As she grew up, Baylin hung around in the bar and restaurant her parents owned. “The energy in there is powerful,” Baylin relates. “We got some shady regulars, and I grew up completely enchanted by their stories.” Her mother would join her in singalongs of classic pop music, but by age 13 young Jessie had discovered some of her greatest influences – Nina Simone, Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday. She was also inspired by Barbra Streisand and Judy Garland and their emotional intensity electrified her. "They just let it all hang out," she notes. "Something about artists who looks vulnerable enough to break but at the same time are so powerful... I love that fine line. That’s why I put so much into my stage performance, because that’s what inspires me."
Baylin moved to Los Angeles after high school to escape her "comfort zone", and admittedly, "to escape New Jersey". Baylin wrote her first song with a friend and immediately knew she’d found her calling. Afterward, she cut some demos, resulting in a residency at the Mint, which led to a growing interest in her work in the record industry. Signing a record deal with Verve Forecast in 2008.
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“It's a collection of a bunch of moments in my life,” Jessie Baylin says of her Verve Forecast debut Firesight. "I'm just trying to be as honest as I can, and hopefully people will connect with the songs and recognize moments of their own life in them."
Firesight makes good on the critical praise and grass-roots fan support that’s already been heaped upon the 24-year-old artist. The album offers a vibrant, soulful showcase for her talents as both an uncommonly insightful songwriter and a deeply expressive, effortlessly charismatic vocalist.
Recorded in the artist's recently adopted hometown of Nashville with noted producer Roger Moutenot (Yo La Tengo, Rogue Wave), Firesight features contributions from some of Nashville's most respected rock players, and songwriting collaborations with such notable co-writers as Whiskeytown member Mike Daly and Grammy-winning songwriter/performer Jesse Harris, L.A. troubadour Zack Hexum and the Rembrandts' Danny Wilde.
All-star support notwithstanding, it's Baylin's lyrically incisive, melodically intoxicating compositions and bracing performances that make Firesight such a revelation. Such tunes as "Leave Your Mark," "Lonely Heaven," "Not A Day More" and "See How I Run" boast a level of emotional insight that's rare in such a young artist.
Although Firesight shows her to be a natural songwriter and performer, Jessie Baylin’s road to a musical career has been an unconventional one. She gained her initial performing experience during early childhood, singing for customers at the Fire Sight Inn, the New Jersey restaurant/jazz bar that her parents owned. It was there that she developed her lifelong affinity for music, as well as gaining some early insights into human nature by observing the establishment’s colorful clientele.
“That’s why I wanted Firesight to be the title of the record,” Baylin explains. “It’s where I come from, and it’s who I am.”
As a child, Baylin felt a deep connection with the honesty and intensity of such classic jazz and pop divas as Joni Mitchell, Stevie Nicks, Billie Holiday and Nina Simone, whose influence would later inform her own singing. She also demonstrated an early penchant for introspection and self-examination, writing poetry and keeping personal journals while still in elementary school.
Shortly after graduating from high school, Baylin demonstrated her iconoclastic spirit by deciding to leave her family and friends behind to move to Los Angeles. “I was really comfortable at home with my family,” she explains, “and I really needed to get uncomfortable and take a big risk. It was nuts, but I just felt as though it was something that I needed to do. L.A. was completely alien to me. I didn’t know anyone when I moved there, and I didn't make any friends there for about a year."
It was after arriving in L.A. that Baylin stumbled upon her gift for songwriting. “A friend came to visit from New York,” she recalls, “and he brought his little baby Taylor guitar. We were sitting around singing some of our favorite songs, and then he started playing this melody and I picked up my journal and I knew the words that needed to go with that music. I started singing them and it all just connected. That was the first song I wrote.
“I knew right away that this was what I was meant to be doing,” she continues. “I had been searching for my purpose, and it smacked me in the face. It was scary, because I didn't know anyone in the music business. But I knew that it was what I was supposed to do, so I just went with it."
After an extended period honing her budding songwriting skills in solitude, Baylin recruited a band and booked her first show at the L.A. club the Mint. Almost immediately, she developed a local buzz and an enthusiastic following. “When I started playing out in L.A. and finding myself as an artist, it was the first time in my life that I actually felt like me,” she says. “I could walk into a place and feel like all of me was there.”
She soon became a fixture at the Hotel Café, emerging as a pillar of a vibrant grass-roots scene of young singer/songwriters. Before long, she was receiving offers of record deals, but passed on them because she didn't feel she was ready yet.
"The Hotel Café was a really amazing scene,” Baylin states, “and it's great that it sprung up in L.A. yet had very little to do with the music business. Everyone was being offered record deals and turning them down. We were just trying to figure out a way we could just have it be our own thing.”
In 2007, a co-writing session with songwriter/producer/recording artist Jesse Harris (best-known for his Grammy-winning work with Norah Jones) organically grew into a recording project that became Baylin's first album, You, which received a low-key independent release. In addition to demonstrating her evolving songwriting and performing abilities, the project also saw Baylin recording with such legendary veteran musicians as Jim Keltner, Van Dyke Parks and Leland Sklar.
Baylin continued to win new fans on national tours with James Morrison, Brett Dennen and Cranberries singer Dolores O'Riordan. She was also a featured performer on the 2006 Hotel Café tour and its 2008 sequel, alongside such Hotel Café alumni as Cary Brothers, Ingrid Michaelson and Greg Laswell.
With Firesight establishing her as one of the year's most exciting new creative forces, Jessie Baylin is eager to share her songs with rapidly expanding fan base.
“Listening to this record still sends a chill up my back,” she says, adding, “I think that most artists struggle with fear and insecurity, and I certainly do, but I’ve never felt more confident and comfortable on stage than when I’m playing the songs on Firesight. It just feels so good and so right; I just fall into it, and I’m in the moment and it’s beautiful.”
Dancer
Jessie Baylin Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
When you lose your doubt, honey call me
If you're in the mood, honey call me
Oh, I never needed anything, but I need you
You want attitude, honey call me
When you're all messed up, honey call me
When the world seems new, honey call me
Oh, I never needed anything, but I need you
If you want me, I'll be your dancer
Call on me and I will answer
Yes I will answer
Need a place to start, honey call me
Got a skinny heart, honey call me
When it falls apart, honey call me
Oh, I never needed anything, but I need you
If I let you go, honey call me
Let me take you back, honey call me
I'm a one mind track, honey call me
Oh, I never needed anything, but I need you
Oh, I never needed anything, but I need you
If you want me, I'll be your dancer
Call on me and I will answer
Yes I will answer
Oh, I never needed anything, but I need you
Oh, I never needed anything, but I need you
If you want me, I'll be your dancer
Call on me and I will answer
Yes I will answer
The lyrics in this song are all about being there for someone whom you care about. The first verse talks about being available for someone when they are experiencing a difficult time, when they feel doubtful or when they are in a mood. The chorus seems to be the singer's response to this person - they will be that person's "dancer," meaning they will lift them up and be there to support them when they need it. The second verse continues with the idea that the singer is willing to be there in any situation, whether the person needs somewhere to start, help when their heart is struggling, or someone to talk to when things fall apart.
Overall, the lyrics convey a sense of deep care and commitment to the other person. The singer seems to be saying that they never thought they needed anything more in life than what they already had, but upon meeting this other person, they have realized that they need their company and support in order to feel truly happy and fulfilled.
Line by Line Meaning
When your sun goes down, honey call me
If things get tough for you or you feel like you're in a bad place, don't hesitate to reach out to me for help.
When you lose your doubt, honey call me
If you finally come to a decision or conclusion and want somebody to share it with, let me know.
If you're in the mood, honey call me
If you want to spend time together or just hang out and have fun, give me a call.
You want attitude, honey call me
If you need somebody to back you up or support you in standing your ground, I'm here for you.
When you're all messed up, honey call me
If you feel lost or confused, I can help you sort through your feelings and find your way again.
When the world seems new, honey call me
If you ever experience something exciting or new and want somebody to share your enthusiasm with, I'm happy to be that someone.
If you want me, I'll be your dancer
Call on me and I will answer
Yes I will answer
In essence, this refrain is saying that no matter what you need or when you need it, I'll be here to help you through it, to be your support system, to be your 'dancer.'
Need a place to start, honey call me
If you need a fresh perspective or a new approach to something, let me know and I can brainstorm ideas with you.
Got a skinny heart, honey call me
If you feel vulnerable or fragile emotionally, I can be there to support and comfort you.
When it falls apart, honey call me
If things don't go as planned and everything seems to crumble around you, don't worry because I'll be there to help pick up the pieces and get things back on track.
If I let you go, honey call me
If I've made a mistake or hurt you in some way, don't be afraid to call me out on it and give me a chance to fix it.
Let me take you back, honey call me
If you're feeling nostalgic or just want to revisit some happy memories, I'm more than happy to revisit them with you.
I'm a one mind track, honey call me
I'm fully committed to you and our friendship, and I will always be there for you when you need me.
Oh, I never needed anything, but I need you
I may not have needed anyone or anything in the past, but now I need you because our relationship and friendship mean the world to me and I value our bond deeply.
Lyrics © WORDS & MUSIC A DIV OF BIG DEAL MUSIC LLC, THE BICYCLE MUSIC COMPANY, Peermusic Publishing
Written by: JESSIE BAYLIN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind