What do you get when you take a formidable songwriter with genre bending worldly influences, combine it with a beautiful voice, and wrap it all in the feminine form? The answer is Jai Marie. This singer/songwriter has been around music her entire life. Born the daughter of a church choir director and blues guitarist, Jai says, "I've never really had any choice. Although my parents never forced anything on me, it was in my blood." She recorded her first song at the age of five and never l...
What do you get when you take a formidable songwriter with genre bending worldly influences, combine it with a beautiful voice, and wrap it all in the feminine form? The answer is Jai Marie. This singer/songwriter has been around music her entire life. Born the daughter of a church choir director and blues guitarist, Jai says, "I've never really had any choice. Although my parents never forced anything on me, it was in my blood." She recorded her first song at the age of five and never looked back. By the age of 10, Jai had begun playing clarinet and was an award winning member of her grammar school's vocal ensembles. Growing up in such musical environment, she was really allowed to flourish.In high school, Jai found herself once again the member of an award winning band. All of hard work in grammar school, along with a good dose of natural ability, had paid off. By her sophomore year, she first chair in the school's concert band. According to Jai, "These were some of the best years of my life. We were always traveling to or performing in some sort of competition. We had an excellent band leader and really taught us a lot about muscianship. I feel really blessed to have part of something so great." During the summer before her junior year in high school, Jai began to take a serious interest in songwriting. It was also during this period he began to rediscover the music of Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Billie Holiday, Etta James, Al Green and other R&B/soul music artists. "My parents grew up listening to all this music. I can even remember my mother and I listening to LP's together on her old record player", says Jai. The learning didn't stop there though. Growing up as a member of the MTV generation also had an influence on her. "I was a total MTV head. The songs they wrote back then sounded and felt amazing. I watched everybody from Van Halen to Hall&Oates", she says. According to Jai, "All of these different genres played huge role in shaping what I am today musically. After graduating high school, Jai decided to do a stint for Uncle Sam. She became a member of the US Army. "I wasn't quite sure to do with myself after finishing high school. I figured being in the Army would help to widen my horizons. I was exposed to the different sounds and rhythms of various cultures. In the end, being in the service also helped me grow up and learn about discipline", says Jai. Once she hung up her combat boots, she knew it was time to take her new found knowledge and focus on her music career full time. Fast forward a few years and you will see that Jai made the right decision. She has worked with top music industry professionals such as C-Note, Captain Hollywood, 3rd Wish, AKI, Tempest, dblak and many others. "The last couple of years have been a blast. If you would have told me that this would have been my life, I wouldn't have believed you. It takes time build industry connections and once again I have been blessed in being able to do so", says Jai. As you can see, Jai Marie was born to share the gift of music with the world. With her unique ability to blend genres, styles, and tastes musically, Jai feels poised to become the next well known member of history's musical family.
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