‘Catch of the Day’ – Jessie James Decker – “Lights Down Low” [VIDEO]

Today our spotlight falls on an artist who had submitted her music to, and had been rejected by most record companies in Nashville before she was old enough to drive. But she honed her skills working with a small, independent label until Nashville came knocking on her door.

Jessie James Decker, was born in Vicenza, Italy and grew up in Baker, Louisiana. Jessie began singing when she was just 2 years old, and began entering talent contests when she was six and age nine, won her first contest at age nine, singing "I Want To Be A Cowboy's Sweetheart". By that point she had already begun songwriting, using a small plastic guitar to write on. With a few years, she began performing professionally, with shows at Sea World and also performing at other venues through out the south.

Decker began traveling to Nashville to work on her songwriting, and by age 15, she began auditioning for labels around Nashville, but all turned her down, with the exception of indy label Big Yellow Dog Music, who offered her a developmental contract.

After a couple of years of honing her songwriting skills, one of Decker's songs, "My Cowboy" made it into the hands of producer L.A. Reid, who brought it to the attention of John Rich who offered to produce the song as a demo for Decker. The demo led to her being signed by Mercury Records in 2009, who forced Jessie to take a more pop approach to her first album, encouraging her to take on a "Brittany Spears like" sound. Against her wishes, the label brought in hip-hop producers for the album.

The self-titled album, a fusion of country and pop, with more of a focus on pop, debuted at #23 on the Billboard Hot200 charts, and met with luke-warm acceptance both critically and with audiences. The lead single, "Wanted" peaked at #40 on the pop charts.

After her debut as a pop-singer failed, her label gave the then Jessie James a little more leeway for her second album. When the lead single from that album, "Boys in the Summer" became a minor hit on the country chart, Jessie informed the label she didn't want to release another pop album, scrapping original plans for the album Sweet American Dreams to concentrate on a country approach. The label reacted by bringing in Show Dog-Universal to release of the album and to introduce James to country radio. After a falling out between the labels and a restructuring at Universal, the album was scrapped all together, and by 2013 the singer was dropped by both labels.

She has since released 6 singles independently, including "Boys in the Summer" in 2010 and "I Do" in 2013, with the latter being her highest charting single to date. 2014 saw the release of her EP Comin' Home, which peaked at #5 on the Billboard Country Albums chart, and #4 on the Indy Albums chart. She has also starred on the reality series Eric and Jessie: Game On, along with her husband, NFL player Eric Decker, along with appearing on the contest program Red Neck Island with former WWE superstar Steve Austin.

Jessie has found time in her busy schedule to go back into the studio to record some tracks, which will hopefully be in preparation of a new album. The first single from this project is our focus today. Jessie James Decker and "Lights Down Low" is today's Catch of the Day, new music you haven't heard, but you'll want to hear it again.