Meet Jesse Palter

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jesse Palter.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I was born and raised in a suburb of Detroit, MI. I was an innate dreamer and music was always my calling. My grandmother on my father’s side was an opera singer, so my dad’s exposure to that contributed to my parents supporting my musical pursuits since I was a kid. My mom said when my family would sit down to eat dinner, I took the opportunity to have an attentive audience and would get up and entertain them, so the tendencies were always there. I started dance lessons at two and piano lessons at seven. Around that time, I begged my parents to let me audition for the local community theatre’s production of Alice and Wonderland. That experience cemented my love of performing which ultimately progressed to professional musical theatre, musical theatre summer camps, and troupes, vocal lessons, etc.

I started playing the Oboe in 5th grade. I liked the Oboe because nobody else picked it to play at school (I was always a bit unconventional). I went to a middle school that specialized in the performing arts, and it was there that I realized I wanted to be a recording artist and discovered my ear for improvisation. The latter came about when I was playing the Narrator in the school’s production of Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and I started embellishing the melody out of nowhere during our dress rehearsal. The teacher reamed me out then pulled my mom aside to suggest she get me into jazz. So I got a trumpet and spent the summer learning to play. I came back at the top of the next school year, auditioned for jazz band, got in, and thus began my love affair with jazz.

When I was 12, inspired by the surge of young teen pop sensations, I reached out to a producer based out of Nashville (the late singer/songwriter/musician, Andrew Gold) and asked him if he’d want to produce music for me. I think he found my ambition quite amusing, so he scheduled a phone call with me and asked me to sing for him as an audition of sorts over the phone. Next thing I knew, my family was driving out to Nashville, so I could work with him. I learned about the importance of songwriting and the power of a song from Andrew. We made some demos, and he helped get me some major label meetings in Los Angeles. It was in a meeting with Lenny Waronker where I decided (mid-meeting, mind you) that I wanted to be a jazz musician and study jazz music. So back to the drawing board I went.

But, I was also developing the muscle for writing pop songs, and I got connected with The Bass Brothers when I was a sophomore in High School. They heard something in me and signed me to a production deal as a developing artist. We co-wrote together for a year, and they intended to shop me for a major label deal, but they were working with Eminem who was at the height of his career, and he occupied most of their time. I decided to enroll in the jazz program at University of Michigan’s School Of Music because it was important to me to be a musician first and foremost, and so off I went to further study the language of jazz and improvisation, theory, musicology, etc.

I left school my junior year because I was getting opportunities to perform in jazz clubs around Detroit which was occupying most of my time. I was making money and learning more on the job than solely in a practice room, and my pianist/collaborator at the time (Mike Jellick) was teaching me more than any private teacher I had ever had. We got to the point where we were doing 250 gigs a year, and we recorded an album when I was 19 which led to the opportunity to tour a bit as well. Another pianist I had worked with (John Nam) connected me with songwriter/producer/keyboardist Sam Barsh while I was in New York doing some gigs.

Sam and I got together to chat and play some music, and after playing a standard or two, he turned to me and said: “do you want to just write pop music?” It was a match made in heaven, being that we both had a strong foundation in jazz but pop tendencies in our writing. Our collaboration evolved into our band Palter Ego, which ultimately brought us both to Los Angeles in 2010. We had some luck in the licensing/sync world as well as a few videos that went viral, a presence on the LA music scene and did some touring, but after years of pushing our thing independently, our resources were limited and without label backing or PR we had come to a crossroads. Sam’s career as a songwriter began to take off, and I began to focus on my solo project. Side note, Sam and I still write and perform music to this day and he’s one of the great collaborators of my life.

In 2015, a recording of my original jazz compositions got in the hands of an A&R at Mack Avenue Records. He wanted to sign me and release that record, but the one crossover song on the record caught the attention of the President of the label who asked to hear additional material in that vein. At the same time, I was connected with my manager David Passick, who has managed me since then and encouraged me to focus on my career as a singer/songwriter as well. So I hunkered down and wrote all the material that ultimately got me the record deal.

In December of 2016, we signed, in 2017, I recorded my album, in October of 2018 I released “The Paper Trail EP” and we are now gearing up to release my full length “Paper Trail” album this summer! You can currently hear The Paper Trail EP on all digital platforms, and we released a glittery music video for the single “Heavy Is The Crown” that is currently on Vevo & YouTube.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Nothing about this road has been smooth, but I’m very grateful that I’ve been able to learn from all of the obstacles and that I’ve stayed the course. It has been a rollercoaster all across the board. I’ve been told since I was a kid “the music industry is impossible” – and that was said back when records were selling like hotcakes! But I didn’t feel I had a choice whether or not I was going to go for it, it’s what I needed to do, it’s my passion.

So I dove in, and here I am. It’s a constant grind, there’s no real guidebook, and the industry is constantly changing. You have to evolve with it and keep creating. I just try to wake up and grind it out every day, stay as positive as I can (I work at this all of the time!), not take no for an answer when I really believe in something, advocate for myself, evaluate where I’m at and adjust, hone my craft, strive for professionalism, and know my worth (another constant I work on!). There have been struggles right and left, but in my darkest hours, I’ve always found my fire and picked myself back up.

 

 

 

We’d love to hear more about what you do.
I am a vocalist, classically trained, who went to conservatory for jazz and performs all across the board including pop, soul, and r&b. I am a songwriter at my core. I use the piano as a compositional tool, but I also work with other producers and top-line the melody and lyric over their tracks as pitches for other artists. I love writing the full song from start to finish – the melody, the chords, and lyrics (I am crazy about playing with words), but I also love the art of collaboration. I am always looking to collaborate with new creative blood! I am known for blending many genres (I consider myself “genre fluid”), and my jazzy sensibilities coupled with my pop-forward writing sets me apart from others.

Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Work ethic and ability coupled with resilience and determination.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.jessepalter.com
• Email: dpassick@me.com (Management), KSundell@rogersandcowan.com (PR)
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jessepalter
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jessepalter
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/jessepalter
• Other: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2nV9K_iy4eBjidduJv-qDw/featured

Image Credit:
Anna Webber, Alex Chaloff, Roland Nicol, Elias Brown

Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.