Jessie Sparks
Hollywood Music Award Nominee & Melbourne based Singer Songwriter makes her way to Los Angeles to attend The Hollywood Music Awards on Nov. 20^th and to Perform at Clubs throughout Los Angeles

That cool, rolling thunder you’re hearing from down under isn’t Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman making a long-awaited homecoming, or the gods paying tribute to Heath Ledger--it’s Jessie Sparks gearing up for her trip to Los Angeles in support of her critically acclaimed indie debut Breathe Easy.

Gaining widespread recognition for her unique sound and awe-inspiring live performances, the multi-talented artist will perform at Tangier on Monday, November 17th at 8 p.m., at Aura Night Club at 9 p.m., at Live At The Lounge - The Comedy & Magic Club on Friday, November 21st at 7:30 p.m., at C&D’s Welcome Café on Saturday, November 22nd at 9:45 p.m. and at DiPiazza on Monday, November 24th at 8:30 p.m.

Sparks will also attend the Hollywood Music Awards on Thursday, November 20th at the Kodak Theatre, where she is a nominee in the Best Female Vocal category for her soulful, guitar driven “Bended Knee” from Breathe Easy.

The Melbourne based singer/songwriter’s career has been in serious overdrive since the release of her critically acclaimed indie debut in Australia earlier this year. Now, the album John Carver of PBS Radio calls “seductive, intelligent and engrossing”--and whose raw power has earned comparisons of Sparks to everyone from PJ Harvey to Norah Jones--is available at U.S. retail outlets for the first time. The self-produced project features key contributions from her longtime guitarist Mark Donnelly, pianist Nathan Liow (piano, keyboard, organ) and bassist Ken Lim.

Gaining widespread recognition for her unique sound and awe-inspiring live performances, the multi-talented artist has played everywhere from well-known cafes and bars to major pop and jazz festivals, including recent shows at The Queenstown International Jazz Festival in New Zealand. In addition to such high profile showcases like the one she did recently at the prestigious club Blue Diamond (on the 15th floor of a high rise in downtown Melbourne), she keeps a very active corporate gig schedule (in which she incorporates her sparkling original material with a set of jazz, blues and soul classics) and has lent her time and talents to numerous and diverse local and international charity organizations.

Beyond benefits for national groups like the Bone Marrow Donor Institute and gigs for the elderly and unwell at various Melbourne facilities, Sparks has performed sets to raise money and awareness for child slavery in Africa and poverty stricken communities in Guatemala. She also has an upcoming gig for Burma Band-Aid, which is dedicated to relief for people in that country (officially known now as Myanmar) devastated by the cyclone in May 2008. While writing and compiling the songs that would ultimately evolve into Breathe Easy, she performed during the 2006 Commonwealth Games, the largest sporting event ever to be staged in Melbourne; over 70 countries participated and the Games were opened by Queen Elizabeth II.

Sparks has enjoyed significant airplay on such outlets as ABC, SBS and PBS with many of the collection’s infectious, heartfelt tracks starting with the intimate, moody title tune and the soulful, guitar driven and now nominated “Bended Knee.”

Excited about the impending release of Breathe Easy in the States, Sparks will have the opportunity to reconnect with some old fans that saw her back in 1999, when she moved to Los Angeles and played many open mic nights and also at the indie hotbed The Hotel Café in Hollywood. In her mid-teens, she lived in Illinois spending time in upstate New York, Iowa and Chicago.

Returning to Australia at the beginning of the 2000s, she started towards a Bachelor of Dramatic Arts at Deakin University and released a debut EP which received airplay on Fox Radio. She moved briefly to British Columbia to work on some more material with Scott Woolard at Barrell House Sound and Owen Belton at Craft House Studios. Returning home, Sparks recorded singles with various producers, including JC at Hi-End Productions, where she recorded another EP. After collaborating on other recordings with Greg O'Shea and Dorian West, she also did an independent EP with Strange Fruit Jazz Band (which featured her now-bassist Lim) and formed The Jessie Sparks Duo & Trio with Donnelly. After opening a show for the acclaimed band Frost in 2005, she endorsed tracks to Antichocko Productions for an SBS TV series and entered into a partnership with some of Victoria s leading entertainment agencies, festivals, live music venues and event management companies.