Jameson Rodgers’ just-released EP, JAMO , marks a pivotal moment in his career as it showcases growth and creative freedom as he steps into his first independent release. With three new tracks that capture his evolving artistry, this project signals the start of a brand-new chapter for Rodgers.
Leading up to the release of JAMO, the Mississippi native admitted he found himself to be “unhappy” with where he was at in his career. The rush of getting up on stage weekend after weekend began to fade and the pressure to be plugged into social media at all times started to get the best of him. So, he took a breather and became an independent artist for the first time since 2018.
He took this time off to reconnect with his creative side and gain control over the direction he wanted to take his career. In the process, the country singer said he “learned a lot about myself.”
“I learned that I will always love the creating part of the music process. I love that part of it. I learned that there’s parts that I don’t necessarily love that, you know, when you move to town as a 20-year-old dude, you don’t know what the landscape is going to look like in 14 years. The music industry changed a ton even after I signed my record deal,” he noted.
Rodgers also rediscovered that writing songs for other people is still a very strong passion of his that he hopes to continue while simultaneously putting out his own songs.
“Who knows what that will look like going forward, if it’ll look like the same as what I thought it would look like five years ago, but I do love putting music out and creating music in general. That’s what I learned the most,” he added.
Inside The New EP
Now that he’s an independent artist, one thing he knows for sure is that there is no one to tell him which songs he can or cannot release. The project’s first track, “Down By The River,” is an example of the music Rodgers has been wanting to make for a while now, but hadn’t gotten the chance to showcase to his fans. It was penned by Rodgers alongside HARDY, Smith Ahnquist and Tom Whall, and released in advance of the EP, reintroducing listeners to Jameson Rodgers’ authentic sound.
“This song has been on top of my radar for, we wrote this song two or three years ago, and I had been wanting to cut this for at least a year. I never could get everybody on the team on the same page with it, and so I was like, you know what? This is what I want to do. I can do whatever I want now, and it feels like a Jameson song, so that’s kind of why we went with that one first.”
The second track is “I’m Drinkin’ Tonight,” which taps into that nostalgic spirit that Rodgers has always loved to weave into his songs. The idea for the emotionally charged country song began with just the first three lines in the opening verse, “We were smoke rings undercover in a BMW singing ‘Meet Virginia.’” Rodgers explains that’s all he had written down before a writing retreat with Brent Anderson, Hunter Phelps and Smith Ahnquist back in January that led to them finishing the story.
“I was like, ‘I have no idea what this is,’ but I played it and they were like, ‘holy crap, that’s really cool.’ And then next thing you know, two hours later, the song was born and fell out of the sky for us. That was one too that just feels like me…I just always kept coming back to that song in my truck. That song has just never gotten old to me in 11 months, which is pretty rare ’cause I write so many songs and it’s hard for one to stay on the forefront of my brain for 11 months. But anyway, it’s nostalgic. Those are my favorite songs to listen to and write.”
Recording “Silver Wings” With His Father
JAMO closes out with one of Rodgers’ most sentimental songs to date, “Silver Wings (3 AM Edition).” He puts his own spin on the Merle Haggard 1969 classic by incorporating vocals from his father, John Rodgers, who he sees as his “favorite singer” and the reason he got into music.
During a writer’s retreat in 2020, Rodgers spent three days in Mississippi with Brent Anderson, Hunter Phelps, and Jake Mitchell, fully dedicating their time to crafting new songs. What started as a way to just get out of the house turned into a moment that Rodgers will never forget.
“At nighttime, we would sit on the front porch of this cabin we were at, and my dad would drive over because we were like 30 minutes from my hometown. My dad loves old country songs and Brent Anderson can play, he’s like a human jukebox. That’s his party trick. He can play anything. So we were sitting around playing old Merle songs and what not and Jake got in there and got on his producer rig and I can’t remember whose idea it was exactly but we were like, ‘let’s just record an acoustic version of you and your dad singing a song,’” Rodgers recalled.
Even though he noted how his dad is very shy, they were able to convince him to step up to the mic by making him think his vocals would just be tucked into the background. However, as the process evolved, John ended up becoming a prominent part of the tune, thus highlighting the collective set of baritone vocals and passion for traditional country music throughout each note.
The title of this song signals that it was recorded at 3 AM, letting listeners know that while it may not be as crisp as it was done in one take in the middle of the night, it’s perfect just the way it is because of what that recording represents for Rodgers and his family.
“Well, we totally fooled him. He was alright with it, but it was really just a song that lived on CD for a handful of people, my grandma included, my dad’s mom. And she loves Merle, she loves my dad and she loves me. Those were probably her three favorite singers. She actually passed away last December, and we played it at the funeral. As it was playing at the funeral, I was like, you know what? I bet you my Mamaw would love, I call her Mamaw, I bet you my Mamaw would love for that song to be heard by more than just 10 people. It’s super simple. It’s not perfect. It literally was done at 3am in Mississippi, kind of one take, basically. And so I’m excited.”
The Father And Son Will Perform The New Song At The Grand Ole Opry
On November 23, one day following the release of JAMO, Rodgers and his dad will have the opportunity to step on stage together at the Grand Ole Opry and perform their rendition of “Silver Wings.” This will mark the first time the father and son have ever sang together on stage before, except for a few local karaoke nights.
“The Opry is gracious enough to let me and my dad sing that on the 23rd so that’ll be the coolest thing I’ll ever do in music, I imagine,” Jameson Rodgers shared before adding, “We’ve sang karaoke together. We’re going from the Batesville, Mississippi line of karaoke to the Grand Ole Opry. We’re just gonna skip a few steps and just jump up there. He’s a nervous wreck. It took some convincing for him to even do that, just cause he’s shy. But that’ll literally be the coolest thing I’ll ever do probably.”
Jameson Rodgers has a fresh start as a newly independent artist and after a year of putting his head down and pouring all his focus into songwriting for himself and others, he’s ready to let these songs be heard. If he finds success in his latest set of releases, Rodgers says he hopes to get back to playing some shows for his loyal fans in the near future.
The post Jameson Rodgers Talks Creative Rebirth and Rediscovering His Passion with His New Independent EP, ‘JAMO’ [Exclusive] appeared first on Country Now.
