A singer/songwriter based in Northwest Florida, Jessie Ritter plays a heartfelt brand of country-pop with a breezy, romantic feel and plenty of charm. After studying music at Belmont University in Nashville, she cut her teeth on the cruise ship circuit, releasing her debut album in 2018. She gained national recognition and a record deal with Big Machine Group after winning the Nash Next Competition later that year. A native of Cape Girardeau, Missouri, Ritter grew up on a farm listening to country radio and absorbing the sounds of artists like Lee Ann Womack, Trisha Yearwood, Shania Twain, and Miranda Lambert. She decided to pursue a career in music and headed Nashville's Belmont University, where she honed her craft around town while earning a degree from the school's Commercial Music Program. Ritter released her debut EP, Stories Told, in 2015 and shortly after graduation took a job as a performer with the Carnival Cruise line, entertaining shipboard audiences with nightly four-hour sets from Australia to Europe and beyond over a two-year span. The experience sharpened her skills significantly and when she later settled in Florida, she continued gigging heavily up and down the East Coast and writing new material. Ritter released her debut album, Coffee Every Morning, in 2018. Later that year, she entered the countrywide Nash Next Competition, rising from a regional Florida Panhandle win to eventually beat out 800 other contestants and take the national prize. It earned her a contract with the Big Machine Group, home to heavy-hitters like Taylor Swift and Florida Georgia Line. She made her label debut in May 2019 with the single "Nothing But You." ~ Timothy Monger