Jess Corbin, Americana singer-songwriter and Jim Thorpe resident, will preview new music during a solo show Dec. 26 at The Mansion House, West Ludlow Street, Summit Hill.

“I’ve played there with a duo and trio, but not solo, so I’m excited,” said Corbin, who with her family moved to Jim Thorpe in 2020. She had lived in New York City for 23 years.

During her Mansion House show, the singer/pianist will play some new songs she’s recording, including upcoming single “The Unknown.” The latter will arrive Jan. 24 on streaming platforms, with a release party set for Hairy Guys Brewing in Jim Thorpe.

Journal turned songs

“The Unknown,” Corbin said, “came out of journal writing I was doing. I saw the phrase ‘the unknown’ in what I was writing and thought that would make a good song title.”

The songwriter, who formed SHEnanigans with Dee Dasher in 2021, “got a melody going in my head and the starting lyrics ‘it’s no surprise.’ The rest fell out of my brain one day.”

While the new single “ended up being quite personal to me, my hope is that everyone can find something to relate to in this song, and the things that we all seem to be in search of.”

Corbin plans to release most of the six songs she’s recording as singles throughout the first half of 2025 and as an EP in late summer. She also hopes to record more new songs next fall.

“There is a loose plan of a second EP to come in 2026, or maybe combining into a full-length album. I’m in a wait-and-see-what-feels-right space at the moment.”

Corbin’s Mansion House show will also include cuts from her 2023 debut album “Simple.” She also may perform tracks by Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan and Lady Gaga.

A musical career begins

Born and raised in Pittsburgh, Corbin — “playing piano since I could reach it” — heard her professional-musician/songwriter father singing and playing piano or guitar at home.

“I started taking piano lessons regularly when I was about 7 and have played ever since,” she said.

Growing up, she was heavily involved in school, church and community music.

As a 1980s high school student, “pretty much everything that was on the radio during that time had a huge impact on me,” Corbin said. “But I was also playing and singing a lot of classical music, so that came into play, as well.”

Corbin, who majored in piano performance as an undergraduate at Duquesne University, also studied choral conducting. While attending graduate school in Indiana, she majored in music theory and minored in choral conducting.

Though she did not major in music education, Corbin has taught private piano and voice lessons. She has also taught at New York City’s LaGuardia High School — also known as the “Fame” school — and has taught at the college level for the past 15 years.

Teaching others

Corbin, a full-time lecturer in the music and theater departments at Kingsborough Community College in Brooklyn, New York, has worked in various capacities for musical theater productions. She also was a choir director for 20 years.

While conductor of a Brooklyn community women’s choir she founded, Corbin composed and arranged several pieces. She used text from local poets for the pieces she composed.

“I never thought I was very good at the ‘words’ part of music. I don’t think that anymore.”

Before she started to write full songs in 2021, Corbin had half-songs, or just a chorus or idea.

Writing from the heart

“I never had the confidence in my writing ability to complete a song,” she said. “My friend Eliza Rush convinced me to try this songwriting challenge. I finished my first full song, ‘No More Time.’ Things took off from there.”

Corbin, who arranged all 10 “Simple” tracks, self-penned eight songs. She also co-wrote one song each with John Rafferty and SHEnanigans’ Dasher.

SHEnanigans, playing its last 2024 Santa Train shows Saturday and Sunday at Steamtown in Scranton, performs songs Corbin and Dasher wrote separately, plus covers. The act has discussed recording a full-length album or EP, possibly in late 2025.

Collaboration with local bands

This past fall, Free Range Folk’s Sara Ruch started performing with SHEnanigans. Corbin, who also performs with pal Rush, played with her own five-piece band for the first time in September, at The Inn at Birch Wilds in Lehighton.

“They’ve been recording with me all fall,” said Corbin, who with the band mainly sings and plays some accordion. She hopes 2025 brings more band gigs.

Furthermore, Corbin has done vocal coaching at Jim Thorpe Area High School, where she regularly works with the theater club. She recently directed spring musical “The Addams Family” and coached students for two fall cabaret performances.

Even though “there just aren’t enough days in the month for everything you want to do,” Corbin wants to keep making music, in any capacity.

“Creating, writing, playing with others, playing for others, as much as I possibly can. We all need music. I’m grateful I can make a living doing what I love to do, and in so many ways.”