Artist info:
Also known as
Verified yes
GenreEthnic/Folk
Rank−
Albums7
Songs110
AboutIn the midst of her life's most hectic chapter, JJ Heller likes to remind herself that being an independent musician who is intensely busy is a good thing. Since the spring of 2003, when she decided to make a living as a full-time musician, Heller has managed to keep herself quite active.
In that time, JJ developed a faithful fan-base, performed an average of 80 dates a year, and added three full-length records and a Christmas EP to her discography. In the fall of 2009, because of one person's decision, Heller found herself in the public eye, with a music career moving forward at a rate she never expected.
For her audition on the FOX TV show, "So You Think You Can Dance?," contestant, Diana Drexler, chose JJ's song, "Your Hands," from Heller's 2008 full-length record "Painted Red." One of the nearly 7 million viewers to witness Drexler's performance was Jon Hull, station manager of Houston-based FM station KSBJ.
Hull later decided to play "Your Hands" on the air for the KSBJ audience, and after the song rang out over the airwaves, the station was inundated with phone calls and e-mail from listeners describing how much "Your Hands" resonated with them.
Just two days after Heller's song was played on the air for the first time, the KSBJ staff decided to do something they hadn't done in nearly four years — add an independent artist's song to the station's regular rotation.
Before long, JJ's music was spinning in the rotation of nearly 60 reporting Christian adult contemporary FM stations, including K-LOVE the largest Christian radio network in the US. In the span of a few short months, JJ's music was no longer reaching several thousand, but several million listeners.
"Your Hands" made itself at home on Billboard Magazine's Christian Songs chart for 24 weeks, and peaked at #13. For six weeks JJ's album, Painted Red, landed a spot on Billboard Magazine's Folk Albums chart and peaked at #12. In the following months, JJ saw her music placed on the ABC family show "Make It Or Break It," and CW's "One Tree Hill."
"I'm amazed to see the ways that God has used my music over the past year," Heller says. "All this publicity wasn't something I was intentionally pursuing, so it makes it that much more obvious to me that it's something the Lord wanted. It's been fun to watch Him work in my life and through my music."
Heller frequently juggles blogging, sewing projects, home decorating, songwriting, touring, and parenting her nearly two-year-old daughter, Lucy. "None of this would be possible without my husband, Dave," JJ says. "He works so hard to make sure we're organized and staying faithful with the gifts God has given us." Dave manages JJ's career, co-writes, and shares the stage with JJ as her guitarist and backup singer during live performances.
With a new single, "What Love Really Means," hitting the radio airwaves on August 7, 2010, to support the October 2010 release of her next full-length record, "When I'm With You," Heller has even more to keep her busy in the future, and that's a good thing.
In that time, JJ developed a faithful fan-base, performed an average of 80 dates a year, and added three full-length records and a Christmas EP to her discography. In the fall of 2009, because of one person's decision, Heller found herself in the public eye, with a music career moving forward at a rate she never expected.
For her audition on the FOX TV show, "So You Think You Can Dance?," contestant, Diana Drexler, chose JJ's song, "Your Hands," from Heller's 2008 full-length record "Painted Red." One of the nearly 7 million viewers to witness Drexler's performance was Jon Hull, station manager of Houston-based FM station KSBJ.
Hull later decided to play "Your Hands" on the air for the KSBJ audience, and after the song rang out over the airwaves, the station was inundated with phone calls and e-mail from listeners describing how much "Your Hands" resonated with them.
Just two days after Heller's song was played on the air for the first time, the KSBJ staff decided to do something they hadn't done in nearly four years — add an independent artist's song to the station's regular rotation.
Before long, JJ's music was spinning in the rotation of nearly 60 reporting Christian adult contemporary FM stations, including K-LOVE the largest Christian radio network in the US. In the span of a few short months, JJ's music was no longer reaching several thousand, but several million listeners.
"Your Hands" made itself at home on Billboard Magazine's Christian Songs chart for 24 weeks, and peaked at #13. For six weeks JJ's album, Painted Red, landed a spot on Billboard Magazine's Folk Albums chart and peaked at #12. In the following months, JJ saw her music placed on the ABC family show "Make It Or Break It," and CW's "One Tree Hill."
"I'm amazed to see the ways that God has used my music over the past year," Heller says. "All this publicity wasn't something I was intentionally pursuing, so it makes it that much more obvious to me that it's something the Lord wanted. It's been fun to watch Him work in my life and through my music."
Heller frequently juggles blogging, sewing projects, home decorating, songwriting, touring, and parenting her nearly two-year-old daughter, Lucy. "None of this would be possible without my husband, Dave," JJ says. "He works so hard to make sure we're organized and staying faithful with the gifts God has given us." Dave manages JJ's career, co-writes, and shares the stage with JJ as her guitarist and backup singer during live performances.
With a new single, "What Love Really Means," hitting the radio airwaves on August 7, 2010, to support the October 2010 release of her next full-length record, "When I'm With You," Heller has even more to keep her busy in the future, and that's a good thing.
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