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| Jami Cooper
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 ARTIST BIOGRAPHY
Jami Cooper is a 22 year old singer/songwriter from Richland, Wa. She's been singing since she was very young and playing guitar since age15. Jami sang in choir up through college, singing and playing guitar for Columbia Basin College's vocal jazz group, "Freeform".
She began performing solo at age 18 and has become a regular at several Tri-City locations, including Atomic Ale Brewpub, Bookwalter Winery, and 321 Art Space. This last summer, Jami recorded her second album entitled "The Pages." The album consists of 12 original songs and one cover (written by a late cousin, Rich Wilbur). She wrote the songs over a period of two or three years.
Jami's vibrato-rich voice and rhythmically solid guitar, along with her composing skills and wordsmithing, firmly documents a young talent worth checking out—and catching live.
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| Band Spotlight |
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| Reprinted from the March '06 issue of The Entertainer |
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The Entertainer recently had the chance to sit down with singer/songwriter and solo artist, Jami Cooper. The resulting question and answer session is provided for your reading enjoyment.
ENTERTAINER: When did you first become interested in music?
JAMI: I first became interested in music when I was four or five, always singing along to my mom’s tapes: Tina Turner, Bruce Springstein, and for a long time my favorite was Michael Jackson. I didn’t join the choir until I was in sixth grade, and I was so shy that it took me forever to get up the nerve to try out for solos. But I knew that singing was what I wanted to do from a very young age and that I couldn’t be shy about it so I kept forcing myself to try out for solos. I had always wanted to play guitar but didn’t start playing until I was fifteen when I took a class at Richland High School. Along with singing in school, I got involved in church and sang in church choir and played guitar for the youth praise band. Since then my faith in Jesus has been a big part of my music. I first began writing my own poetry and songs when I was in middle school which, of course, were terrible. Towards the end of high school, though, I finally had a few songs I was proud of and played my first show at Dreamweaver’s bead shop in the Richland Uptown.
ENTERTAINER: What is the style of music you play?
JAMI: I would say it’s acoustic pop/folk/Christian/bluesishness. I’ve been influenced by so many different artists and genres, growing up on everything from 80’s and 90’s pop to classic rock, country, and jazz. I didn’t start listening to blues until I was in my late teens (I’m 22 now) and realized that that style is what my voice and lyrics are lent most easily to. After my young Michael Jackson phase, my next favorite was Sheryl Crow, and right now my favorite artists are Joni Mitchell, Fiona Apple, and Taj Mahal.
ENTERTAINER: What are you currently working on?
JAMI: Right now I guess I’m just working on trying to get some new material together. Most of the songs I recorded on The Pages were some that I had already been performing for three years or so. I’d also love to get a band together and collaborate with other artists.
ENTERTAINER: What has been your greatest memory as a musician?
JAMI: Since I was a part of choir on up through college (I sang in CBC’s vocal jazz group Freeform one year, and played guitar in the rhythm section for one year) it gave me the opportunity to do a lot of traveling (my other favorite thing) and see places such as Hawaii, New York, and New Orleans. My other greatest memories are from performing my songs and then having people come up to me after a show and talk to me and tell me they really connected with one of my songs or were really inspired by it.
ENTERTAINER: What does the future hold for your career?
JAMI: That’s what I’m wondering at this point in time also. I know this is something I will do my whole life. I know it’s a gift from God, I know it’s what I’m supposed to do. But thinking about how to make a living from it is overwhelming. I’m still just figuring out how to get myself gigs out of town, learning how to play guitar, how to write better songs, how to write an artist biography even. I would eventually like to move to somewhere like Seattle to play music, I’ve lived here my whole life, so I guess that will be the next step.
ENTERTAINER: Is there anything else you’d like to add?
JAMI: I’d just like to say thank you to other local artists who have helped me out so much. These include, but are not limited to, Dan Myers for recording me and encouraging me, Duncan Pryce, Dave Cazier, The Entertainer Newspaper for promoting me and all the places that have me play, including: Atomic Ale, 321 Art Space, Bookwalter, and Dreamweavers.
ENTERTAINER: Thank you Jami for giving us this opportunity to get to know you and your music. The Entertainer wishes you the best in your musical endeavors! |
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