thebuzzr pod

thebuzzr pod


Jaimee Harris

June 01, 2021

Hey, y’all. I am Shay. This is the on air indie show.

Welcome & enjoy. Episode 50.

First, music history facts for June 1st.

David Bowie released his self-titled debut studio album in 1967. They released two singles from the album. “Rubber Band” and “The Laughing Gnome”. The album’s failure cost Bowie his record contract with Deram Records who dropped him in April 1968.

We meet 2018 Grammy nominee Jaimee Harris today. Her debut album Red Rescue was one of the top Americana albums that year. The Congress House Sessions sophomore album released in January. An incredible release, with a stripped-down version of Red Rescue.

Jaimee has earned the moniker “The Next Queen of Americana Folk” by many industry watchers. We chat about everything and anything on the show. From her music, life experiences, women in music and prison reform.

Enjoy!

Tracks:

"Depressive State" 16:23

"Snow White Knuckles" 34:51

"Catch It Now" 42:33

"Red Rescue" 57:06
Full Bio Provided by the Artist
JAIMEE HARRIS

“The Next Queen of Americana-Folk” (NPR)

The Congress House Sessions

In 2018, everything in my life changed. In May, I left my job to pursue music full time.  By August, I was on a musical rocket ship, opening shows all over the world for Mary Gauthier, who received a GRAMMY nomination in December of 2018.

On paper—and on social media—it looked like a dream come true.  In a lot of ways, it was.

But in reality, I felt like I was drowning.

                — Jaimee Harris

On the heels of her debut album Red Rescue, hailed by many as one of the top Americana albums of 2018, Jaimee Harris does not disappoint with the release of The Congress House Sessions, a thoughtful, intimate EP with stripped-down recordings of some of her most requested songs.  These new recordings, recorded at the storied Congress House Studio by Mark Hallman (Carole King, Ani DiFranco, Eliza Gilkyson) and Andre Moran (Sarah Borges, Rickie Lee Jones), feature some of Austin’s favorite players, including Jane Ellen Bryant and Kris Nelson on backing vocals, Ray Bonneville on harmonica, Brian Patterson on electric guitar, and Sammy Powell on piano.

Don’t let the healthy list of players mislead you; this is no large, speaker-rattling production.  Longtime friends add color and texture, but what you’ll hear is Harris and her guitar, delivering her songs in a setting closer both to what they were at their inception, alone in her room with a guitar, and how they have developed after a few years acclimating to performing without a band.

Jaimee Harris loves fronting a band, and it shows.  During the years she built a devoted critical and popular following in Austin, Texas, she fronted a slate of seasoned musicians with admirable swagger. When she alighted upon the scene, this jaded music city, replete with (and weary of) singer-songwriters, woke up and took notice.  Here, finally, was a new voice—yes, her singing voice is noteworthy: rich, sonorous, full, delivering a uniquely stylized, throaty tone—but equally important, here was the new voice of a noteworthy writer and performer.

If you meet Harris today, you’ll want to be her friend.  And no matter what part of the country you’re in, if you spend a day with her, she will convince you to meet up at a nearby roller coaster park/pinball arcade/skeeball hall she happens to know is awesome.  She will share embarrassing stories and laugh at your worst jokes (either because she finds them funny or because she finds hilarious how bad your jokes are).  Later, when you watch her sing, she’ll break your heart, cradle your heart, win your heart, then break it all over again.

The next day,