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Musical Migrants

BBC World Service - The Documentary, Musical Migrants, Nashville

Jesse Lee Jones explains how his love of country music took him from Brazil to Nashville.

Jesse Lee Jones explains how his love of country music took him from Brazil to Nashville

The man now known as Jesse Lee Jones went by a different name when he was living in Brazil. 

His decision to change his name was an expression of his desire to reinvent himself following his move to the USA.

Throughout a difficult upbringing, Jesse Lee always found solace in American music and dreamed of being there, but as a young man, he "was going nowhere fast". 

Then, out of the blue, the members of his church - in an effort to help him - clubbed together and bought him a plane ticket. 

Shortly afterwards, Jesse Lee arrived in Miami, Florida with a 12 string guitar but no English and no plan. 

On his first day, while travelling on a Greyhound Bus, he was robbed of the few possessions he had - including his money and that guitar.

He got off the bus in Peoria, Illinois. 

Out of pity, some people from a local church took him in. 

They became his "American family" and Peoria was his home for the next decade. 

Jesse Lee took a series of jobs (including training as a law enforcement officer) but he kept up with the music on the side - playing all kinds of American music in local bars.

Then a friend gave him a CD by the country and western legend Marty Robbins. 

After that, Jesse Lee realised that his true passion was traditional country music. 

He headed to Nashville and got a job scrubbing the decks of the General Jackson Showboat for $3.25 an hour. 

However, within a few years, a series of serendipitous encounters led to his becoming first leader of the house band, then owner, of the "best honkytonk in Nashville" right in the heart of Lower Broadway.

(Photo: A cowboy with a lasso in silhouette. Credit: AP)

The Documentary: Musical Migrants

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