Jackey Mars

-For anyone who is interested or has the time to read this - a quick (depending on how fast you read) synopsis of my musical evolution:

- My mom made me take piano lessons as a child (when I really wanted gymnastic lessons, however I'm glad I know how to play now, as I'll be able to play piano for longer than I could have ever been able to do a back handspring)

- My first concert is kind of embarassing, but it was Debbie Gibson and shortly thereafter The Beach Boys.

- I was in choir at my church when I was younger and got a solo singing "If I was a bell" in front of a large church congregation - probably my biggest live crowd I'll ever get. I kept with the choir thing through junior high and got another solo singing "I will sing a song for the Russian child"

- I couldn't fit choir into my schedule in high school because I was focused on getting good grades (which required a study hall) so that I could apply for non-existent scholarships for white, middle class (but yet your parents have $0 money to help with college) smart students with a great GPA but not so hot SAT score.

- My dad is really into karaoke, is a limo driver, and used to rent out one of his limos as a singing karaoke limo with karaoke inside and blaring the singing outside to those in the streets.

- In college, music started having an even greater presence in my life, as I was exposed to many genres of music since I hung out with various groups of people. My one college roomate I also give thanks to in college for introducing me to the band Push Down and Turn - their concerts/shows always made for an exciting evening and I have many great memories of going to see them play!

- The first time I sang karaoke was shortly after college, in New Orleans at the Cat's Meow and the song was Dancing Queen - not the best choice at the time - but it was New Orleans! I also had another roomate who introduced me to this band called the Scabs - who were very entertaining and now I'm a big Bob Schneider fan - who was the lead singer for The Scabs as well as other various bands

-I sang karaoke again at this girls going away party and everyone kept saying how great I sounded - which was kind of the first eye opener for me. By the way I sang "All Cried Out" and "Wishing You Were There".

- I moved to Chicago and continued my obsession with singing at Clark Bar with their karaoke after Thursday night softball games with an advertising league I was in. My co-workers often said I was good, I remember the cathartic feeling I got when I sang Since You Been Gone and the whole crowd in the bar started singing along and jumping around, someone also threw a dollar bill at me after one of my songs, and another guy came up to me after one of my songs wanting my number cuz he said he was with an indie record label and looking to put a duo together. I think he could see my skepticism, as he never called

- Because of the above, I thought I would have a decent shot doing pretty well at the Nashville Star auditions. Well, reality hit, and nothing really went anywhere with that - not like I really expected it, but I had some great times, sang with a band at a dive biker type bar in Michigan, and sang in a contest with a live band at The Wildhorse Saloon in Nashville, on my trips to try out for the contest. I was always slightly older than the American Idol age limit - but that contest seemed like too much of a cattle call for me.

-I got really interested in writing music as a part of the Nashville Star auditions because you had to have an original song during the first year or two that I tried out - so that made me write a couple songs, and once I started doing that, I realized how cathartic songwriting was and that in essence brings me to where I am today. I picked up a little guitar too and have gone to some open mic nights in the recent years. I love many different musical styles, but the ones I typically write for tend to be country, but I've definitely got some more rock/pop sounding songs up my sleeve as well.

- I've written quite a few songs over the past few years, have finally gotten some professionally recorded - with more to come, hopefully pretty soon.

-Now I'm excited to find anyone that can enjoy my music or at least relate to it in some way, and maybe make back some of the money that I spent producing my songs :) - and it's also kind of fun now using my marketing/media/advertising background to try and promote my music as well.

- That's all folks - for all that have endured this bio to the point where they actually read the whole thing. Any updates to this I'll post in my blogs! Have a great day!!!!