Jess Pickett

Jess Pickett is the West Region Project Manager for the Recording Academy® and contributing writer for GRAMMY.com. She has spent the majority of her career working for large-scale productions such as SXSW® in Austin, Cirque du Soleil®, BIGSOUND in Brisbane, AU, and now GRAMMY® Week in Los Angeles. She has a passion for live music across genres, producing high quality event experiences, and highlighting and supporting artists through her writing.

Jess's Articles

Recording Artist And Accessibility Advocate Lachi Talks Disability Empowerment And Celebrating Blindness Through Music And Beyond

New York-based EDM singer/songwriter and disability inclusion advocate Lachi has been taking her activism to new heights in 2021. Recently meeting with White House officials and working in tandem with the UK nonprofit SYNC Inspire, Lachi is striving to make a global impact on visibility accessibility and awareness in the entertainment industry and beyond. She also founded Recording Artists and…

Oct 29, 2021 - 10:30 pm

Texas Chapter Members Who Took The Stage At ACL Fest 2021

After being forced to cancel in 2020 due to restrictions around the COVID-19 pandemic, Austin City Limits Music Festival returned to its namesake for two sold out weekends at the top of October. C3 Presents put forth a stellar lineup of over 90 musical acts — but with a special emphasis this year on local and statewide pride. Eleven Recording Academy Texas…

Oct 23, 2021 - 12:47 am

Musician & Disability Advocate Gaelynn Lea On Creating In The New Normal & A Music Industry Call-To-Action For Inclusivity

Gaelynn Lea is a violinist and folk singer hailing from Minnesota who has become a mighty voice in the fight for accessibility in the music industry through her advocacy and public speaking. Born with a genetic condition that complicated bone development, she uses a wheelchair full time. She began playing violin in grade school after an astute teacher saw her…

Oct 4, 2021 - 10:39 pm

X Ambassadors Keyboardist Casey Harris On New Album ‘The Beautiful Liar,’ Creating Music In The New Norm & Making Music Tech Accessible For All

Casey Harris is one third of the alt-rock trio X Ambassadors, a band he formed with his brother and lead vocalist, Sam Harris. He's also been legally blind since birth. In the band, Harris plays keyboards, but the lifelong musician also plays a fundamental role in their songwriting, producing and engineering. At times, he even provides the primary motivation for the…

Aug 17, 2021 - 10:51 pm

Jason Becker On Making Music With ALS: “Accessibility Is Much More Than Ramps And Wide Doorways”

Jason Becker is no stranger to the Rock God World. He’s collaborated with the likes of Joe Satriani, David Lee Roth and Bob Dylan — just to name a few. Becker’s first band, Cacophony, a heavy metal duo with his pal Marty Friedman, was signed to the iconic Shrapnel Records when the pair were just teens. He then went on…

Jul 22, 2021 - 09:45 pm

NFTs In Music: Watch The Most Recent Pro>Sessions Installment To Learn About How You Can Use Your Art To Digitally Capitalize

Last week, the Recording Academy shared its sixth installment of Pro>Sessions, a professional development series that focuses on driving revenue in today's digital economy. The episode explored NFTs, arguably the most talked-about digital trend on the market right now, and what opportunities for profit exist in the music landscape. What's an NFT? NFT stands for non-fungible token and these tokens are unique, one-of-a-kind digital files of items like…

Jul 13, 2021 - 03:05 am

GRAMMY Week 2021 Recap: 23rd Annual Entertainment Law Initiative Honors Black Entertainment And Sports Lawyers Association, Discusses Future Of Music Industry Diversity

The Recording Academy continues with ongoing diversity, equity and inclusion efforts within the organization and beyond by honoring BESLA with the 2021 ELI Service Award and hosting a compelling roundtable discussion about leadership and expectations moving forward to achieve widespread music industry diversity. Due to the ongoing pandemic, the Entertainment Law Initiative event took place virtually in its 23rd year.…

Mar 16, 2021 - 08:32 pm

Designing Women In The Mix: How Music Inspired The Artwork Behind The Debut GRAMMY Week 2021 Event

The Recording Academy will kick off GRAMMY Week 2021 by honoring International Women's Day on Monday, March 8, with the inaugural Women In The Mix virtual celebration. The event will feature women producers, engineers, artists, and executives in the music industry, and is in support of the Academy’s ongoing efforts to diversify the recording industry, launched in 2019 with the Women…

Mar 5, 2021 - 10:23 pm

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