Jo Dee Messina

http://www.jodeemessina.com

With the release of Unmistakable, Jo Dee Messina steps firmly into the front ranks of country singers with staying power. An album that displays both her songwriting prowess and her abilities as a co-producer, Unmistakable is above all a showcase for one of the genre's most remarkable and distinctive voices.

"I knew she was a great singer," says Chris Ferren, one of five co-producers who worked with Jo Dee on the project, "but I guess I didn't know how great until I worked with her." That is a sentiment echoed across the board from Jay DeMarcus of Rascal Flatts, Jerry Flowers, Dann Huff, James Stroud, who each co-produced cuts on Unmistakable. Flowers goes so far as to deem her, "the best vocalist I've ever worked with. No matter what you ask her to do, she can do it, and do it better than what you wanted. She sings from her heart and it's just amazing every single time."

As always, Jo Dee's passion and believability are front and center on Unmistakable, which catalogs in song a progression from a disappointing relationship through a painful but liberating break-up into real and fulfilling love. "You can pretty much feel it that there was a shift in my life during the process of the album," says Jo Dee, who became engaged, got married and had a baby during the extended process of creating this new music.

The album displays all the range, versatility and exuberance that have long made Jo Dee a fan favorite and have brought her so much success both on record and on stage. What's more, it is a project for which she had complete artistic freedom.

"My team really wanted to hear what I had to say on this record,” said Jo Dee of her songwriting side. “It made the creative process extremely enjoyable."

Unmistakable is the 6th album in a career that has brought the Massachusetts-born singer to the heights of the genre she has loved since she was a little girl. She has sold over five million albums, had nine #1 singles, earned two Grammy nominations in addition to awards by the CMA and ACM.

Unmistakable follows on the heels of Delicious Surprise, another commercial success, but also a project Jo Dee found especially satisfying in terms of artistic achievement.

"Delicious Surprise was great for me because I was determined to be honest, to be myself" she says. "People were saying, 'It's amazing. You've reinvented yourself,' and I said, 'No, I’m just being me.' And that spirit has continued through this album."

Jo Dee's writing talents, long relegated to a back burner, are fully evident in the songs she co-wrote for the new album.

“For years I was afraid to bring out my songwriting. And then as this project got underway, Jerry was saying, 'Come on! Let's write something. I'll help you.' The first day we got together it was--boom--done. They just came."

Her contributions include the title track, “Unmistakable,” a lovely and sensual waltz about the joys of being certain of love, “Think About Us,” an impassioned ballad of loss, "Just Drive," a look at a woman's bid to maintain her courage as she leaves a relationship, and “Shine,” which was the last song added to the album and the song that defines her current upbeat state of mind.

The craft and artistry on this album represents one of country's true talents at the top of her game. Jo Dee's contributions as co-producer and her one-of-a-kind voice insure that the record, for all its varied takes on love, has a real unity. What's more, she says, "All the producers know each other and they're all great guys, and everybody kind of knew what was going on sound-wise with everybody else, so it is very consistent from beginning to end."

Jo Dee brings world-class pipes, an unbreakable spirit and a unique musical and personal style all to bear on the project.

"I think what makes it all work," she says, "is the fact that it’s so real and relatable to the listener. It rings true for people.”

This spring, she will take all of her experiences, her enthusiasm and most importantly, her songs, on a unique cross-country “Music Room Series Tour.” Modeled after the music room in her home, where she sings, writes and rehearses, the tour will include a simple stage with piano and a couple of backing musicians. Each show will be distinctive in that Jo Dee will play songs new and old, take requests, answer questions and give fans a new insight to the stories behind the hits