Jessie Veeder
Jessie Veeder has been a symbol of folk music in the badlands of Western North Dakota since she released her first original album, This Road, when she was only sixteen years old. It was an effort that sparked the interest of music enthusiasts and took her from performing at fairs and festivals around her home state to managing a national college and coffeehouse tour and recording her fifth original album in Nashville in 2015.ย ย
Jessie’s successful career in the music industry started with her singing alongside her folk musician father when she was only ten years old, belting out tunes by Nancy Griffith, EmmyLou Harris, John Prine and Bruce Springsteen, artists who helped hone her love for folk music. And soon she began writing her own, penning and recording her first original album when she was only 16, a body of work that landed her a job traveling the country with a booking agency out of Nashville. From there she recorded her second original album A Place to Belong with the Fargo-based label Barking Dog Records in 2005 before bringing it all home to record and release Jessie Veeder Live in 2010 and then Nothingโs Forever, a 2012 effort that features Jessieโs renowned single Boomtown, an homage to the people working to make a living in oil country and a song that put Veeder in the spotlight as a feature in various news programs and national and international documentaries.



Jessieโs 2015 album, Northern Lights, brought her to Nashville to record with Bill Warner, a producer who has worked with artists such as Garth Brooks, Dolly Parton, Mindy Smith and Trisha Yearwood, among others. Backed by some of the best players in the industry, Jessie’s skill as a heart wrenching songwriter soars in the new songs that remain rooted in the stories of the people and landscape of her home in Western North Dakota. Sheโs currently touring on behalf of her fifth studio album Playing Favorites, an album that pays homage to the music that influenced her now twenty-some year music and creative writing career.ย
But beyond the music itโs Veederโs story that has gained her a global following. Her popular website โMeanwhile, back at the ranchโฆโ chronicles life on the Veeder Ranch where Jessie and her husband, Chad are raising two young daughters and work as fourth generation ranchers on the ranch. The success of her website landed her a job as a columnist, where she has been writing weekly for Forum Communications and newspapers across the state for ten years. Her book โComing Home,โ released in 2017 is a compilation of her favorite photos, poems, stories and recipes. Jessieโs first childrenโs book, Prairie Princess, is set for release in the winter of 2021.
Jessie is a founding member of McKenzie Countyโs Long X Arts Foundation where she works to help create and promote cultural and arts based activities in her hometown, blending her love and connection to the arts with her drive to make her community a better place to work and live.
Jessie has been featured at the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering, was named 2016 and 2017โs Favorite North Dakota Folk Artist, is a recipient of the North Dakota Ambassador Award and North Dakota Governorโs Award in the Arts in individual achievement.
Find out more at www.veederranch.com and jessieveedermusic.com
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