Jess Tardy would say that performing is in her blood, and watching her command a room of 20 or 2000 with her arresting blues-drenched vocals and vibrant presence, it would be hard to argue otherwise. The singer grew up in rural Maine, where she started performing at local variety shows when she was only four years old. When other little girls were playing with dolls and hosting tea parties, Jess was playing with old guitars and hosting living room concerts. By the the age of 16 she had already performed twice (on tenor saxophone and vocals) at the legendary Montreux Jazz Festival, jammed at the North Sea Jazz Fest, and won praise for her chops from jazz legend Clark Terry, who invited her to sit in with his band, including Ed Shaughnessy on drums, Marshall Royal on alto sax, and a host of jazz greats.

As an undergrad at Harvard, the redhead quickly became a standout as the lead vocalist for the Harvard Jazz Band. There, Jess was able to pool her talents with the likes of bop diva Sheila Jordan and jazz bass virtuoso Steve Swallow. Her appearance with the band at the Chicago Art Institute's tribute to Ella Fitzgerald prompted the Chicago Tribune to rave, "With a sound so lush, phrasing so distinctive, and technique so assured, her performance amounted to something of a discovery."

After college, Jess traded her Real Book for her own notebook of self-penned tunes, and began performing her original material in clubs around New England, inspired by the musical heroes she grew up on: Ray Charles, Etta James, Patsy Cline, and Bonnie Raitt. She formed a band of talented former schoolmates including singer-songwriter Noam Weinstein, bassist and dobro player Gian Pangaro, bassist John Capello, drummer Andy Eggers, and keyboardist Tyler Wood and went to work on her first album. In 2001, Jess released "Waiting for You" to critical notice. The self-produced album made several New England "Best of" polls, and prompted the Boston Globe to compare her to Bonnie Raitt and Melissa Etheridge.

Subsequent tours brought Jess to Nashville and Austin, and helped tilt her ear even further away from jazz and towards that region's rootsy alt-country sound. Jess released her follow-up, "Hold On" in 2004, fresh on the heels of a move from New England to Nashville. It wasn't long before her local performances created enough of a stir to make Music Row come knocking, and Jess was signed to an artist demo deal with RCA's Nashville arm. The opportunity gave her the dream opportunity to record in the label's famed studio with session players who'd backed the likes of James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt, and Paul Simon.

Although Nashville was a heady experience, it didn't leave any stars in her eyes. Homesick for Boston's tight-knit community of musicians, Red Sox games, and (inexplicably) snow, Tardy returned to Boston in 2007, eager to experiment with the sounds and riffs she picked up down South. "Nashville was like musical grad school for me," she says, adding; "It helped me realize that I'm on the right path, and that as long as I'm spending my days and nights making music, I'll be just fine."

-Bio written by D. Libby