jessica bailiff
biography
In early 1995, after being in a few unfruitful band situations, the Toledo-based Jessica Bailiff borrowed a friend's 4-track cassette recorder and experimented with sounds and songs. After a few months, an obsession with creating on tape developed, and she bought one of her own. She sent a demo, upon the suggestion of a friend and mentor, Alan Sparhawk of Low, to the Chicago label, Kranky, who had just released Low's Songs For a Dead Pilot EP. Soon after, Jessica received a call from someone at Kranky, and the label released her album about eight months later.
Jessica's first album, Even in Silence, was released in June, 1998; its contents were recorded both on 4-track cassette and at Low's studio, 20 Below, in Duluth, Minnesota. A second album, Hour of the Trace, was also released by Kranky (again, recorded and produced with Alan Sparhawk of Low) in October, 1999. A third, eponymous record, described by Bailiff as being about "...stagefright, dreams, loss of creative energy/desire, love & time, living in the same place all your life, ghosts, near-death experiences, etc...," was released in October of 2002. Jessica's fourth solo album, Feels Like Home was released in July of 2006 and a collection titled Old Things: 1999-2003 was released by Morc in Belgium, featuring various singles and compilation appearances.
In addition to her solo recordings, Jessica has also recorded with friends Annelies Monseré, Jesse Edwards (of Red Morning Chorus and the.dithering.effect) as Northern Song Dynasty, David Pearce (of Flying Saucer Attack) as Clear Horizon, Rachel Goldstar as Eau Claire. She has appeared on recordings by Rivulets, Red Morning Chorus, Saturday Looks Good to Me, and the Elegy Radio Ensemble, and has toured with Charles Atlas, Yellow6, Drekka, Rivulets, and Low.
"Words over used in music reviews; 'haunting', 'evocative', 'beautiful', and 'powerful'. Words that fit Even In Silence perfectly: 'haunting', 'evocative', 'beautiful', and 'powerful.' ... The album is gentle, delicate even, with occasional harshness contrasting and complementing the whole." - Colin McComb, Outburn Magazine
"Bailiff merges the best of rock, folk and genuine sonic exploration into a loud and powerfuyl whisper." - Chris Nosal, Philadelphia City Paper
"Bailiff has succeeded in creating a singular soundworld where frail, intensely personal wordage combines with hurricane sound." - David Keenan, The Wire
"Pushing her boundaries into start soundcraft, Jessica Bailiff is at the same time a confident stride ahead, and a hesitant foray into dark balladry and odd experimentation with instruments. The result is great, hinting at a whole new world of possibilities for Jessica." - Sean Hammond, Fake Jazz
