Raised on Long Island, Jessie Daniels often ventured into New York City with her mother. It was through these visits that Jessie was able to begin modeling and acting in independent films and commercials for MTV and Lifetime. Jessie’s ability and desire to perform was evident, but she realized that she was not able to fully express her heart.

Soon after, Jessie had the opportunity to record some demos with a family friend. She discovered that through music she was able to relate to her friends in a way she had always desired. Her love of music rose to the surface and took over. It became a direction for her life, and an outlet to express her thoughts and experiences on life from a Godly perspective.

Since then, Jessie’s performance highlights have included sharing the stage with artists such as Plus One, Sheryl Crow, Lonestar, and Across the Sky. Jessie also received national attention when she appeared on the World News Tonight 9/11 tribute special.

Chatting to the sweet sixteen year-old just recently, I first wondered why back in the early days when she was trying her hand at acting that it hadn't stuck ... and how did the music suddenly take over? "After acting for a few years I decided that I wanted to be a kid, and it was then that I decided on my first love which was music."

From your debut EP, please tell me what was going through your head when you were putting together these three songs:

'Find Myself' - " [This] was the like the first song that I ever really wrote. I was really thinking about how awesome it was to be writing with such established writers and that it was really communicating who I was as an artist."
'Typical Miracle' - "Writing 'Typical Miracle' really got me thinking about how God works in mysterious ways and how everything goes according to His timing."
'Single Word' - "We wrote 'Single Word' really fast! It was a fun song to write. There was no struggle with ideas and everything just kinda fell into place."

Your spiritual beliefs and overall faith are obvious continual threads throughout this EP, but is there the possibility that your music could soon become unfairly pre-categorized and such by retailers and media alike? "My faith is who I am. Some songs are more blatant than others, but I don't think people can criticize or "unfairly pre-categorize" my music because I am simply expressing my view of the world through my art. Artists like Sixpence, Stacie Orrico, POD and others have kinda paved the road before me."

Your vocal strengths are very powerful and so I was wondering if back when you first began singing that this surprising depth shocked even you?! "I feel that God has blessed me with an awesome gift and I am so thankful for that. I've worked really hard, but to some extent, it still surprises me every day."

Are there other people's songs that you always sing around the house or in the studio that one day we might hear on one of your own records? "Not that I can think of. I'm a big fan of so many artists, so I'm always singing a bunch of different songs. But I really want my music to be my own."

For your forthcoming full-length debut have you already got an album title in your head? "No. We're still writing, but I'm sure we'll get there soon."

You've been described as being "accomplished and adorably vivacious", but I'm sure there's a more devilish side to you also?! Reveal an incident where you were not quite the angel that your bio makes you out to be! "I think we all have a "devilish side", but I'm not much of a risk-taker. I really don't have that much to hide! I'm not that adventurous!"

If you could change anything about yourself, what would it be and why?! "I wish that I had more patience with people sometimes."

What makes Jessie Daniels stand out from the musical crowd? "The message of my music. I hope people take away things from music that can apply to their lives. A message of faith, hope and love."

Finally, if you were locked into a studio and asked to create a song with a three other musicians, who would they be, which instruments would they play and what would the name of the song be?! "Michelle Branch and Paul Wright would be on guitar, and Justin Unger from Across the Sky on piano. We'd probably record something called 'Forever'."

Interviewed by Russell A. Trunk