J. James

As a kid growing up in the inner-city neighborhood of Allentown, (located on above Pittsburgh's south side), Jesse Mader was exposed to a wide variety of music at a very young age. Heavily influenced by soul, rock n roll and hip hop, he began crafting lyrics together at the age of 12, recording songs with his cousin (fellow artist known in hip hop circles as Crazie A) on a Memorex tape deck into what Jesse describes as "our mic was two slots."
Jesse linked up with well-known local producer, Christopher "Mindbender" Longo at age 16, where he was motivated by the professional studio, and managed to put out two mixtapes in two years, selling them by the dozens out of the trunk of his car — showcasing the rapid fire vocal delivery, mixed with poppy hooks and edgy content.
With much local success and a growing following, Jesse released his first official album in 2006 called J.James: THIN LINE. The title was a metaphor for the mix of styles that made up the tracks. Gaining a very substantial online and regional fanbase, Jesse caught the attention of some industry folks, but decided to remain independent for creative purposes. Jesse performed often in the following years, collaborating with R&B recording artist, "Ambition," who had success as lead singer for gold-selling pop group "Pretty Ricky in 2008."
After a brief hiatus, Jesse has been working on his new album, "Breath by Breath" for the past two years. Jesse decided to release this new album using his given name as his artist name instead of J.James, as he felt that the music too real for a stage name and he wanted people to really relate to it.
Although, between the release of THIN LINE and recording the new album, there are many tracks that had been recorded as experimental and/or personal songs to Jesse. In seeing that his fans were anxious to hear some new material, he decided to release them as a mixtape entitled, "Jesse Mader presents: J.James UNDERGROUND." This release is coming soon, with no official date, but hoping for the spring 2011.