“This Weekly pick as a 2016 Vegas artist to watch recently released some new demos, including smoky stunner “Velvet,” leaving no doubt about her impressive range and evocative songwriting.”

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“Soul singer Jessica Manalo left the University of Nevada, Las Vegas to pursue a music career and quickly began building a resume of singles and accolades – she was named “Best New Voice” by Las Vegas Weekly in June 2016 and competed that same summer in the “Road to Life Is Beautiful Battle of the Bands” competition. Manalo shines as an acoustic artist on tracks such as “Home” and “Velvet,” and her latest single, “Bedhead,” dropped in September. When not recording, Manalo is on the road, making appearances at Los Angeles’ famed Viper Room and, recently, at the Las Vegas Farm Music Festival.”

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“The indie soul artist finds power in upsetting expectations.

For all the power of her voice, Jessica Manalo is surprisingly frank about feeling vulnerable. “One of the hardest things in my experience is being a female, being little — really little — and being Asian,” she says. “All those things combined affect the way people view you.” But it’s exactly those misperceptions that motivate her. “I know I have to up the ante because of people’s first impressions of me. I have to prove them wrong.”

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