I was born in a little town called Crivitz in the North-East of Germany. My name by birth is Jesse Harder but I have chosen my artistic name Jesse Oakes, because it stands for something dear to me. This is my aspiration to be open-minded, authentic, keen, easygoing and selfconfident... all in one "Oakes". I think it is a good mix to make not only a decent person, but also a fairly good musician. Moreover, Oakes stands for the true relation with nature, which I´ve been growing with since my birth.
On my track I learned playing some musical instruments like accordeon, trombone and guitar and had my first experience in songwriting. In my first school years I mainly heard through my parents´ old CD´s with such artists as Bruce Springsteen, Bryan Adams, Cat Stevens, Toto, Kool & the Gang etc. and grew fond of that kind of music.
As I grew older I discovered other music styles and directions which contributed to my own development as a musician. Among them my favourites of today are Imagine Dragons, Kool & The Gang, Ulf Nilsson, Dire Straits, Kenny Loggins, Ben Howard, The Mowgli´s, Bob Seger, Walk the Moon, The Lumineers, Ziggy Marley and Kid Rock...
That altogether brought me to writing my own songtexts and music to fulfil the dream of leaning back and listen to my own songs.

In 2015 at the age of 16 I have issued my first two songs. For that I´m very grateful to my good friend and assistant Stefan Ehrhardt who helped me in recording  and arranging. In the near future I´m going to record and issue new songs and I would be glad if you could join me on my way.