REINTRODUCING JESSICA LEA MAYFIELD, CONT. Continued from page 22
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to knock it out in a matter of days or months either, which was refreshing considering that vocals rising over the noise like a disaffected was how things went on her previous releases. voice of reason, and then you have the more She and her husband — bassist Jesse Newmelodic alternative track “I Wanna Love port — had such a good experience making You,” where she sings “I’m insane/I wanna the album that it was almost like the album love you” over and over in an oddly hypnotic became a member of their family. “It took us about nine months to record way. Toss in some shoegaze-style guitar work on “Unknown Big Secret” and a som- the album, so Jesse and I refer to it as our ber electric guitar ballad (“Party Drugs”), record baby,” Mayfield laughs, “because it and you get a sense of how Mayfield’s cre- is. Making this record was one of the most ative streak was functioning during the intimate experiences of my life and neither of us wanted to be finished with it. It was recording process. Having the freedom to make sure she got one of these things where I didn’t want the the album right meant that she did not have process of recording it to end because it was
so beautiful.” Mayfield, whose brother is David Mayfield of the David Mayfield Parade, started her career performing in her family’s band, so music is in her blood. You could be forgiven for not predicting that Jessica would progress from playing bluegrass and folk songs to being a full-on alternative rock artist. Her evolution, however, has been more than artistic. These past few years have been about discovering and accepting herself, and allowing herself to be happy. Part of that happiness has come from being married. “It’s a really amazing thing when you realize you’ve met the person you want to spend the rest of your life with,” Mayfield says. “It’s the most curious thing in the world. I always wrote about relationships in a sort of ‘I’m going to be single forever’ sort of way. There’s so much more to it now. These songs are so much more important because I’m singing about the most important things that are happening in my life. I value life more, and certain things have greater importance now than they did when I was a teen.” This perspective about life is not something Mayfield came upon easily. She notes she has spent over half her young years on the road and going through many of the ups and downs of the music life. For Mayfield, there were certainly some down times. “I don’t feel like I was completely there a lot of the time; I was just sort of floating along and didn’t care if I was dead or alive,” she laughs. “Most of the time I wished I was dead. I was crazy and a wild party person, but I feel like I’ve found my perspective. Now I know you have to work as hard as you can, but you also have to enjoy the work that you do.” “Sing …,” while not a summery pop record or anything, finds Mayfield in her element and enjoying the hell out of it. All the attitude, solos and raucous rhythms you would expect to find on a rock ’n’ roll record are here for sure. But despite stepping out confidently into this new musical direction, Mayfield is not at all ashamed about her previous releases and is not trying to distance herself from them. “I feel like people misunderstand me, like they think I don’t like the last two records or something, but if anything, the only thing about the last two records is that I’m just younger,” Mayfield says. “No one wants to hear their voice as a teenager, right? I do think that the last two records are great and they have this great aesthetic, but I like to push myself, and that’s what I got to do with this record.”
Jessica Lea Mayfield will be at the White Water Tavern 9 p.m. Thursday, June 26, with Dylan LeBlanc. Tickets are $12 and available at.lastchancerecords.com. 32
JUNE 26, 2014
ARKANSAS TIMES