Hello Everyone,
I am Ethel Wupperman, you may have read some of my recent articles. I am a woman on a mission, I hope to help give a boost to some of the area organizations that got hit hard from COVID 19 and the mitigation that occurred. Although the list seems endless, I am concentrating on 3 areas that are near and dear to my heart: small and local businesses, local charities and live music. To this end, I hope to have a Musical Musings monthly column, highlighting area musicians. Please contact me at the Weekly Villager if you are an area musician and would like to participate.
This month’s highlight is Jesse Carter. Perhaps you have heard her perform at area Open Mic Nights, or at the Magnolia Market in June. She is a singer/songwriter, performing both originals and covers. (In case you are like me, the first time I heard a musician using the term Cover, I was confused. Cover is a song made famous by another musician.) Some of her favorite covers include; “These Boots Are Made For Walking” (Nancy Sinatra), “Budapest” (George Ezra,) and “Keep Your Hands To Yourself” (Georgia Satellites.) Some of her favorite originals include; “Ocean Breeze”, “Time Machine” and “On the Side of the Road”.
Jesse is mostly a self-taught musician. Her mother bought her a guitar when she was in middle school. She did have some private lessons, and she has picked up pointers from various musical friends and relatives. YouTube and Google have been quite helpful, too. Although she is currently a solo artist, she began as half of the duo, Leap of Faith. They played locally at open mics, private parties and hosted a yearly musical event at Kent State University. She is currently working to get a duo going along with her friend, Kim, from Cleveland. “I wouldn’t mind at all hooking up (musically!) with other area artists to see what we can accomplish,” she added.
Although music is her passion, she still has a day job. “I need to pay my bills, so I have a regular job, then I play out when I can.” And play out, she does! As Leap of Faith, she has performed at the Music Box for a charity event, and opened for Jon Klass a few years back. As solo, she has performed at various Open Mic Nights, Magnolia Market and joined James Knight on stage at West Main Winery. She also has a monthly gig at Avenue at Aurora Rehabilitation Center.
She has many fond performance moments, but she has two favorites. When playing at Avenue at Aurora, she closes the show with an acapella version of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game”, in which the residents join in. “Nothing beats standing in a room full of elderly friends and watching their faces light up as we sing a song from her childhood. I love it!” she adds. Her other favorite performance happened recently at the Magnolia Market when she asked another area musician, Holly B, to bring her fiddle and join her on stage. They played her new single, The Dark Side of Love.
COVID Quarantine has impacted most performers, often in negative ways. Many bands took breaks, some continued but with extra precautions, others went digital. Since Jesse is an Essential Worker, her life continued as normal, except, she didn’t do Open Mic nights. That was hard for her to handle. However, it did force her to be brave and post videos of her songs so her family could hear them.
Jesse was influenced by Karen Carpenter and Olivia Newton John, they inspired her to want to sing. John Denver is the reason she plays guitar.
Advice for upcoming musicians? PRACTICE! She emphasizes this, adding “I can’t tell you how much I regret not practicing my guitar when I was younger. For as long as I have been playing, I should be a master guitarist by now…”
She hopes her audience enjoy her performances, especially her originals. “When I perform one of my originals, I want them to feel the emotion I am singing about at that particular moment. You know, like we are best friends – in a private conversation and I am confiding my deepest secrets. LOL”
She has 2 musical achievements of which she is most proud. Jesse performed her original song, “Greyhound”, in the movie “#50 Fathers”. This is an independent movie, filmed in Bedford and surrounding areas, which won an award for best picture at the film festival. Her other achievement is her debut CD, Broken. It won the 2018 Ohio Music Award for Best Adult Contemporary CD.
If you would like to hear Jesse play, find her on Facebook at Jesse Carter-acoustic. You will be glad you did!
