Three years after the release of her last album, NEON CROSS, Nashville-based artist Jaime Wyatt has shifted somewhat from the country nuances of that album with her recently released album, FEEL GOOD. Jaime’s songwriting has consistently been autobiographical, and that continues to be the case with the new record. Sonically, it travels in a more soulful direction than her previous recordings and finds her writing about issues such as sexism, personal relationships, gun violence and environmental collapse. Not afraid to challenge the tried and trusted, producer and band member of Black Pumas, Adrian Quesada was brought on board by Jaime to oversee the arrangements. The result is a fuller, warmer and more harmonious sound that reaches the sweet spot between modern country and soul. It’s also a triumphant move forward by an artist whose career appears to take giant steps forward with each of her albums.
Are you at home in Nashville this morning?
No, I’m in California, it’s 10 am. We’ve just played an album release show here and also Orville Peck’s Rodeo at Pappy and Harriets; it’s a cowboy hang where they filmed part of Easy Rider; it's lovely. I’m hanging out with family for a while and taking some meetings in Los Angeles.
How is your relationship with Nashville progressing?
I love Nashville; it has made me good at music. When you come to Nashville, one good assimilating thing is ‘getting good.’ I love Nashville but miss my family on the West Coast. It’s home for me now, my band are there, and they are like family to me, and we tour out of there. I’ll have my base in Nashville for years to come.
Congratulations on your recent Grand Ole Opry debut. How did that go?
It went really well; I was surprised it went so well. I got to sing with my friend Butch Walker and Trey Binkley from my band came and played with me. It was really fun to share the experience with people, too; Trey had never done the Opry, Butch had done it before but was so supportive and sweet. I played Ain’t Enough Whiskey with Butch and also played Moonlighter.
Our review described your new album, FEEL GOOD, as more Dusty and Bobby than Loretta and Dolly. Did you lock yourself in a dark room and binge on soul music to get into that groove?
I did lock myself in a dark room and listen to music. I have this deal with ADHD called hyperfocus, and I use it. I’m obsessed with music. I would write a few songs for this album and then study Motown, Soul, Isaac Hayes, Curtis Mayfield, and Grateful Dead. I listened to their records because I knew that the grooves I was writing were different from my last record, NEON CROSS, and could be really powerful if I learned more about their music.
You recorded in both Los Angeles and Nashville.
While writing and compiling the songs, we would go into different studios and jam and improvise with melody ideas that I had. The players would be jamming, and I would be looking through my notebook for words. We were recording everything, and after a session in L.A. I went back to the drawing board, listening and writing more. I then took my touring manager and a group of guys to a studio in Nashville, and we did the same thing, demoing again. After that, it was up to me to really cue in, finish the lyrics, and select the songs. We then ended up working with producer Adrian Quesada to finish the album.
How did the connection with Adrian Quesada come about?
I was talking to my friend Nikki Lane and asked her if she knew who Adrian’s manager was; he happened to be a former manager of mine. I really wanted Adrian to take the project on and was surprised when he did because my last two records were very country. I told him I wanted horns and strings, and I knew he could do those arrangements. He was brilliant, his Electric Deluxe Recording studio was impeccable, he has great tape machines, and his engineer is a genius.
You wrote on the piano for this album. Was that the first time?
I did write many of the songs on piano this time and play piano in the live sets quite a bit. I had written two songs on piano before for my last, NEON CROSS.
Is the Album’s title, FEEL GOOD, a statement of your frame of mind or advice to others?
That’s a good question; it’s both. I write about things that I feel but question whether they are relevant and whether people need to hear them. I believe that we are living in a toxic society for the most part, and I’m trying to highlight healing, both for myself and others, because I know that it is needed. So, the title means ‘permission to feel good.’
You open the album with World Worth Keeping, a reminder of the current environmental ruination.
I wasn’t sure how that would go down, and I think most people do love the planet. But we can’t ignore what’s happening at the moment with the weather, and we’re not going to have any clean air for the next generation at this rate. But I have immense faith in the young generation; they are very well educated about the environment. I grew up in Washington State, where environmental issues were encouraged and taught in schools. I appreciated that but did not realise that not everyone learned that way. Moving to the South, I found that in Nashville, they don’t even recycle glass and recycle very little. I’m not mad at any single working-class person for the state of the planet; what I talk about in that song is billionaires who are destroying the earth without having to pay for the damage they have done.
We recently selected the track Hold Me One More Time to feature on our radio show as one of this year's favourites.
Thank you. I wouldn’t say I like listening to my own music, but when the album came out on Spotify, I actually listened to that song. I’m really proud of it and think it sounds beautiful sonically.
I understand that the song Fugitive was written while you were feverish.
Yes, I was down with Covid; that song is a fever dream. I was reading about life in America at the time, and that song is about gun control. That’s my ‘fever song.’ My dad always told me to write songs when I had a fever because Neil Young wrote Cowgirl In The Sand with a fever.
You recall your dad on the album with the inclusion of the Grateful Dead song, Althea.
Yes. My dad was friends with Bob Weir when we were kids, and he would be stoked that I recorded that song. I grew up at Grateful Dead shows with my family as a baby. I started seeing young people wearing Grateful Dead shirts a few years ago and just dived back into their back catalogue and discovered how amazing that song, Althea, is. Robert Hunter’s lyrics were so cool because he left them open-ended. I follow Bob Weir on Instagram and watch him working out, which he does so that he can still play heavy guitars. That’s why I work out, too, to be able to stand up and hold a guitar, play better and sing better.
Were all the songs written specifically for the album?
Two of the songs were around for a while. I had been playing Ain’t Enough Whiskey on the road, but it didn’t make the last record. I’m glad it didn’t now because it works with the flow on the new record. Also, Jukebox Holiday, which I originally pitched to Charley Crockett when I wrote it.
You are due to tour the album in early 2024.
I start a headline tour on January 17th at The Troubadour, California, and it ends on February 24th in New Orleans, with twenty-five dates in total. Riddy Arman does the support on the West Coast, and on the East Coast, we have an upcoming young man, Joshua Quimby. I’m excited to hear them both each night.
Will you get back to Europe soon?
Hopefully, as soon as possible. Playing the 3 Arena, Dublin, with Dropkick Murphys in January was incredible. It was so powerful to see a whole room of Irish people singing Dirty Old Town; I was crying; it was so beautiful.
Interview by Declan Culliton