Jes Hudak

Jes Hudak got her start playing Caffè Lena’s Open Mic Night almost 30 years ago. Up until now, Jes Hudak was perhaps best known for her formidable songwriting and live performances on Bravo’s reality show, Platinum Hit, where she placed second out of thousands of contestants from all over the country. But now, with Bravo in her rear view mirror, Jes has found a brand new audience on another reality competition show. But, this time, rather than being showcased as a contestant, she sings, “Different Worlds,” the track that was featured heavily in the promotional campaign for The Voice, Australia.

Throughout the pop fame, Hudak has never stopped writing, performing, and releasing music. She’s sung backup for Enrique Iglesias, released multiple albums, EPs, and singles and continues to record today. Like most careers in music, Jes’ has been one marked by unpredictable twists and turns, but from a very young age the upstate New York native knew exactly what she wanted to do with her life. She started playing piano at the age of 8. By 13 she was performing songs locally. After being discovered by an artist-in-residence at Skidmore College who had 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. “Now,” Hudak muses, “my writing process is completely different. I used to be very precise and not edit, writing one 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.”

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