A big talent in a petite, power-packed package, James has been ready for her close-up since she was the age of two, when the self-described, well-traveled “military brat," (with a little bit of Greek and Italian thrown in there), born under the fiery Aries sign in a field hospital in Italy, started singing into a toy microphone and tape recorder, a gift from her mom. By nine, she was composing her own songs on a plastic guitar (the first called “It’s Gonna Be Alright"), performing as a youngster at events like the opening of Sea World and the Republican Convention, and working with a string of significant writers in Nashville at 15. After one of her song demos landed in the hands of Mercury President David Massey, she aced an audition with IDJ boss Antonio “L.A." Reid. “He got out from behind his desk, started dancing, hugged me and said, ‘We’re going to dinner…and welcome to the label!’ “When I first tried to get a record deal, my real problem was, I couldn’t put my music in a single box," she explains. “I just loved everything. That was part of me growing up in so many different places. I didn’t want to limit myself to just one kind of music. I just decided, why not just do all of it, and somehow blend it together. And I think I’ve done that. There are all different types of music, beats and instrumentation." For Jessie James, school’s out. With her debut Mercury album, she’s graduated and on her way to the stardom she always envisioned for herself.