Jess Godwin

Misfit with soul Jess Godwin is a bit of a conundrum. On stage, this singer/songwriter/pianist has been dubbed "Little Teena Marie". Off stage? "Nerd Girl". Instead of trying to figure out how these two meet in the middle, Jess has finally decided to embrace the fact that she is a walking contradiction. She writes pop melodies that stick, but the true star is the lyric. Quirky, funny, and honest, Jess takes jabs at boyfriends and bad dates, but she saves the best digs for herself. Don't tell anyone, but she secretly loves being the underdog.

As a child, Godwin insisted on sporting sweatpants, and short hair, so it's no surprise that her 4th grade bus driver mistook her for a boy. Despite this, Jess still managed to emerge into something of a girl. She lives for short skirts and high heels. She likes boys...a lot.

After two years of trying to conceal the fact that she is, in fact, a trained singer, and does, in fact, have a background in theatre, Jess is throwing in the towel. "Hi...my name is Jess...and I like Musical Theatre. But that doesn't mean we still can't be friends!" She attended Vanderbilt University as a classical voice major and finished off at Columbia College as a Theatre major. She had a couple of almost big breaks - she was almost in Wicked...twice. After being thrown off the stage in a production of Carousel, Jess decided to take a breather from theatre and focus on writing her own music. She still does the occasional show every once in a while and continues to make the mistake of dating actors.

Jess currently supports herself (sort of) teaching voice lessons to teens and singing at St. Alphonsus in Chicago. She has a blast doing a weekly tell-all video music blog: www.girlin14g.blogspot.com. Jess's band keeps up a regular Chicago schedule and makes it out to New York and Atlanta every couple of months. "Come to my show! I'm really super awesome live, I will bake you cookies, and I'll do push-ups on stage if you bring friends!"

People wonder about the pigtails. People scoff at the pigtails. People stay up at night questioning the pigtails. But a magician never reveals his secrets.

Godwin is gearing up to release a new EP entitled "Klutz" and her first music video, "Katy's Side" this coming May. Starring Godwin and Jennifer Knox, better known as the Female Guest from The Dark Knight, "Katy's Side" is a tongue-in-cheek story about the perils of all-consuming jealousy. Directed by Benji Dell and BJ Friedman and choreographed by Vanessa Panerosa, the video was shot at Columbia College Dance Center and the Chicago Blackstone Hotel. The video and EP release show will take place in the Crystal Ballroom of the Blackstone Hotel at 8PM on May 7th. All ages, $10. 636 S. Michigan Ave. Hotel guests receive free admission. With Eli Noll (elinoll.com), Michael Mahler (michaelmahler.com), and Alan Schmuckler (alanschmuckler.com)