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Jessie James to entertain troops overseas

  • Published
Chart-climbing Jessie James will entertain American troops in Southwest Asia and families in Europe Nov. 29 to Dec. 12 as part of this year's Tour for the Troops, formerly known as Operation Season's Greetings.

Joining the up and coming pop and country star will be headliner Kid Rock, comedian Carlos Mencia and members of the Band of the Air Force Reserve.
Tour for the Troops will feature performances at Ramstein Air Base, Germany; Incirlik AB, Turkey; RAF Lakenheath, England; and a number of deployed locations in Southwest Asia.
Jessie James, the daughter of an Air Force fighter pilot and a self-described military brat, is quickly making a name for herself on both the pop and country music scenes with hit songs like "Wanted," "My Cowboy" and "Blue Jeans."

She made chart headlines when her debut album rose to No. 1 on Amazon's MP3 chart. It was fueled by the Top 20 Pop Song chart success of its first single "Wanted," the full-throttle dance-rock scorcher that Jessie co-wrote with American Idol judge and hit songwriter Kara DioGuardi (along with Mitch Allen and David Hodges).

Jessie's video for "My Cowboy" just premiered on Country Music Television, while the song is also being featured in promos on ABC and CMT for the Country Music Association's annual Country Music Festival. MTV is supporting Jessie by naming her a "Discover and Download Artist" and featuring her in their "Artist of the Week" campaign

"We're extremely excited to have Jessie James as part of this year's "Tour for the Troops" lineup," said Chief Master Sgt. Jay Willis, manager of the Band of the Air Force Reserve and the "Tour for the Troops" tour producer. "She's a tremendous talent and a big supporter of American service members. She puts on a great show."

Headlining this year's tour is Kid Rock, one of the hottest artists on today's music scene. As popular with country music fans as he is with hip-hop followers, Kid Rock has a sound unlike any other performer in the world today.

His 2007 album "Rock and Roll Jesus" went triple platinum in the United States and sold more than 5 million copies around the world. It produced the hit single "All Summer Long," a worldwide smash hit that charted No. 1 in eight different countries across Europe and in Australia.

This will be the third time Mr. Mencia has traveled overseas to entertain U.S. service members and their families. He was featured on a USO tour of the Persian Gulf in 2007 and performed alongside Jessica Simpson and the Pussycat Dolls during 2008's Operation Myspace tour for troops in the Middle East.

Performing as the opening act for the tour will be the Band of the United States Air Force Reserve band playing well-known pop and contemporary favorites.

Jessie James website:
www.thisisjessiejames.com

Kid Rock website:
www.kidrock.com

Carlos Mencia website:
www.carlosmencia.com

AFRC website:
www.afrc.af.mil

Be sure to check out the Air Force Reserve on MySpace, Facebook and Twitter