Llegar A Ti (Compact Disc)

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Tell me a little bit about what your family was like. Sounds like they were a huge influence on your life.

JACI: My family is the biggest influence in our lives. I have three brothers and one sister and I grew up with two of them and the other two I didn't grow up with because they had a different mom. To me the most special thing in the world is knowing that I have five other people out in the world that have the same mom or dad as me. Unfortunately my brothers and sisters don't sing. They don't sing and they are a lot older than I am. They all have other lives. I'm the baby of the family, by nine years.

Does your mom usually travel with you when you're on the road?

JACI: My mother alway travels with me when I'm on the road.

Is she kind of like your road manager?

JACI: She has nothing to do with the business end of it or the music end of it. She's just there to be "mom." She's not a stage mother, she does nothing like that. She's just mom and she's my very, very, very best friend.

It sounds like you started singing as soon as you could talk. Do you remember your first stage performance?

JACI: My first time to ever perform on stage - oh geeeeez, I was three years old and I was singing at our church, I sang El Shadai. I would change the lyrics. I would say "El Shadai, El Shadai, all my friends are good to me," and things like that, I mean I was three years old. I have a tape of it, it was really funny!

Did you have plans to start performing or was your music career something that just developed out of your love for singing?

JACI: It's not so much that I love singing or being up in front of people. That's a cool part, that's a perk, is what I call it. It wasn't like my ambition was to become a singer. It was never that. I knew I was capable of carrying a tune, but it wasn't my ambition to become a singer - do this by any means, do these festivals and shows. I had no idea. But I knew that was something I could possibly do if God put me in it. I love to do this so much. For me one of the perks is I love to talk to people as I'm sure you could tell. (You're good at it.) I am good at it. Thank you. I'm good at talking to people I don’t know.

As a child I used to walk up to people that I didn't know. Here I am two or three feet tall walking up to people going "Hi, my name is Jaclyn, what's your name?" I would actually say, "my name is Jacquelyn Davette Valesquez, what's your name?" Those are some things that made me realize that yes, I am a talker.

How did you get discovered by your record label?

JACI: Well, the way I got discovered was by a fluke accident. I was really at the right place at the right time, right people, everything. The booking agent for POINT OF GRACE asked me to come and open one of their concerts. So I went and I opened the concert and they had a video tape and they sent it back to their management which is now my management, Mike Atkins, and he hooked me up. He's the one who set me up with Myrrh.

How long ago was that?

JACI: That was when I was 14.

Were you surprised when they called you up?

JACI: It was really exciting. I remember sitting at the other end of the phone going, "oh my gosh, my gosh, my gosh." I was so excited, getting a record deal at 15.

Your first album was incredibly successful, did that surprise you?

JACI: You know, things like that are always surprising. It's mostly scary, because you put out this album and it could work out or not work out. Even if your heart is in the right place and God is in it all, it could still not work out. It could be something else, but it was exciting to know that all these things were happening and it's even more exciting to see things happening with the second album. I'm still scared that it won't be quite as successful as the first one and people are going to be disappointed.

When your first album became so successful was it hard for your lifestyle to change and turn into the this "artist" lifestyle?

JACI: There were a lot of things to get used to. It was weird to know that I'm not supposed to show my face until I’m supposed to sing. That's stupid. It was weird to know that I have to come and do these press conferences and take pictures alone. I felt so dumb. Things like that change you a little bit. I've kind of learned to go, "You know what, I'm not going to change, I'm not going to change myself just because that's what everyone expects out of you." I go and listen to all the bands and stand there and I don't care anyone more. In the beginning I was like, ah, maybe I shouldn't do that because it's not the right thing to do, who cares.

Jaci Velasquez, whose latest album is Llegar a Ti on Myrrh Records, also appears on the Music of the Heart soundtrack.

Full Name: Jacquelyn Davite Velasquez

What you wish you were named: Isabella Catherina

Born where and when: Houston, TX 10/15/79 2:15 pm

Family Stats: Mom, dad, three brothers, two sisters and one dog

First Job: This is it

Pets: Dog--Dallas

Hidden Talent: I can bend my forefinger all the way back

Currently in the cd player: Alejandro Sanz

Most annoying habit: Talking too much

What was in your bag the last time you left Target: Black & white film

If you could swap lives with someone for one day, who would it be: Melanie Griffith (Because she's married to Antonio Banderas)

Worst Fear: Being jaded

Best way to make you laugh: Be funny

Thing you can't do to save your life: Make sense

Best gift ever received: My camera and darkroom equipment

Most memorable meeting: Billy Graham

First album you remember buying: U2, Joshua Tree

First Christian album: Amy Grant's Father's Eyes; I loved the song "Giggle"

Most Embarrassing Moment: Mother didn't remember that I liked this guy and she spilled the beans in front of both of us

Most incredible date: My first one

If a movie was made of your life, who should play you? Claire Danes

Best Dish You Can Prepare: Pizza from Argentina

Pet peeves: A messy bathroom

Cartoon character that reminds you of you: Pocahontas

Food you refuse to eat: None

If music wasn't your career, what do you think you'd be doing? Makeup, hair and clothes for other artists

Most memorable concert experience: When I fell down on stage

If you were an action hero, who would you be? Batman, in a feminine way

First car: '89 Honda Prelude

Dream car: '56 Chevy

What product would you definitely endorse if asked? My mom's salsa

Number of speeding tickets (honestly): 0

Phrase you most often overuse: "Anyways"

Collections: Hotel room keys

Worst trouble you got into as a child or teen: Sorry, I was a really good girl

Dream Duet: Me and Bonnie Raitt

Where you are right now: My house

Last video seen: You've Got Mail

Movie that makes you cry: Heidi

Future plans: Grow up ... eventually

Collections: Pencils and pens

Scar story: My lip is scarred and it happened when I was 8-months-old and was just learning how to walk. I was reaching for a table, missed and hit my lip on the corner.

Best Advice you've ever been given: "Less is more."

Number of Fan letters/emails answered monthly: A whole lot

VACATION SPOT: New York City
BOOKS: Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
SCRIPTURE: Romans 1:16
PIZZA: Cheese
FOOD: Anything my mom cooks
TV SHOW: My So Called Life
STORE: Armani Exchange
SPORTS TEAM: Dallas Cowboys
HOBBIES: Photography, rock climbing, shopping, driving my car
MOVIES: Pocahontas
COLOR: Blue
CD: Bonnie Raitt, Luck Of The Draw; Amy Grant, Lead Me On
ACTRESS: Claire Danes
ACTOR: Antonio Banderas
FLOWER: White tulips
DESSERT: Ice Cream
ICE CREAM FLAVOR: Chocolate Malted Crunch
PERFUME: Coco by Chanel
TOOTHPASTE: Colgate
LIPSTICK COLOR: Red
NAIL POLISH COLOR: Black

In 1996, an unknown 16 year-old, soon-to-be-Phenom, exploded in the world of Christian music. With the release of her debut album, Heavenly Place, Velasquez quickly became a fixture on the charts, graced the pages and covers of national magazines and was a constant winner in a multitude of award polls and shows. She now holds the distinction of being the fastest selling debut solo artist in the history of Christian music. Her debut album shot five singles to the number one position, landed Jaci Velasquez the prestigious Dove Award for New Artist of the Year and was recently certified gold, signifying sales over half a million copies. Not a bad start for any new artist.

Teaming up once again with producer Mark Heimermann, Velasquez is quick to point out the difference between the making of Heavenly Place, her first "real" record and her latest sophomore effort. "This time there were a lot more people involved," she laughs, "and a lot more opinions and ideas! It's a little scary." Her first album came about after what she herself calls "a fluke" discovery - coming after she was asked to open for a Point of Grace concert in her hometown. Their road manager, who witnessed her performance, was so impressed he made some calls, introduced her to management and eventually Myrrh Records' executives. The rest, as they say, is history. Even so, the demands and expectations for a blockbuster follow-up project, which could make even a seasoned artist shudder have only strengthened Jaci's resolve. "It's a bittersweet thing being so young in this industry," she confesses. "People think, 'ah, she's just a kid, this is what you need to do, Jaci'. Now that's changing for me, people are beginning to respect me a little more."

Respect is one thing that won't be hard to find while looking over the cast and crew that went into the making of Jaci Velasquez. The album boasts a stellar lineup of some of music's top studio players: Jackie Street on bass, Jerry McPherson on guitar, and drummer Dan Needham, while label-mates Anointed dropped in for the rousing, "Glory". Song writers lending their talents to the project include Grammy winner ("Change My World") Wayne Kirkpatrick, album producer, Mark Heimermann, Chris Eaton, Toby McKeehan and Michelle Tumes. The multi-Grammy winning Mick Guzauski (Celine Dion, Babyface, Eric Clapton, Amy Grant) has also been called in to mix several songs on the album.

The album, of course, features the older and wiser Jaci, but not surprisingly, the songs have an added depth and passion - more so than one would expect only "two years later" from any recording artist. Then again, in that same time, Jaci also went from childhood to adulthood in her own life.

"There were a lot more emotional rushes for me on this album," she points out, and also proudly notes a significant new level of sophistication in both the music and the delivery.

Call it one of the hazards of life as a Christian musician, but Jaci also seems as ready as ever to tackle the expectation of artistry as ministry and the confines of a somewhat scrutinized personal life which seems to come with the territory. She recalls her stints on stage with her father and his traveling ministry and remembers with a hint of laughter that she actually was called on to preach to the audience as often as she was called to sing. That experience, however, prepared her for what was to come.

Today Jaci receives thousands of letters from young fans and their parents and shoulders well the burden of role model.

To her peers, Jaci is much more than an entertainer. Espousing a commitment to abstinence, Jaci has been a spokesperson for the popular national campaign True Love Waits, and proudly shows her "promise ring" to emphasize the passion of her decision. A new book, published by Simon & Schuster and written by Jaci throughout the whirlwind of her last year, releases in May. The book, entitled, Heavenly Place, was yet another chance for Jaci to share more than just music with her fans. "It was though," she recalls of the writing, "I had to search myself and actually dig deep and find out why I believe what I believe in and why I've dreamed these dreams."

She names among her greatest influences, Amy Grant, a young artist who forged the very same path that Jaci is now on as a contemporary Christian woman, sharing her heart and voice through music. She counts her greatest moment as an artist, however, as her performances at a Billy Graham Crusade. Even though she's sung at the White House and in hundreds of churches and concert halls throughout the country the appearance was anything but old hat for Jaci. "I love people and I love being a part of people's lives" she confesses with trademark candor. "I may not even know them, but just thinking that a song is a part of a person's memories and when they think back to that moment that my song was part of it - I love that."

Asked what her wildest dream is, as if it possibly hasn't already come true, she giggles enthusiastically, "to meet Antonio Banderas!" - but then quickly regaining her mature composure banters out loud about her desire to maybe someday take her gifts into the field of acting. As for television experience, Jaci's already had a little taste. She's made the regular talk show circuit with appearances on The Today Show and Fox's After Breakfast, and even filmed a Target commercial last Christmas which aired in Hispanic markets throughout the United States. "But, you know," she confesses with great seriousness. "Music is my first love. If anything took away from my music I couldn't do it."

Long after her days as a teen-wonder have ended Jaci Velasquez will still likely be a dominant figure in the musical world. The novelty of her youth which naturally passes with age, is already growing into an enthusiastic respect of a powerhouse talent. And if natural talent, healthy ambition and a heart for "changing the world" is truly what it takes to make it, Jaci Velasquez is well on her way.