Jessi Alexander was born in Jackson, Tenn. When she was 10, her grandmother took her to the Miss Tennessee pageant, where a contestant sang a Patsy Cline song. She was hooked. By her early teens, she was deep into Hank Williams and Harlan Howard but also the West Coast sounds of Bonnie Raitt, Little Feat and Karla Bonoff. After high school graduation, she enrolled in Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, Tenn., intending to major in social work. All through college, she sang in bands, often in nearby Nashville. Finally giving up school, she sang backup for a few new artists on the road before landing a gig as staff writer at the Warner-Chappell music publishing company.