Jessie Baylin is not only talented, she is quite stunning.  I'm not the first to have noticed of course.  She has been engaged to Kings Of Leon drummer Nathan Followill for the last couple years.  The engagement actually caused quite a bit of contraversy within that band of brothers, but things seemed to have settled out and KOL has assended to an even higher level of financial and industry success.  Outside of her press-worthy impending nuptiuals, Baylin seems to have surrounded herself with incredibly successful entertainers she can call friends.  She's old-NYC-school chums with Scarlett Johansson, and John Mayer has been in her corner for quite some time.  However, one listen to her 2008 album, Firesight, and you'll hear that Baylin is no hanger-on leaching noteriety and press simply because of her famous friends.

Baylin's early days were spent in New Jersey as the daughter of a jazz club owner.  The album title, Firesight, ks a play on the club's name, The Fire Sight Inn.  It was here that Baylin's interest in music was sparked and where her musical sensibilities were developed and honed.  Her early exposure to jazz has led her to attribute Nina Simone, Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday as her greatest influences.  At the club, she was often exposed to figures of the nightlife and their tales of love and loss.  You can see their shadows cast on her writings.  When she came of age, she left for Los Angeles and aligned herself with Hotel Cafe mainstays like Cary Brothers, Joshua Radin and Greg Laswell.  

Baylin, after moving in with her husband-to-be, now calls Nashville her home.  The city's slower pace doesn't seem to have stunted her rise to prominence.  She's been touring pretty heavily and NIke recently picked up her song See How I Run for a women's running shoe campaign.

MP3 Session Downloads: 

Jessie Baylin - Was I On Your Mind
Jessie Baylin - Contradicting Words
Jessie Baylin - Leave Your Mark
Jessie Baylin - See How I Run
 

Shot & Edited by Tim Wilsbach
Recorded, Mixed, and Mastered by Eric Klee Johnson and Marc Johnson of  The Pop Machine