It's been a life of moving and grooving. From growing up in New York to spending some time as a teenager on the island of Jamaica in the Caribbean, to the music scene in Boston, to a relocation to Texas in 2008, Jess Klein sure gets around. Austin afforded her the opportunity to live among a community of roots artists and she began writing and then testing the songs in front of small groups of fans at local club gigs. In December 2008 she went into the studio to record her seventh studio album, Bound To Love at The Aerie in Austin, TX with producers Mark Addison and Scrappy Jud Newcomb. The label situation is interesting. United For Opportunity describes itself as: "an organization of experienced, independent-thinking music industry activists that have come together to create a new model for a record label/music distribution company. A company founded on the principles of a fair deal, hard work, transparency, and realistic expectations, whose mission is to foster the art of artist development in conjunction with motivated career oriented artists. Harvesting our years of experience operating in the independent music sector as artist managers, lawyers, publishers, booking agents, and producers, we have formed UFO to support independent and disenfranchised artists who desire to maintain control of their music career." Amen! If you are interested in finding out more about their philosophy and operations, click through here.
Jess Klein came to visit us solo at Threadgill's during SXSW in March. There is something powerful, dangerous even, about the way she addresses the mic and the crowd. There are a few shows in the Northeast this week, before she makes her way back to Austin. Catch her if you can. "Travelin' Woman."
- Jessie Scott
