JESSY SOMMER "Golden Voice"

by jenny heying

Jessy Sommer is Australian. Why do I say that? Well it means she's polite. I seem to find that in most people from Australia. She's new to Second Life ™ (April 08) and to the music scene here. But if nervousness was a factor, I didn't notice it.

Jessy opened at the Drunken Drow with "Where I Stood" and although she didn't knock me off my feet immediately, she did do a decent job. Now maybe it's because I've seen a lot of Australian performers lately that I'm comparing her to them. Okay, she's not in some of their leagues, but she is better than a lot of Second Life ™ Performers. She has a number of pluses. First, she can sing. It's not a voice that grabs you and commands attention, but it is very good. On Twenty Good Reasons, her voice and confidence seemed to pick up.

The problem with Jessy and a lot of female Aussies, is that in between songs it's very hard to hear them. Not because of the accent, but because they are very soft spoken. Americans tend to blurt things out while Aussies hold a conversation. No problem here, while I didn't catch the name of the Australian songs, they were a pleasure to listen to. This is Me showcased Jessy's style and voice. She sings about love and lost love, relationships and lack of relationships. Jessy tells the story well.

A trend these days in this virtual music world is tossing aside the backing tracks and playing instruments. It's something that was long overdue here. Jessy continues the trend, accompanying herself on acoustic guitar. Strumming along to her songs adds that live feel to it as evidenced on Right Here Waiting For You. While she's no Jimmy Page, she does know how to play.

Jessy followed with Another Day in Paradise and Travelling Soldier. On both songs, she had that Dixie Chicks sound, which was good for those particular tunes. Jessy grows on you. I felt that with I Am The Highway. She seems to improve the more you listen. And on Lay Me Down, she did lay me down. I was not only warming up to her voice, but really really enjoying it.

She doesn't come with a set list. She plays what she feels and when she feels it. It's fitting. She seems like a free spirit, albeit one with romanticism in her heart. Fall To Pieces had that feeling from her. You could have sworn she wrote it. If there's baggage here, it's not cruel. Her songs of love are dramatic and teary eyed but not hurtful. She makes you long for lost loves.

She may be new to the music scene, but by all accounts she should be around for awhile. That is unless the real world snaps her up which wouldn't surprise me. It's so refreshing to hear artists in Second Life ™ who really are artists. Jessy fits that bill to a T. A golden voice, a musician, a story teller, and well maybe a touch of an accent. Okay she has one.

Angels, Waterfalls, and Ugly continued you down that heartbroken trail. She's refreshingly unpolished and tends to giggle a lot, but it adds to the live feel again. You do feel like you are watching her in a club somewhere. Burn and Out of Reach finished a marvelous set by this talented singer from down under. You don't need to jot her name down, you'll hear it a lot.