With 3 album releases under her belt and songs recorded by Mary Gauthier, Jim Lauderdale, Ray Wylie Hubbard, and Sam Williams (Grandson of Hank Williams), Jaimee Harris is an artist you should know. A country-folk and rock mix that is pleasing to the Americana aesthetics and yet Jaimee has a sound all her own. Her most recent album release, Boomerang Town is littered with skillful songwriting in songs like the pop, toe-tapping “Missing Someone”; the sultry, mesmerizing “Sam’s”; and reassuring ballad “Love is Gonna Come Again”. But the song that really hits the hardest is “The Fair and Dark Haired Lad”. After a quick listen if you’re not paying attention you might think the song is about a guy, but the title and hook is actually a metaphor for addiction. Listening with these ears gives the song a completely different meaning and creates an all new respect for Jaimee’s song craftsmanship. Bravo. Here’s our interview with Jaimee…

Where did you grow up and where do you call home now?

I was born in Nacogdoches, Texas, raised in Hewitt, TX, got sober in Austin, TX, and now live in Nashville, TN.

How have the life experiences of where you lived affected your songwriting or the songs you choose to record?

My last record, ‘Boomerang Town,’ is a collection of songs that are stories about where I grew up. Stories I’ve carried with me for years, stories about things I tried to leave behind, stories about things that chased me, stories about people who stayed. My ten years in Austin completely shaped who I am as a songwriter. I moved there because I heard there was a club on South Congress where James McMurty played twice a week for less than $10. I figured that was the best songwriting education I could get. Moving to Austin further opened my world to songwriters whose work I try to integrate into my own. I learned about David Halley, Butch Hancock, BettySoo, Nanci Griffith, David Ball, Jo Carol Pierce, Eliza Gilkyson. The songwriters Austin loves are the songwriters for me. I wrote my first song after my dad took me to the very first Austin City Limits Music Festival. After I saw Buddy Miller, Julie Miller, Patty Griffin, and Emmylou Harris on stage together it lit the songwriter fire in me. I didn’t exactly know what I had just seen. All I knew is THAT what I was going to do with my life. I was going to make THAT kind of music. I was going to write THOSE kinds of songs. It’s a high bar. I’m sure I’ll be reaching for it forever. It wasn’t until I got sober in 2014 that I found my writer’s voice. I wrote a song in early sobriety called “Snow White Knuckles” that I still play every night. I had been writing for ten years, but that was the first Jaimee Harris song I ever wrote. A year later, I had the opportunity to do some work with one of my long-time musical heroes, Jimmy LaFave. He was very complimentary of my work as a backing vocalist which still means the world to me. But once he told me he dug my songs, it gave me a new level of confidence. We lost Jimmy to cancer in 2017. When we lost Jimmy, I felt an intense drive to get even more serious about my work and to make Jimmy proud. Moving to Nashville has strengthened my editing. When I was in Austin, I think I generated a lot of material because I played locally so much. I felt pressure to bring new songs to the kind folks who were faithfully coming out to see me. Now, I don’t let a song leave the house until I know in my gut every word is in pace. Living in the same house with one of the greatest living songwriters might have something to do with that, too.

What artists/songwriters have impacted or influenced your work the most?

Emmylou Harris made me want to sing. I became completely mesmerized by her voice when I first heard it. It was actually a Christmas song called “Light of the Stable” that grabbed me. Once I heard that voice, I knew I wanted to sing. She’s also introduced me to so many songwriters who have made up the foundation of my work. Thank god for liner notes. When I saw Fleetwood Mac’s ‘The Dance’ I knew I wanted to be on stage. I didn’t care if I was Stevie or Lindsey, but I knew I wanted to be on stage. Patty Griffin made me want to be a songwriter. I spent hours every day for years playing along with all of her records. I think I wanted to be as close to those songs as possible. As if hearing them over and over again was going to make me a better songwriter by osmosis. What her songs do to me is ineffable. James McMurtry has also made a significant impact on my writing as well. His ability to make narratives rock just kills me. The lyrics are flawless and paired with so much musicality. James McMurtry and Tracy Chapman both taught me how to generate empathy with songs by inhabiting narrators. Their work gave me permission to go to places in songs I struggle to go in conversation.

Had my first drink before I could drive
Mama left it on the counter half-full one night
Felt the fire in my chest, shook the hand
Of the fair and dark haired lad

Jaimee Harris, from the song “The Fair and Dark Haired Lad”

When you perform, what do you hope is your audience’s biggest takeaway?

I take a lot of direction from Woody Guthrie. I hope the disturbed leave comforted.

Tell me a little bit about your latest project?

‘Boomerang Town’ is a collection of songs inspired by my upbringing in a suburb of Waco, TX. I’m extremely proud of every song on that record. I’m also very honored to have made it with Mark Hallman and Andre Moran in Austin, TX. It was one of the last records made at The Congress House. I’m honored to be a part of that story because that studio birthed some of my favorite records. Another thing I’m really proud of is that I had a music video made for every song on the record. Every music video was made by a fellow songwriter. It was beautiful to see other storytellers’ interpretations of the songs.

What was different or unique about your approach to this last project as compared to previous ones?

When I started playing I was in a duo with my dad. Then, I was in a trio. After that, I mostly played with a band that kept getting larger and larger. I loved being a bandleader and all the energy that comes with that creative exchange. I quit my day job and went on the road in 2018 as a solo, acoustic opening act. That’s when I realized I’d actually never really been alone on stage with an acoustic guitar. On top of that, I’m playing every night to an audience who is just waiting to see the headliner. They’re not there for me. It broke me, but it also rebuilt me into a much stronger songwriter. We made ‘Boomerang Town’ in the backend of the lockdown phase, so we kept the personnel pretty small. That environment really suited the delicate nature of so many of these songs. Mark Hallman played almost every instrument on the record. I love him and respect him so much. I’ve been so fortunate to have him as a mentor and one of my earliest believers. Watching him work was very emotional for me. It was a dream fulfilled.

Was there ever a time you felt like you wanted to quit making music?

My first tour after I quit my day job was opening for Mary Gauthier in The Netherlands. I’d wanted to be a full-time artist since I was five years old. Twenty-three years later, here I was…totally bombing on stage. I truly sucked. I sucked so much I got reduced to one song after my mental breakdown seeped from offstage to onstage in Amsterdam. I thought to myself “oh my god, I just put this all on the line and I am so not going to be able to do this.” Mary continues to be very encouraging. She helped me form my set. I was inspired to write songs that made sense to be played solo, acoustic. I hired Vance Gilbert to help me as a performance coach. I figured if Vance toured as a folk singer opening for George Carlin he knew a thing or two about tough opening act gigs. I learned I had to work just as hard on my banter as I do on my songs. I learned that where I’m lacking in natural talent I can put in hard work.

What is your funniest or favorite “on the road” story when touring?

In April 2017, I was up in Tulsa, Oklahoma to hang out with Jimmy LaFave and The Night Tribe. Jimmy was nearing the end of his life and was booked to play the annual Woody Guthrie Center celebration. He was supposed to play outdoors, but rain was expected so they moved his show to the back room of the coffee shop Chimera. I’d done a lot of singing with Jimmy in Texas in the months leading up to April. I was invited to hang out backstage, but I figured this was the Oklahoma hang. So, I decided to just watch out front and let the Okies hang backstage. Someone in the audience kept talking to me which was annoying the hell out of me, so I decided to go backstage. Because of how the venue was laid out, I had to take a long walk to get out the front door, walk to the end of the block, and then make a half block to get to the backstage door. The second I came through the door people were motioning to me to get on stage. Jimmy was playing a Bob Childers song called “Restless Spirits” that we’d sung together. I hopped on stage next to my friend Chris Buhalis. There was a woman on stage I did not recognize. Right after the show I found out what happened. There was a woman in the audience named Janie Harris. Janie lived on The Farm with Bob Childers and was a waitress at Hideaway Pizza for years. When I was outside making the block, Jimmy had asked for me to come up to the stage. I didn’t hear it because I wasn’t in the building, of course. Janie didn’t know why on earth Jimmy would be calling HER up on stage, but he said her name three times so she got up there. After all, she did know the song. Jimmy always sang with his eyes closed. Apparently when he heard a voice that wasn’t familiar his eyes shot open. Janie and I had a huge laugh about it. So did all the guys in the band. It had been such a heavy day. So much grief building up as Jimmy inched closer towards his transition. We NEEDED that laugh. Two months after Jimmy died, I was on the road with my friend Jane Ellen Bryant. We’d had a rough day when we pulled into Tulsa, but for some reason I wanted to go out. We decided to go to The Colony. Jane knew all about the Janie Harris incident. As I opened the door to The Colony, we found Janie Harris holding the handle on the other side. We screamed and hugged each other and spent the whole night hanging out. Turns out, Janie worked her way up to the admin sector of Hideaway Pizza. She gave Jane some comforting relationship advice and gifted us a $50 gift certificate to Hideaway Pizza.

Who or what keeps you grounded the most?

Staying close to twelve-step recovery has helped keep me grounded, for sure. It’s given me so many tools that help me keep the focus on being of service. Also, I’m in a workout and food accountability program that’s super fun called School of Thot. That’s kept me healthy on the road as I’m committed to drinking a gallon of water every day, getting at least 10,000 steps a day, and working out four times a week. Once I figured out that being on the road was going to be my life, I knew I had to find a way to prioritize health and fitness no matter what.

What advice would you give artists just starting out?

1. Find someone who you admire (a songwriter, a business person, etc…) and ask if you can buy them lunch and pick their brain. People love to be asked to share what they’ve learned. 2. Don’t take advice from anyone and everyone. Take your work to people YOU trust. Take your work to people whose work YOU admire. Just because someone has some sort of degree, award, or professional position doesn’t mean you should take their advice. 3. Go to a songwriting workshop. I had been writing for thirteen years before I did this. I wish I hadn’t waited so long. Songwriting workshops are so helpful and inspiring. Courage inspires courage. Meeting other people who are willing to learn and who remain curious is a game changer. I recommend Performing Songwriter Workshops in Nashville (Mary Gauthier, Gretchen Peters, Beth Neilsen Chapman), Rocky Mountain Folks Fest Song School (Lyons, CO), and Sister Folk Festival Song School (Sisters, OR).

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