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jem griffiths
jem has been getting high exposure. she appeared as a wedding singer doing a version of paul mccartney's "maybe i'm amazed" on the season finale of 'the o.c.' - in addition to the exposure afforded her on "the o.c." jem's take on "maybe i'm amazed" is on the recently released "music from the o.c.: mix 2"; her "just a ride" is on "mix 1" and a couple of other songs have made the tv rounds. "come on closer" was used in the teaser ads for abc's sudsy mega-hit "desperate housewives," while "24" got some airtime in commercials for reruns of "without a trace" on tnt.
 okay, i met jem. she did an in-store performance and signing at fingerprints in long beach, california. i've been to a few in-stores at fingerprints but this was the best done with the largest out-turn i've seen. jem started right on time, her band played flawlessly, she sung as gorgeously as one could hope for, and the whole atmosphere of artists and audience was relaxed and feeling good. everyone looked at each other with smiles and nods and, damn, i was almost afraid we'd all be holding hands or something.
when jem finished, she packed up and came back in to sign things and pose for a few photos. she was gracious and made everyone feel special, chatting with each person in line like they were a friend. look at that picture to the left... don't we look like we're old chums? she looked like that with everyone that posed with her or talked with her. her relaxed and intimate social skills just make you like her songs all that much more.
 jem was born in wales (1975?), and from the age of thirteen she was singing and writing songs. through her university days, she got into club and festival promotion, became a dj agent and finally helped set-up and run the specialist breaks label 'marine parade'. she assembled a mobile studio and got to work on her songwriting and music production craft. jem moved to london and started collaborating with other writers/producers. two days into her first writing session with acclaimed electronic producer guy sigsworth (bjork, frou frou), the song 'nothing fails' was born. this collaboration between guy, jem and subsequently madonna, appears as track 6 on madonna's 'american life' album. her love of beats and bass also lead her to brooklyn where she teamed up with ny hip-hop producer ge-ology (mos def, talib kweli) and in autumn 2002 she met her now co-producer yoad nevo. together they have succeeded in fusing her many musical influences to create a fresh and distinctive new sound. jem's music is a combination of bright melodies, soul searching lyrics and diverse rhythms that grab you from the first listen. her seemingly innocent lyrics contain those closely observed details that are as much about optimism as they are about discovery.
 nic harcourt of influential los angeles radio station kcrw 89.9 fm. music director began spinning jem's demo on the nationally acclaimed program "morning becomes eclectic" and 'finally woken' swept his listeners. "as soon as i heard the demo from this welsh songstress i had no choice but to put her on our playlist," said nic harcourt, "the beautiful 'finally woken' first made its way across our airwaves in march 2002 and 'flying high' has become one of my favorites." with each play causing an assault on the station's telephones, her demo tracks quickly made her one of the most listener-requested artists at the station and landed her in their coveted top 5 played artists, and all prior to any record label being attached.
as fate would have it, a&r bruce flohr was one of those listeners and he wooed her to sign onto dave matthews' ato record label. jem's ep 'it all starts here...' was released by ato records in autumn 2003 and her full-length debut cd 'finally woken' followed in march 2004. after a long and winding road to becoming a full-fledged and working artist, jem has finally woken, indeed.
[this bio was taken and edited from jem's official site]
jem's debut album, finally woken (march 23, 2004), features jem's own songs sung in her sultry voice - a sexy voice but with an audible smile behind it. it get's compared to dido and zero 7, which is nothing to be embarrassed about by any means, but jem has a richer, more velvety voice, and her music is more likely to make you sway, tap, nod, if not out-right dance.
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