Jessica Rae brings country-roots to town

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Jessica Rae | Photo by Marc Hauser

Updated: November 24, 2011 2:59AM

Jessica Rae is on the road. “I’ve got about three more weeks to go, and I love it,” says the Winnetka-bred singer.

She’ll be in the area next weekend for performances in Chicago, Barrington and Lake Bluff.

Her music “is kind of a mix of genres.” One writer described it as “rootsy-rock, with a middle-of-the road country feel,” and she likes that.

She’s simply Jessica Rae now, though Winnetkans may know her as Jessica Rae Skillicorn. Music has been a big part of her life, and it’s in her blood. Her grandfather was bluegrass fiddler, her grandmother a big band singer in the ’40s.

Classical start

But her music of choice hasn’t always been country, and she hasn’t always been a singer.

“From the age of four, I played violin,” she says. That would be classical violin, which she played well enough by age 11 to tour with a musical group performing in Austria, Russia, China and Australia. She also holds a B.A. in performance from Michigan State University, and it was during those college years she began to really listen to country music. “I loved the lyrics,” she says.

After graduation, Jessica Rae started work in advertising. But when her grandmother died, she wanted some appropriate way to honor her at the funeral. She chose to sing “Ave Maria,” sang it a cappella, and had a revelation.

“Doors just swung open for me,” she recalls. “I was much more confident up there singing than I ever was playing violin.”

Suddenly, singing became her future. “I just kind of did it,” she says of her shift to singing.

Thanks to those years of violin study, “I have a very good ear for music,” she says. “Violin is such a melodious instrument. I think that’s why it was an easy transition.”

On to Nashville

Five years or so ago she was encouraged to move to Nashville to develop her vocal career, and it was good step. She’s been performing around the country, performed as a “Rising Star” on the PBS TV show Legends & Lyrics in 2009, has sung in numerous commercials, sang at Milwaukee Summerfest last year, and has just released her first CD, “Jessica Rae.”

About two-and-a-half years ago, looking over some income tax papers, Jessica Rae had another revelation. “I’m paying what for a musician to play for me?” she recalls. So, she’s also learned to play guitar in order to be her own accompanist.

And she’s writing songs. “Most of my songs are collaborative,” she says, and they grow out of stories she’s heard and stories she’s lived.

For her Barrington show, Jessica Rae will perform with two Nashville friends, Pete Sallis, another ex-Chicagoan, and Greg Friia. “They’re great to work with.”

The Lake Bluff shows will be just Jessica Rae, however. “Just me and the guitar,” she says, and she’s happy with that too. “It’s more intimate, more relaxed — for North Shore people who don’t want to battle the city crowds.”