INTERVIEW with The Danish Pioneer Newspaper — Meet a rising Danish country star in the USA

Introducing Jessica Lynne: a talented & energetic country music artist from Denmark – and now at home in the USA

By Linda Steffensen, The Danish Pioneer Newspaper’s Editor, www.thedanishpioneer.com 

Do you love country music? So does Danish-American country music artist Jessica Lynne, and The Danish Pioneer Newspaper has the honor of introducing you to this dynamic and talented entertainer originally from Denmark, who is now living and working on her music career in the USA.

Jessica Lynne literally fills up a room with her energy and enthusiasm.

Jessica grew up in Haslev, Denmark and she came to Seattle, Washington three years ago. Once in America, Jessica immediately started pursuing her dream of becoming a country music artist. She put out an album, played hundreds of shows and has a “rocking” band. Due to all of the hard work, Jessica is now making her American dreams come true – big time! 

Her latest great achievement is that she is the Washington State Winner of the Texaco Country Showdown – the largest country music talent search in the country.

Jessica tells The Danish Pioneer Newspaper, “I am on to the regional finals in Florence, Oregon on November 9, 2013 and if I make it that far, the next step is an all-expenses paid trip to Nashville to compete for the grand prize of $100,000! So maybe I will get to go to Nashville finally! On top of that my live video just won an award for ‘best live performance video’ by the Akademia Music Awards.”

Growing up in Haslev, Denmark, which is 60 km south of Copenhagen, Jessica experienced country life close-up. “It is a fairly small, very religious town,” Jessica tells The Danish Pioneer Newspaper. “I remember sitting in church and having cows looking in the windows. Yes, very rural.”

Today, Jessica makes her home in Washington State. How did she end up in the Pacific Northwest? 

“Well, I usually joke and say someone told me Seattle is a hot bed for country music, but in all honesty, Seattle started out as a stepping stone for me. My Dad lives here and all of his side of my family, so I have been blessed with a supportive network as I made the big change. The fact that I feel so at home here and even wrote a song about that (‘Calling Me Home’) and that my music was so well received here kind of took me by surprise. So I am sticking around for the time being.”

Jessica started her music lessons early – first with piano lessons and then learning the guitar.

She explains, “I took piano lessons for six years, so my first instrument was actually the piano. My Dad gave my older sister a junior guitar when I was 12 and she was 14. I remember sitting there staring at her waiting for her to get tired of it so I could have my go at it. And sure enough, pretty soon it wasn’t being used and I snuck it into my room – and I started teaching myself how to play. This was around the time I fell in love with American country music so the timing couldn’t be better.”

When Jessica was 12, she was home with the flu and their TV provider always had a “chance channel” that would be available for a limited time. Well, this time it was CMT (Country Music Television) and being at home with nothing to do and feeling really horrible, Jessica just kind of left it on that channel and little by little she just fell in love with the genre.

“I remember vividly that Faith Hill’s ‘Wild One’ was #1 and being played over and over and I felt like she was singing about me,” says Jessica. “It touched my heart in a way that I had never felt before.”

Right now, Jessica has an EP out called “Spiritual Cowgirl” with four songs that are all her own originals. As is her latest single “Mississippi In July”.

Who inspires Jessica?

“So many people have inspired me throughout my life and writing,” says Jessica, “but I want to call out Gary Burr as one of my main inspirations. His songwriting is so profound and touched my heart. He opened a whole new world for me on how songs could be written. This summer I was fortunate enough to meet him and tell him that in person. It was pretty inspiring.”

Songwriting is a natural part of Jessica’s life and she is often that young lady you see walking down the street singing into her phone.

She explains, “For me, songwriting is something I can’t not do. It just pours out of me. Sometimes it takes a while for a song to take its shape, sometimes it just comes out as one final product in an afternoon. ‘Mississippi In July’ kept me up one night, I couldn’t fall asleep because the song kept coming out. So I just kept on getting back up and writing it down as it evolved. The one thing that’s consistent is that I honor what ideas come to mind. I always have a recorder on my phone and sing little pieces of songs into it at any given moment.”

Jessica doesn’t have a lot of experience yet with producing albums as she only has one EP and a single under her belt, but she is learning about the time it takes to produce a song and an entire album. The entire process she says, “depends on the producer and your own creative process. My songs very often appear in my head fully arranged so I have a very clear vision from the start and I am very involved in every element of arrangement and production of my songs.”

Jessica hasn’t seen a lot of the USA so far, but she most certainly will as her career rises.

“I haven’t seen a lot of the country yet,” she says. “To be honest, most of my efforts have been focused on survival – paying rent, making car payments, taking the next steps in my musical career and investing every cent I have in that. It’s not all that glamorous. But it’s real. The real American Dream. I have never been to Nashville or Texas or Mississippi or any of those southern destinations I dream and write about. But I expect all that to change pretty soon. Things have really started taking off.”

All of Jessica’s success does come with its challenges.

“The greatest challenge I feel I have faced is balancing a day job while trying to make a music career take off,” she says. “I have been trying to look at my music career as a business and trying to apply good old-fashioned entrepreneurship to something as cryptic as music. It’s still challenging, but it’s what I want to do so I am determined to make it happen in a big way.

What is it like to be on stage for this energetic Danish-American country music artist?

“Oh man, being on stage I can die happy,” says Jessica. “It is definitely my calling to be a performer. One of my great friends and inspirations told me before my very first show in Seattle to ‘just fill up the room with your energy’. I have kept that in mind ever since. I know I have a great responsibility on stage to entertain and touch the hearts of the people there – I am very aware of that with every note I sing and it keeps me focused throughout my performance. Sometimes it’s hundreds of people and sometimes there’s only one person there, but I want to put on a great show no matter what.”

Jessica works a part-time day job as a Marketing Assistant so her days can be going straight from that to a show or a music business meeting and working 15-16 hour days.

She explains, “I am working on my music every day of the week, either meeting with potential musical partners — booking agents, consultants or musicians — promoting my shows or honing my craft. I make a great effort to network, to go to other people’s shows and such – in this business it’s all about the personal connection and who you know.”

It is a very special feeling for Jessica to be “Danish” and “American”.

“I call myself ‘half & half’,” she says, “and not only am I half Danish & half American, but I actually lived half my life in Denmark and now plan to life the rest in America! It doesn’t come more evenly divided than that. I heard a fan describe me once as ‘fun and bubbly and will kick ass if you have to’. I agree with that description but it took me a while to understand where the kick-ass part came from. Then it hit me: I’m a Viking! I’m a redhead and I have my grandpa’s temper. That’s definitely an important part of my Danish heritage. And it really doesn’t get more American than country music, does it?”

Jessica is in a very unique profession for a Danish-American.

“I don’t really know any other Danish-American musicians,” says Jessica. “We are a rare race. However, I would like to mention CallMeKat, MC Hansen and Karen Sangvin – all friends and inspiring artists that I have learned a lot from over the years and who have helped me out of the goodness of their hearts.”

How can The Danish Pioneer’s readers help support Jessica in her new career?

“To support an artist, coming to a show or buying the music is always a good place to start,” she says. “But the best thing you can do is share it. Share my music with someone you think might like it is more valuable than any other marketing I can think of. Please follow me on Facebook or sign up to my mailing list – it’s the best way to keep in touch.”

With Jessica’s energy and enthusiasm, we are sure The Danish Pioneer’s readers will fall in love with country music as much as Jessica has. We wish Jessica the very best of luck – and hope to catch her in concert in the near future.

LEARN MORE ABOUT JESSICA LYNNE: The Danish Pioneer’s readers can also catch Jessica performing on the internet via Vimeo at: http://www.vimeo.com/jessicalynne/mississippi-in-july

You can also learn more about Jessica at her website: www.jessica-lynne.com, at her Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/jessicalynnemusic, via her mailing list www.jessica-lynne.com/sign-up or via Twitter at twitter.com/jessica_lynne_

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