For other tales of musical adventure, please visit Soccer Mom in Denial.
I love this song.
I've followed the career of the very talented Jessie Payo, since her blues-singing days in Jessie and the Rain Dogs, and now she's paired up with Spencer Nesey to be the second part of Jupiter Rising. Jupiter Rising is more popular on the West Coast (they're based in LA), but some of their songs ("Go!", "Electropop") have gone national.
I found Jessie because she's the daughter of my dear friend Cyndy, but I'm really struck by Jessie's incredible singing voice, writing ability and just inner beauty that shines out through her performances. She and Nesey make a smart, funky team, and I have no doubt they'll go far, far, far!
I couldn't find a video of Jessie singing "Hero," which is my favorite of their songs. I think this song is amazingly profound and perfect for our times.
Yeah.
'Cause we gotta do it ourselves.
The video below was obviously put together by a high school student from Escondido, CA. She's put together exactly the kind of thing a teen should put together - full of love for her friends and the adults in her life. She's obviously thought carefully about the lyrics. My only disappointment (and it's a big one) with this video is that the faces are not diverse - she's clearly in a fairly segregated existence - but this is her view of her world, not mine. For the general spirit, I think she did a pretty darned good job.
We all need hope in this broken world and we need our strength, 'cause there's no one who's gonna fix it for us.
Rock on, Jessie!
