Joelle James

Murrieta girl aspires to singing career
The Californian, June 5, 2001
Lara Azar, Staff Writer

Everyone sings along with the radio. Some people only do it when they're driving, others just stick to the shower. Then there's 11-year old Joelle James.

The Murrieta fifth-grader remembers singing along with singers like Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston when she was just 5 years old -- and she remembers discovering something.

"When I used to sing all the time...my parents would say I had a good voice," she said. "Then I started singing with my church choir even before I could read and, after my first solo, people started clapping and coming up to me and stuff."

Her mother, Julie, can verify that. She said she remembers when she and her husband, Bill, discovered their daughter's talent: "probably about when she could open her mouth."

"She was always on key, even when she was little and singing Barney songs and stuff," Julie James said. "She just didn't falter. ... As soon as she was able to sing, she did it well."

And Joelle has gone on from there. Six years later, Joelle James can be spotted singing the national anthem at both The Diamond stadium in Lake Elsinore and Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego; performing with Christian Youth Theater; and singing with the Musicians Workshop Youth Choir and Jazz Band at The Promenade mall in Temecula.

"One of the things that always impressed me is, people walking into the mall would just stop and turn around when she started singing," said James' neighbor, Tom Todd. "She's only a little 11-year old girl. When you see her you think 'Naahh.' Then she gets a microphone in her hand and you think, 'How is that voice coming out of that little body?'"

Joelle James wouldn't mind taking her singing a step farther, either and making a career out of it. She has already recorded five songs and sung on a San Diego radio station. In the meantime, though, she concentrates on her classes at Avaxat Elementary and playing in with the Murrieta Youth Soccer League, with father, Bill, as coach.

Julie James said Joelle recognizes that certain sacrifices have to be made to pursue stardom, and that she isn't positive her daughter is ready to give up having a normal life.

"She sees and hears people say that maybe she wouldn't be able to go to a normal school," she said. "She's kind of torn on that; she loves school, and she loves her circle of friends. ... I'm very proud of how she handles things, because people do praise her a lot. She's very humble; I don't know if she doesn't know how good she is, or if she just handles it really well."

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