Jessica Carter Altman on Her Inevitable Career & Fairfield Date

Jessica Carter Altman grew up singing. That’s not surprising, given that her mother is Lynda Carter, who, in addition to being beloved as TV’s Wonder Woman has had her own acclaimed singing and cabaret career.

Jessica told CT Voice, “I grew up singing. I don’t remember when I wasn’t performing on stage or at my house singing to my brother and bugging him. I joined my first chorus when I was in the first grade. It was my passion.”

However, knowing how challenge a music career, Jessica said “I decided to do something more practical and focused on my studies. While I was there, I started working with a professional musician and did a couple of duets, but once that genie came out of the bottle, after the first year of law school it was a question of not whether but when I would make the switch.”

Jessica was nervous about make the switch, but as she explains she had to be honest. She thought that if she could be happy just performing on weekends and going to concerts, she might be able to pull off the law career. After all, she reasoned. After all, her husband, whom she married last year, did sketch comedy and was and talented jazz pianist. He pursued biomedical studies at Yale and now works in the field. Jessica tried that; and it became more and more obvious that she had to follow her dream. “The only other option would be to wonder for the rest of my life what might have happened.” She says she felt a little foolish quitting her job at a law firm to become a musician, but she did, and she dove in head first. She also had the encouragement of her father. “I was nervous telling him I wanted to be a musician, but he said if all I learned is that I tried and failed, it’s not a failure because I tried.”

Jessica’s comparatively new career is anything but a failure. She released her first album Aftermath after the death of her father, and it’s been very well received. She says she was explring what happens “in the wake of profound change or loss. What does your life become? It’s almost easier to let yourself fall apart—maybe be angry—but you find the strength to push through. The aftermath was that life continued, even when it felt like it shouldn’t, filled with the highest highs and lowest lows. It includes a love song, ‘Clumsy,’ which is about falling in love and acknowledging that I’m a clumsy human being, which I hope makes it endearing.”

She says her songs are very personal, and she tries to be honest and authentic in the way she presents herself. “If you try to be anyone else, you’re always going to be second best,” she says.

Jessica describes her style as eclectic. She says she started out as a singer/songwriter with an acoustic sound, but she’s expanding into more of the pop world. “I’m less focused on being sonically cohesive, but rather taking each song and trying to create an atmosphere that fits the sentiment of the lyrics.” She promises, her next album will be different again.

She also needn’t have worried about diving into the unknown. People magazine has called her “one to watch.” Jessica is currently also on tour with Tyler Hilton, known for his role in the CW’s One Tree Hill with dates through the summer. They just played sold out engagements at the City Winery in New York and Boston. Jessica performs with guitarist Mat Dauzat.

Jessica is thrilled to be doing what she had to do, and she says she loves meeting people after shows and talking about the songs and what they meant to her listeners. She loves the personal connection she is able to make through the music.

And, that genie is out of the bottle for good.

Jessica and Tyler Hilton will be appearing in Fairfield at Stage One on August 9^th, and you can get tickets here.

Photos by Max Botticelli