J4 in tune for 2010 Festival

   Four talented young siblings from Tennessee will be entertaining crowds at this year's Festival of the Bells, as band J4 is scheduled to open for country singer Justin Moore on July 2.

   Comprised of 17-year-old violinist and guitarist Jessi, 15-year-old composer, drummer, and keyboardist Jedidiah, 10-year-old guitarist, violinist, bassist, and drummer Josiah, and 7-year-old keyboardist and percussionist Josephine, the Smith siblings use their varied musical talents and smooth harmonies to sing a variety of gospel and classic songs.

   J4, the children of former gospel singer Mark and songwriter Lori Smith of Bluff City, Tenn., got their start in the music industry in early 2009 when the CBS "Early Show" announced that they would host a Singing Family Face-Off, a national competition. According to the band members' father, Mark Smith, Jessi and Jedidiah had performed locally as a duo when a family friend suggested they audition for the competition. They managed to convince their younger siblings to sing with them and uploaded a video to the CBS website 15 minutes before the deadline. After submitting their online video audition, J4 was selected by CBS as one of six bands to compete on the "Early Show."

   Singing a variety of contemporary Christian, country and classic pop rock hits, J4 edged out the competition week after week. Online voters chose J4 as the winning band, and J4 was awarded a recording contract by CBS. Since winning the Singing Family Face Off, J4 has enjoyed YouTube fame with their music video for their original song "Back Home."

  The Smith siblings and their parents created the Music 4 Kids/School Tour, a 40-minute musical education assembly for elementary and/or middle school children, followed in the evening by a concert for students and their families with partial proceeds benefiting the school's music program.

   "They like to perform, but they really enjoy being with the kids in the schools, since that¹s their fan base," said Smith.

   Smith said that while their school tour keeps J4 busy during the academic year, they have performed at various festivals, fairs, and private events, including festivals in the Tennessee, Virginia, and North Carolina tri-state area, during the summer months.

   J4 will perform at the Festival of the Bells for 45 minutes, and Smith said that most of the music they perform will be original. Although their music is very unique, Smith said that J4 can most easily be described as pop/country.

   "They're classically trained, so they aren't pigeonholed into any certain type of music," said Smith. "They have multiple different styles they like to listen to, so there's a collection of different styles."

   As Smith's mother grew up in Sugar Tree Ridge, he spent nearly every summer visiting his grandparents in Highland County.

   The Smiths still have relatives in this area, and Smith said that they are looking forward to seeing them as well as performing at the festival. J4 will be releasing a new album on June 14, which will be available for download online and will be sold at the Festival of the Bells.

   As for the rest of this summer, Smith said that Jessi, Jedidiah, Josiah, and Josephine are spending much of their time in Nashville, meeting managers and executives and performing at open mike nights to gain recognition in the city famed for its connections to country music.

   Smith and his wife, along with the family friend who first suggested that the Smith children audition for the CBS contest, have been serving as the band's managers and are ready to take their music to the next level by finding a manager with more connections. As Smith said, his children managed to skip the years of hard work that most prospective bands go through to become well-known in the music industry, so they are working up for it now.

   "The first time they ever performed together before a live audience was on national television," said Smith. "They have a lot of catching up to do to get to where they started, build relationships in Nashville with different people and different executives."

   J4 will perform at the Festival of the Bells on Friday, July 2 at 6 p.m. at the Fifth Third Bank Stage as the opening act for Justin Moore, and the band's musical talents are sure to win over the crowds.

   "They're very comfortable onstage; they don't get nervous," said Smith. "They love performing."