sandwiched between King’s great originals, you may find some covers that will surprise you.“I play solo, acoustic, pop/folk/rock,” says King. “I’ll admit — it can be boring at times. I like to shake things up and play some things you might not expect, like Gnarls Barkley, Bon Jovi or Michael Jackson. I think you can take any good song and make it your own — play it in your own style. I have a Janet Jackson cover on my CD, actually. It’s really fun for me, challenging and people seem to enjoy it.”Let’s just hope King stays away from covering Britney.
Jessica King w/ Jim Perkins, Allison Foster, Will McCranie and Fletch & Folk
Joe’s Underground
Saturday, Nov. 3
9 p.m.
$5
jessicaking.com
