Unknown Artist: Jake Ousley

Written by: Elizabeth Prieskorn '14

      A smooth voice and a sweet country sound, Jake Ousley is a prodigious singer and songwriter. Jake lives in Nashville, Tennessee and attended Belmont University.

      During his time at college, as he was writing songs, he became friends with Dave Barnes and Matt Wertz. They were just two local musicians who were setting out to tour and play across the country. Seeing Jake’s talent they threw him in the bus with them and they were off.

      After the tour was over, Jake left Nashville, and left behind writing songs. He moved to Michigan in 2008 and started to become very involved in Young Life.

      Being involved in Young Life, Jake started to write songs again. He performed concerts at Young Life Camps. Spending a summer at Wilderness Ranch he saw how people reacted to his music and how much people enjoyed it.

      Talking to his buddies back in Nashville, he came back and did what they told him to do. Make music. Jake continues to make music and has many plans for his future musical career.

The Georgie James band

Written by: Michael McElwain '12     

      Although indie pop music is not necessarily the most hip, trending music, Georgie James is a band everyone should check out. I personally have never been a fan of indie music, but when I stumbled upon Georgie James I couldn’t help but get into the beat.

      The Georgie James band is composed of John Davis and Laura Burhenn. Burhenn and James met while in Washington D.C., coincidentally following the breakup of James’ previous band, Q and Not U. After realizing that they had similar taste in music, Burhenn and James agreed to work together.

      The two came to an agreement in which Burhenn would be the musician, whether he is playing the drums, electric piano, or the guitar, and Burhenn became the vocalist who would translate the bands messages and serenade fans. Noticeably, Burhenn’s voice stands out and is very unique. The lyrics that she uses have strong emotion and passion behind them, causing the listener to have serendipitous feelings while enjoying the catchy jingle.

      Georgie James produced its first CD, which consisted of a seven-song demo showing off the bands pop style. The demo was self-released it in 2006. And in 2007 the bands hard work paid off. Burhenn and Davis received a wonderful message from Saddle Creek Records recording department, offering the band the chance to sign a record contract and tour Europe in efforts to promote their new album.

      Georgie James music can be found on Amazon, MySpace, and Pandora. With its diverse voice and lyrics, I recommend that all music fans check out the Georgie James band.