Biography
Jes Hudak, whose formidable songwriting and performing talent are showcased every week on Bravo’s newest reality show “Platinum Hit,” knew what she wanted to do with her life from a very young age. She started playing piano at the age of 8. By 13 she was performing songs she had written at Caffe Lena Open Mic Night in Saratoga Springs, NY. After being discovered by an artist-in-residence at Skidmore College who had access to a recording studio, she recorded her first collection of songs and self-released her first album. She was in the ninth grade.
“My Dad would drive me out to the studio after school and then I’d have to be back in time to get my homework done,” she says.
Since then Jes has recorded, produced and self-released another album, 2002s Tiny Dream, performed on the same stage as such prominent artists as Maroon 5, Gavin DeGraw, Howie Day, Tonic and Five for Fighting, and toured with Enrique Iglesias as the sole female backup singer for the Central American leg of his Insomniac 2008 tour. She’s sung the National Anthem at Giants Stadium and has performed on a national Pantene commercial.
In 2010 she performed at Lilith Fair in Los Angeles, after winning the SoCal Lilith Fair Contest on Ourstage. She was also named ISSA’s Singer/Songwriter of the Year 2009, and won Pop Single of the Year 2009 at the LA Music Awards for her original song “Another Day.”
Early last year Jes released an EP, National Holiday, comprised of five self-penned tracks, which showcase both her songwriting prowess and her considerable performance chops. The EP’s title track won the Billboard World Song Contest in Pop for “National Holiday,” and her music video for “No One In The World,” another track on the EP, was selected as AOL’s Featured Music Video of The Day.
And then in the fall of last year when she wasn’t playing gigs at Hollywood’s The Hotel Café and NYC’s Rockwood Music Hall and other hip venues in between, she got the opportunity to try out for “Platinum Hit.”
Bravo’s “Platinum Hit” showcases emerging singer-songwriters on their quest to become the next big hitmaker. The series follows 12 musicians as they battle through innovative songwriting challenges that test their creativity, patience and drive.
“I heard about the audition from some friends and from the moment I heard about it I thought, ‘I will be on this!’” laughs Jes. “I played ‘Dirty Filthy Liar’ and ‘National Holiday’ in the first audition and I kept getting called back and eventually they picked me for the show.”
As fans of “Platinum Hit” know, the challenges are tough, the criticism brutal, and the pressure cooker atmosphere makes for lots of drama.
“It’s been a very intense experience and it’s helped me to understand how much I can handle in that kind of environment,” says Jes about her experience on the show. “Getting the chance to get in front of somebody like (Head Judge) Kara DioGuardi who’s such a heavy hitter as a songwriter, and get direct feedback from her is invaluable. There’s no way I’m going to let anything I’ve learned on that show go to waste.”
The show has had a profound effect on Jes so far. “My writing process is completely different now. It’s totally changed,” she says. “I used to be very precise and not edit, writing a line at a time. My notebooks looked really neat. Now I do free-writing, stream-of-consciousness, until I get to the good stuff. And I’m not afraid to edit!”
Viewers can find out more about Jes and all of the other songwriters on “Platinum Hit” every Friday night on Bravo. And no matter what happens to Jes on the show, her growing fan base can rest assured that they will hear more from this talented and ambitious performer. Jes Hudak is here to stay.
Find Jes Online: Official / YouTube / UStreme / TwitPic / Twitter / Facebook
Biography taken from JesHudak.com
