Biography

Jesse Witney was one of those kids you see on groovy parents' shoulders at festivals. His family has a strong musical pedigree, with both his parents being musicians and festival producers of the Imbil Folk festival for over 15 years. His older brother is currently a Chicago resident musician and sister a traditional fiddle player. Jesse started singing at an early age, with obvious talent. At 13 years he picked up a bass guitar and helped form the punk band, ‘Better than Britney', by 16 years old he was winning music competitions, including the “George Hoya Tribute Award’, and getting a name for himself in the surf-music scene. He moved to Lismore to study guitar performance at Southern Cross University with Jim Kelly. One day, Doug de Vries, the leading exponent of Brazilian guitar in Australia, gave a lecture about Brazilian guitar music, and “a light came on” and Jesse began to study Brazilian music with a passion. By 20 years old he had learned Portuguese and by 21 was in Brazil, gigging as much as possible across the country and recording with a plethora of Brazilian talents, including Producer - Marcelo Müller. His deep appreciation and immersion into the Brazilian tradition have been a constant in his musical journey and infuses his music with a spicy edge. He also performs under the moniker ‘My Bossa Nova Baby’ performing the traditional samba-folk of Brazil. His forthcoming album of originals, Animal Cities is out now!