 Part of country music's late-'90s crop
of female crossover stars,
Jo Dee Messina's appeal nonetheless remained more with
country fans than pop audiences.
Jo Dee Messina was born August 25, 1970, in Framingham, MA, and
grew up in nearby Holliston. She sang in musical plays
starting at age eight but discovered country music at age 12
and got hooked on the likes of
the Judds,
Reba McEntire, and
Dolly Parton. She soon started performing live, and by
16 she was playing local clubs with a rhythm section made up
of her brother and sister. At age 19, she moved to Nashville
in search of greater exposure and sang regularly for prize
money in local talent competitions. One win led to a regular
gig on the radio show Live at Libby's, which in turn caught
the interest of producer Byron Gallimore, who helped her
assemble a demo tape. Gallimore was also working with the
young
Tim McGraw around the same time, and
Jo Dee Messina befriended him. Backstage at one of his
concerts,
Jo Dee Messina met an executive from his label, Curb, and
jokingly suggested that they needed a redhead. Producer
James Stroud, who had just heard
Jo Dee Messina's demo, stepped up to vouch for her, and she
soon wound up on Curb, with Gallimore and
McGraw serving as her producers.
Jo Dee Messina's self-titled debut album was released in 1996
and gave her two Top Ten hits in "Heads Carolina, Tails
California" (number two) and "You're Not in Kansas Anymore."
The album sold well, setting the stage for
Jo Dee Messina's star-making sophomore effort, I'm Alright.
Released in 1998, it made
Jo Dee Messina the first female country artist to score three
multiple-week number one hits from the same album: "Bye
Bye," "I'm Alright," and "Stand Beside Her." She nearly had
a fourth, but "Lesson in Leavin'" stalled at number two.
Honored by both the CMA and ACM in 1999,
Jo Dee Messina staked out even pop-friendlier territory on her
third album, 2000's Burn. It became her first number one
album, and the lead single, "That's the Way," her fourth
number one single. Two more Top Tens followed in "Burn" and
"Downtime," and a fourth single, the
Tim McGraw duet "Bring on the Rain," also topped the
charts, helping Burn sell over a million copies.
Jo Dee Messina followed it with the holiday album A Joyful
Noise in late 2002, and just months later, with only three
albums to her credit, Curb released a Greatest Hits
compilation. Finally, in 2005, she released her official
follow-up to Burn, Delicious Surprise.
Contact Grabow for more information or to book Jo Dee
Messina for your next corporate or private event.
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