Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Season 13 marks the return of guitars to American Idol.

But it isn’t only guys with guitars who are making an early mark on a show a guitar-wielding guy won for five straight years.

Jesse Roach during her American Idol audition in Austin. (FOX Photo)

The 27-year-old from Cypress, Texas, was the first auditioner we met in Thursday’s episode.

And the first thing Keith Urban noticed was her black guitar.

Until she sang K.T. Oslin’s “Do Ya.” Then there was more for all three judges to be impressed with than a black guitar.

“They said I was captivating, which was nice,” Jesse says in her Road to Hollywood video. “They said I had a lot of soul and seemed to have a story to tell, which I do.”

How she got to the audition was a story in itself.

Jesse is the young lady who said a stranger dropped by the garage where she was practicing one day, befriended her and ultimately financed her trip to the audition.

As for musical influences, Jesse points to Susan Tedeschi and Brandi Carlile.

Jesse describes her music as blues/pop/country/Americana on her Facebook music page. And if you want to check out her original music, head to the band page there or to her Reverbnation page, where you can also download some of her music.

You can follow her on Twitter at @JesseRoachMusic.

Here are some videos of Jesse. See more on her YouTube channel.

“A Little Bit of Crazy”

“He’s the Rock”

“Angel Wings”