We recently connected with Jess Bush and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Jess, thanks for joining us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.
Something that tends to surprise people is that I didn’t really know I could sing until my mid to late 20s. I knew I had a pleasant enough voice for a musical theatre ensemble and a good ear, but that was about it. I auditioned for the acapella group in college and did not get in. I cringe just remembering that day and how I sounded. I learned how to sing just from joining a band and doing it more often. When people claim they can’t sing, I always ask them “Have you actually tried to learn?”…it’s not that different from learning guitar or piano. You get better and stronger with practice. You could be walking around with a fantastic singing voice you just haven’t learned how to use yet.
Looking back, I really regret not starting voice lessons earlier. I’m only now looking into that because I don’t want to develop any bad habits, and I know there are aspects of my voice I have yet to unlock. It’s hard to find the time to fit in things like lessons when you’re a working adult, but I believe investing in skill development and personal growth is almost always well worth it.
Jess, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I’m a singer-songwriter, vocalist, and keys player. Music has always been part of my life but I sort of stumbled into what is now a professional career in music after college. As far as my original music goes, I really pride myself on creating a somewhat old school, timeless sound. My songs are very honest and very soulful. As a hired gun and session musician, the one thing I always make sure to communicate is that there should be no hesitancy around providing feedback or asking to hear something different. If you’re pursuing that kind of work and playing other people’s music, you HAVE to be secure enough to handle a lot of constructive criticism.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
I live with a bunch of chronic illnesses that all developed in pretty quick succession a few years ago. Music really became my medicine. Although it might sound counter intuitive, building my music career gave me a sense of purpose and a reason to keep going, even on my darkest days. I do have to be very diligent about rest and self-care so I’m in good shape to perform regularly, but when it’s time to play there’s a wave of peace that comes over me and any stress melts away. My fellow musicians will know what I mean.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
I get stuck sometimes when I’m writing new music because of my classical background. I’ve had to let go of some of those principles to make room for more interesting songwriting. Sometimes I’ll pick out something by ear on the guitar instead and THEN take it over to the piano, because as a beginner guitarist I’m not as familiar with the “rules” of that instrument.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.jessbushmusic.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jessbushmusic/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCp5OVlyMtFGgVxkbXGUBfw
- Other: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6PqjkAaMEXT9HalDowF3cC?si=yyZv1u1xQMysDirTW1DFrw&nd=1&dlsi=528fb30922fa4626
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/jess-bush/1565698167
Image Credits
Chris Reinhold Photography