Jesse Dee (born March 10, 1980) is an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter from Boston, Massachusetts, United States. He has played as the opening act for Gospel/R&B/Soul legends Al Green and Etta James, and maintains a steady U.S. and international touring schedule. Jesse Dee's current album entitled On My Mind / In My Heart is available online and at various retail outlets. The Boston Globe described his music as "Tough-but-tender soul and rollicking, rootsy R&B...infectious, revival-meeting furor." Biography Born in 1980 in Boston, Massachusetts, Dee grew up in nearby Arlington. He got his first taste of soul music from local oldies radio station WODS when he was eight years old. As a child, he was drawn to the sounds of The Drifters, The Shirelles, Smokey Robinson, Sam Cooke and other doo wop, Motown and R&B greats. He always loved singing, and would often record made-up tunes into his tape recorder. He sang in school theatre productions and church choir, and was writing songs by his mid-teens. Dee began fronting a band soon after, but didn't pick up his first guitar until he was 18. With help from his musically inclined father and The Bob Dylan Six-Chord Songbook, he taught himself the instrument well enough to start performing as a solo artist a year later. During this period, Jesse immersed himself in the music of Otis Redding, Jackie Wilson, Solomon Burke, Etta James, James Brown and all the deep soul masters, listening, learning, writing and continuing to hone his craft by playing live every chance he could get. Dee attended Massachusetts College of Art and Design, studying illustration, performance, production, mixed-media and composition. He sang with the ten-piece soul ensemble "Decifunk" (pronounce: Dessifunk), and toured up and down the East Coast. In the early 2000s he even lent his voice to rock 'n' roll band The Dirty Whites before starting his own group. He released his first album, Bittersweet Batch, in 2008. The success of the CD allowed Dee and his band to travel beyond Boston, making new converts in Washington, DC, New York, Philadelphia, Nashville, and Chicago. He first toured the Netherlands, the UK and Italy in 2009 before heading back again the following two years, this time adding Ireland, Belgium, Germany, France and Spain to his itinerary. Dee has opened for soul greats Al Green, Solomon Burke, Etta James, Bettye LaVette, and blues rockers Los Lobos and the J.