JO DEE MESSINA

                                                              "Just To Be Loved" 

                                                               Independent Release

With a catalog #1 songs that you always turn up and sing along with whenever they come on the radio – “I’m Alright,” “Bye Bye,” “That’s The Way,” “My Give A Damn’s Busted,” and more! – Jo Dee Messina’s astonishing two-decade career has made her one of country music strongest, go-to talents for the best, and most memorable music.

With a 90’s country resurgence influencing our airwaves through today’s Top 40 artists, and a glowing homage from Cole Swindell this past year, Jo Dee Messina has now found herself in the unique position where she is once again one of country music’s most sought-after artists.

Her ‘Heads Carolina, Tails California Tour’ has been met with high praise, and as such, everyone has been chomping at the bit for new music from her.

That new music has now arrived with “Just To Be Loved.”

The song, co-written by Messina, Jess Cates, Jordan Mohilowski and Tim Nichols, leans into a soft midtempo melody that grabs hold of the familiar feels of her Delicious Surprise album, wrapping delicate instrumentation around you like a warm hug from a longtime friend as Jo Dee sings straight from the idea found in Psalm 139:14 “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made,”  encouraging to be exactly who you are created to be.

Tackling a much-needed, very important topic of the influence social media plays on our own self-worth, Messina introduces us in the opening verse to a girl who was fearless and chasing her dreams before things got complicated and she fell into the trap of trying to keep up with the likes and the social media feeds of others.

Poignantly showing the astronomical affects that this has on one’s own psyche, she unravels how the girl then started to hate the things that made her beautiful and started changing who she was, becoming someone else just to try and fit in and to be loved while keeping up with social trends – thus losing herself and all the things that made her unique.

But while this message is bold and to the point, what seals the deal for the song is Messina’s twist into the positively encouraging when she ties the realities all together in the second half, reminding that “you’re perfect, you’re priceless,” “loved just the way you are,” and “beautiful just the way you are.”

What Jo Dee Messina has done so well since her powerful, three-part UNMISTAKABLE album in 2010, is that she’s provided a perfect fusion of her country branding with her Christian beliefs. She’s done that again on “Just To Be Loved,” but where the world might not have been ready to hear this type of necessary message in the past, never has there been a more perfect time then right now for a song like this to surface from a voice that can make a tremendous impact with it.

(Review Written By: Jeffrey Kurtis)

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