Jess Godwin

I think I can safely posit that bullying in school was something that the majority of the LGBT community have suffered, in one form or another. I remember quite distinctly the many names I was called in junior high, the feeling of dread in the locker room when bullies (whose full names I remember to this day) would approach. One would hope that in the years since many of us have been in school, things would have gotten better. And while the appearance of gay-straight alliances have definitely helped LGBT youth find a safe space in school, today's technology has given bullies a new avenue to bash their victims. This ongoing issue is the central theme in the theme in the new video Greater>Than by my friend singer-songwriter/actress and LGBT-ally Jess Godwin, a self-described "misfit with soul." (She's even made a few cameos in my daily serial Boystown, which appears exclusively on GoPride.)

A song meant to empower and inspire those who suffer in silence, Godwin collaborated with Jessica Redish (Founding Artistic Director of The Music Theatre Company) to shoot the video. Godwin and Redish have brought together 27 young women, ages 8-15, from Chicago, Winnetka, Kenilworth, Northfield, Glencoe, Glenview, Wilmette, Wisconsin, Michigan, and California to be the leading players in the music video.
- Chicago Go Pride

For someone who explores the exuberance and pratfalls of relationships through her songwriting, Jess Godwin certainly celebrates optimism.

She leaves a bowl of baked cookies on a merchandise table at her concerts and asks, “how are you feeling today” on a mailing list form. She relishes any opportunity to comfort a teenager dealing with adolescence.

“In this day and age, being cynical is in vogue and I’m so tired of it,” she said. “Wouldn’t it be great if being nice was cool?”

Don’t mistaken niceness for timidness. Godwin’s voice is distinctive and commanding whether she’s reveling in her playful side on “Katy’s Side” or powering through “Be a Light” and “Santa Monica.”

Godwin chatted with Pop ’stache a few days after her January show at Mayne Stage in Chicago, discussing the maturation of her music, how it helps to have a theater background and the challenge of presenting the right image.

Pop ’stache: You’ve moved to five states and attended 10 different schools as a child. How did that affect your writing?

Jess Godwin: I would definitely have to say that moving impacted my earlier music. I was the shy new girl and would over think everything. I spent most of grade school looking at other girls and wishing I was more like them. With “Katy’s Side,” I thought, “oh that girl is cooler than me.” I still feel like that new girl sometime – what’s great is the older I get, the less that feeling pops up.

P’s: Your mom was a singer and teacher. How did that influence you? Was that your entry point into music?

JG: Mom was a piano teacher when I was really young. I picked up piano just by listening to the lessons. When I lived in Virginia, my mom used to gig at clubs and bars, like the Marriott in Roanoke, VA. Dad would pretend to be her “roadie” and carry all of her gear for her. She played a keyboard and sang pop, jazz and soul songs to all of these pre-recorded tracks that she programmed herself. (Gently sings a line from The Main Ingredient’s “Everybody Plays the Fool”). So much of the music in her set stuck with me!

Portrait-of-Jess-Godwin

Photography by Lucy Hewett

P’s: What did you learn from her?

JG: Mom has always stressed the importance of being a good musician first. I have a solid foundation of music theory, sight reading, and ear training under my belt, and that has helped me so much in getting gigs, keeping gigs, writing songs and communicating with other musicians. I definitely have my mom to thank for that.

P’s: I’m curious about some of the great music you must have listened to from your parents’ music collection.

JG: Growing up I listed to a lot of James Taylor, Ella Fitzgerald, and because we just came back from Christmas break – Bing Crosby and “Mannheim Steamroller Christmas.”

P’s: You told me “the minute I realized acting is communicating, it made sense for me.” At your concert at the Mayne Stage, I was struck at how your theater background influenced your performance. You shook your hips and made grand gestures with your arms. You even maintained eye contact with folks in the balcony.

JG: The connecting has been easy for me. I have performed in Chicago storefront theaters where the audience is right here (holds hand to face), and you can’t fake it, because people can tell when you’re lying. I’ve also done a lot of cabaret where you are forced to make eye contact with the audience.

P’s: You’ve performed mostly behind the piano during your shows. Did you tinker with your performance a bit during your Double Door concert in November?

JG: We’ve been changing around our stage show a great deal in the past year. Up until the beginning of 2012, I was always behind the piano. I decided to try something new and get out front. It’s definitely been a progression this year. I went from being terrified and not knowing what to do with my hands to pointing at everyone. It was all I could think of to do!

popstache photo of jess godwin

P’s: Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley have made millions of dollars doing just that with KISS.

JG: (laughs) The reason I did it was because I kept seeing people I knew. I got some comments that I needed to make my shows more visual.

P’s: Any fear your appearance will overshadow your voice and music?

JG: That has been a humungous fear for me. I went through image consulting for about a year in Atlanta. A studio said they wanted to work with me, but said, “You need to worry about your image first.” It was all about selling sex. And it broke me down. I said, “What about the music?” - Popstache

For someone who explores the exuberance and pratfalls of relationships through her songwriting, Jess Godwin certainly celebrates optimism.

She leaves a bowl of baked cookies on a merchandise table at her concerts and asks, “how are you feeling today” on a mailing list form. She relishes any opportunity to comfort a teenager dealing with adolescence.

“In this day and age, being cynical is in vogue and I’m so tired of it,” she said. “Wouldn’t it be great if being nice was cool?”

Don’t mistaken niceness for timidness. Godwin’s voice is distinctive and commanding whether she’s reveling in her playful side on “Katy’s Side” or powering through “Be a Light” and “Santa Monica.”

Godwin chatted with Pop ’stache a few days after her January show at Mayne Stage in Chicago, discussing the maturation of her music, how it helps to have a theater background and the challenge of presenting the right image.

Pop ’stache: You’ve moved to five states and attended 10 different schools as a child. How did that affect your writing?

Jess Godwin: I would definitely have to say that moving impacted my earlier music. I was the shy new girl and would over think everything. I spent most of grade school looking at other girls and wishing I was more like them. With “Katy’s Side,” I thought, “oh that girl is cooler than me.” I still feel like that new girl sometime – what’s great is the older I get, the less that feeling pops up.

P’s: Your mom was a singer and teacher. How did that influence you? Was that your entry point into music?

JG: Mom was a piano teacher when I was really young. I picked up piano just by listening to the lessons. When I lived in Virginia, my mom used to gig at clubs and bars, like the Marriott in Roanoke, VA. Dad would pretend to be her “roadie” and carry all of her gear for her. She played a keyboard and sang pop, jazz and soul songs to all of these pre-recorded tracks that she programmed herself. (Gently sings a line from The Main Ingredient’s “Everybody Plays the Fool”). So much of the music in her set stuck with me!

Portrait-of-Jess-Godwin

Photography by Lucy Hewett

P’s: What did you learn from her?

JG: Mom has always stressed the importance of being a good musician first. I have a solid foundation of music theory, sight reading, and ear training under my belt, and that has helped me so much in getting gigs, keeping gigs, writing songs and communicating with other musicians. I definitely have my mom to thank for that.

P’s: I’m curious about some of the great music you must have listened to from your parents’ music collection.

JG: Growing up I listed to a lot of James Taylor, Ella Fitzgerald, and because we just came back from Christmas break – Bing Crosby and “Mannheim Steamroller Christmas.”

P’s: You told me “the minute I realized acting is communicating, it made sense for me.” At your concert at the Mayne Stage, I was struck at how your theater background influenced your performance. You shook your hips and made grand gestures with your arms. You even maintained eye contact with folks in the balcony.

JG: The connecting has been easy for me. I have performed in Chicago storefront theaters where the audience is right here (holds hand to face), and you can’t fake it, because people can tell when you’re lying. I’ve also done a lot of cabaret where you are forced to make eye contact with the audience.

P’s: You’ve performed mostly behind the piano during your shows. Did you tinker with your performance a bit during your Double Door concert in November?

JG: We’ve been changing around our stage show a great deal in the past year. Up until the beginning of 2012, I was always behind the piano. I decided to try something new and get out front. It’s definitely been a progression this year. I went from being terrified and not knowing what to do with my hands to pointing at everyone. It was all I could think of to do!

popstache photo of jess godwin

P’s: Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley have made millions of dollars doing just that with KISS.

JG: (laughs) The reason I did it was because I kept seeing people I knew. I got some comments that I needed to make my shows more visual.

P’s: Any fear your appearance will overshadow your voice and music?

JG: That has been a humungous fear for me. I went through image consulting for about a year in Atlanta. A studio said they wanted to work with me, but said, “You need to worry about your image first.” It was all about selling sex. And it broke me down. I said, “What about the music?” - Popstache

I know journalists are supposed to be unbiased (or at least give off that impression). Tell that to a few television networks though, right? So as much as I want to be detached and just give you the facts about Jess Godwin and her latest EP – you know, where she’s been, where she’s going – please bear with me.

I met Jess for tea last week on the eve of her self-titled EP release show at Double Door. Though we talked plenty about her music career and the process behind this latest recording, I felt like I was just hanging out with a girl friend. She complimented me on my necklace, commiserated with me over guys and dating, and we shared our mutual distaste for grammatical and spelling errors in text messages.

Trust me. Jess is a talented singer and songwriter and has an energetic presence on stage, but the one thing I can’t get over is just how likeable she is. She’s exactly the kind of person you hope finds great success because she really seems like she could handle it. And if her performance at Double Door and the capacity crowd’s reactions are any indication, I have no doubt that she will find just that.

In fact, the ease with which Jess took the stage – no, commanded it – made me wonder how this girl could have ever been a self-described wallflower. - It's Cool I'm WTB

This past weekend, Chicago songwriter Jess Godwin sang for the first time in Los Angeles at The Room 5 Lounge. She currently has three CDs available and performed a number of selections from her most recent release, Klutz. Her pop songs are a reflection of her quirky and honest personality as far as relationships are concerned, and those traits were even more prominent after seeing her live performance.

The small, low-key venue worked in her favor as she managed to talk to members in the audience before and during her performance. Her personality was endearing as she seemed to want to get to know everyone in the room.

“I wrote this song before the movie,” she said during her song, “Three Weeks Shy,” a track that could have easily been featured in the 2009 film, He’s Just Not That Into You.

Her incredible vocal ability seemed to skyrocket as she hit notes unimaginable to the human ear. She could have easily sung without an instrument and the audience still would have been impressed, but her piano playing was an added bonus to her already impressive performance.

It takes a lot of courage to go on stage and be painfully honest about one’s self-doubt and awkward habits, but Godwin manages to do it in a completely refreshing way. It was as though she encouraged the audience to embrace their “nerdy” selves and own up to their faults during tough circumstances in life. Sometimes laughing at yourself can be the best remedy in an awkward situation. - Performer Mag

This past weekend, Chicago songwriter Jess Godwin sang for the first time in Los Angeles at The Room 5 Lounge. She currently has three CDs available and performed a number of selections from her most recent release, Klutz. Her pop songs are a reflection of her quirky and honest personality as far as relationships are concerned, and those traits were even more prominent after seeing her live performance.

The small, low-key venue worked in her favor as she managed to talk to members in the audience before and during her performance. Her personality was endearing as she seemed to want to get to know everyone in the room.

“I wrote this song before the movie,” she said during her song, “Three Weeks Shy,” a track that could have easily been featured in the 2009 film, He’s Just Not That Into You.

Her incredible vocal ability seemed to skyrocket as she hit notes unimaginable to the human ear. She could have easily sung without an instrument and the audience still would have been impressed, but her piano playing was an added bonus to her already impressive performance.

It takes a lot of courage to go on stage and be painfully honest about one’s self-doubt and awkward habits, but Godwin manages to do it in a completely refreshing way. It was as though she encouraged the audience to embrace their “nerdy” selves and own up to their faults during tough circumstances in life. Sometimes laughing at yourself can be the best remedy in an awkward situation. - Performer Mag

Local singer/songwriter Jess Godwin is looking for her big break. She is a fiery redhead with a multidimensional voice that at one moment is soft and sweet, then strong and powerful at the next. The simple, vocal-heavy pop songs on her new self-titled EP create a sound that can easily be received by a wide variety of listeners. They're especially inspirational to women because they speak to common feminine plight. Both her soulful, up-tempo beats and the lyrics of her songs are very catchy, making it hard to resist singing along.

It's apparent that Godwin's lyrics are reflective of challenges she has faced in her life. The first two songs on the EP seem to be inspired by the harsh realities she has faced while trying to get her foot in the door of the highly competitive music industry. She has released three EPs in the past three years, and is still searching for a label. Her musical focus has evolved slightly from her original R&B sound to more marketable pop tunes. - Gapers Block

Jess Godwin may not be known as a singing sensation now, but just you wait.

She’s been playing music circuits in New York, Chicago and Atlanta the past year and has been playing piano and singing since she was a tyke.

To celebrate the release of her new CD “Quiet the Room,” she will play gigs in all three cities this month.

Godwin recorded the CD under the watchful eye of Jan Smith, the Atlanta vocal coach and consultant to numerous stars, including Usher, Keyshia Cole and American Idol runner-up Diana DeGarmo.

Godwin pens her own lyrics and music, which is peppered with flavors of R&B, pop and rock-style show tunes.

A classically trained singer and pianist, Godwin writes with a poetic and humorous flair. In “Too Late For Love,” she chirps like a bird: “I try to be coy, I try to be calm and collected, I come off neurotic . . . I beg you to deprecate me.”

Her catchy tunes and lyrics are memorable and contain scenarios that many of us have pondered. “Three Weeks Shy” asks, “Did you forget my number, Did you run out of minutes? Did I come off as boring? Was it something I said? If I had worn the blue dress, if I ordered the burger, would you have called me?”

Although the red-headed vixen has been compared to Regina Spektor, Alicia Keys and Norah Jones, Godwin has a sound all her own. Whether she is belting out a tune or singing in falsetto where her high notes soar like a smooth slow wave at sea, she comes across like a star.

Godwin studied classical music at Vanderbilt University and obtained a degree in theater from Columbia College Chicago.

Upon graduation, Godwin worked in numerous theaters around the Windy City, including Steppenwolf, the launching pad for Laurie Metcalf, John Malkovich and Gary Sinise. Godwin’s agent got her auditions in New York where she won a role in Rodgers’ and Hammerstein’s show “Carousel” in one of the country’s premier theaters, the Long Wharf in New Haven, Conn. While performing there, she realized that she needed to go back to her true love: playing and performing her original tunes.

Her first CD, titled “Jess Godwin,” is a three-song sampler of her music. “Quiet the Room” contains four songs and was created in hopes of attracting a recording contract.

Godwin plays Morseland in Chicago June 13, Smith’s Olde Bar in Atlanta June 15 and The Bitter End in New York July 16. For more information on upcoming gigs and to listen to her music, visit jessgodwin.com. - Asher PR

Jess Godwin may not be known as a singing sensation now, but just you wait.

She’s been playing music circuits in New York, Chicago and Atlanta the past year and has been playing piano and singing since she was a tyke.

To celebrate the release of her new CD “Quiet the Room,” she will play gigs in all three cities this month.

Godwin recorded the CD under the watchful eye of Jan Smith, the Atlanta vocal coach and consultant to numerous stars, including Usher, Keyshia Cole and American Idol runner-up Diana DeGarmo.

Godwin pens her own lyrics and music, which is peppered with flavors of R&B, pop and rock-style show tunes.

A classically trained singer and pianist, Godwin writes with a poetic and humorous flair. In “Too Late For Love,” she chirps like a bird: “I try to be coy, I try to be calm and collected, I come off neurotic . . . I beg you to deprecate me.”

Her catchy tunes and lyrics are memorable and contain scenarios that many of us have pondered. “Three Weeks Shy” asks, “Did you forget my number, Did you run out of minutes? Did I come off as boring? Was it something I said? If I had worn the blue dress, if I ordered the burger, would you have called me?”

Although the red-headed vixen has been compared to Regina Spektor, Alicia Keys and Norah Jones, Godwin has a sound all her own. Whether she is belting out a tune or singing in falsetto where her high notes soar like a smooth slow wave at sea, she comes across like a star.

Godwin studied classical music at Vanderbilt University and obtained a degree in theater from Columbia College Chicago.

Upon graduation, Godwin worked in numerous theaters around the Windy City, including Steppenwolf, the launching pad for Laurie Metcalf, John Malkovich and Gary Sinise. Godwin’s agent got her auditions in New York where she won a role in Rodgers’ and Hammerstein’s show “Carousel” in one of the country’s premier theaters, the Long Wharf in New Haven, Conn. While performing there, she realized that she needed to go back to her true love: playing and performing her original tunes.

Her first CD, titled “Jess Godwin,” is a three-song sampler of her music. “Quiet the Room” contains four songs and was created in hopes of attracting a recording contract.

Godwin plays Morseland in Chicago June 13, Smith’s Olde Bar in Atlanta June 15 and The Bitter End in New York July 16. For more information on upcoming gigs and to listen to her music, visit jessgodwin.com. - Asher PR

"Ladies, have you had your fill of dubious dudes who ask for your number then never call? Or pursue you relentlessly, and then when you finally start to respond, lose interest and move on? Jess Godwin feels your pain. More than that, she's put it to music. And not just any music-big, soulful R&B that comes out swinging and demands your attention, if not your love and respect. This is not to say that men won't appreciate Godwin's fiery piano invectives; many will. But Godwin has a way of succinctly summing up the single lady experience with wit, intelligence and brass that will have a lot of women putting their hands up even higher than they did for Beyonce. In her potent soul single, "Three Weeks Shy," she takes a negligent love interest to task by asking, "If I had worn the blue dress, if I had a burger, if I had been blonde / Would you have tried to reach me sooner?" Her expressive vocals swing from lilting jabs to heart-wrenching explosions, putting her somewhere in between Regina Spektor and Alicia Keys. After the seismic soul chorus of "Three Weeks Shy," Godwin cools things down, singing sweetly and simply, "Let's call it what it is / Just that not in to me." Maybe he's not, but the rest of us most definitely are!" Kate B. - ourstage.com

"Ladies, have you had your fill of dubious dudes who ask for your number then never call? Or pursue you relentlessly, and then when you finally start to respond, lose interest and move on? Jess Godwin feels your pain. More than that, she's put it to music. And not just any music-big, soulful R&B that comes out swinging and demands your attention, if not your love and respect. This is not to say that men won't appreciate Godwin's fiery piano invectives; many will. But Godwin has a way of succinctly summing up the single lady experience with wit, intelligence and brass that will have a lot of women putting their hands up even higher than they did for Beyonce. In her potent soul single, "Three Weeks Shy," she takes a negligent love interest to task by asking, "If I had worn the blue dress, if I had a burger, if I had been blonde / Would you have tried to reach me sooner?" Her expressive vocals swing from lilting jabs to heart-wrenching explosions, putting her somewhere in between Regina Spektor and Alicia Keys. After the seismic soul chorus of "Three Weeks Shy," Godwin cools things down, singing sweetly and simply, "Let's call it what it is / Just that not in to me." Maybe he's not, but the rest of us most definitely are!" Kate B. - ourstage.com