About Jessica
The story is that I was named after the Allman brothers song “Jessica”. It was Seattle in the 80s and my parents were definitely expecting a baby boy when I made my earthly debut. They were put on the spot to pick a girl name, and my dad had been rocking out to that particular seven-minute instrumental song as he rushed to the hospital. “Jessica” must have been stuck in his head because it promptly went down on my birth certificate and my musical journey began.
In fact, I must have been born with an all-access, front row pass to my dad’s garage rock band clutched in my chubby baby fingers. Instead of lullabies I got ZZ Top and Van Halen covers, and nap time happened on the band room couch. It was the 80s, and this was considered acceptable parenting.
You might think with all that exposure I’d have picked up some musical ability of my own. That’s definitely not the case - I couldn’t play my way out of a paper bag - but it may have sent me on my way to becoming a professional music listener. Rock music was constantly blaring through giant speakers at home, Guns and Roses, Led Zeppelin, Journey and Fleetwood Mac on repeat.
Then punk and grunge came along just as I was getting old enough to pick my own soundtrack. I wore out my Walkman listening to Nirvana, Soundgarden and the Beastie Boys. I swayed into pop music in high school because teenage angst, ya know. There was a whole summer lost to learning every lyric from No Doubt’s “Tragic Kingdom” album - no regrets.
Fast forward a few years and I had landed in Hawaii with a shiny new journalism degree from the University of Washington in my hands. I cut my teeth as a writer covering the predominantly reggae-rock arts and entertainment scene for the Maui Time Weekly alternative newspaper.
Big shows are few and far between way out in Hawaii, but the island vibes brought the likes of Slightly Stoopid, Jack Johnson and Donovan Frankenreiter out in abundance. It was a decade of chill tunes and mellow shows that would blow the roof off of MFM’s smoke meter. They don’t make a measuring device that gets that high - literally.
Back here in northern California the music scene definitely has more diversity. It can be just as exciting to see an emerging musician wow a small crowd in an intimate venue as it is to watch Pearl Jam blow the roof off a packed stadium crowd. Working for MFM is basically a dream job.
I love going to shows to scope out the crowd and feel the vibe while watching an artist connect with the audience, then coming home to write a review that hopefully puts the reader right there with me, front row and grooving along with some questionable dance moves. Live music is just the best.
I can be reached at jessica@musicfanmagazine.com