Jayne Powell Birmingham- best kept secret

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1) See it

2) Sweetest addiction

3) Ghost

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Jayne Powell is a talented singer songwriter hailing from Birmingham in England. She has been performing up down the country for several years and developed a strong following, beautiful vocals weaving into rich harmonies, intricate guitar melodies, and skillfully thoughtful percussion - it describes Jayne Powell and her band of talented musicians. Jayne has established herself as one of Birmingham's leading songwriting talents, bringing a breath of summery fresh air to venues across the region.

Jaynes music has a distinct stateside feel to it and can easily be compared with writers such as Natalie Merchant and Suzanne Vega. She plays solo or in a tight five piece band. Their music is the sort of tranquil stuff that stuns you into a quietness not even the most hectic day could disturb. It's hard to categorize the distinctive songwriting style of Jayne Powell, as you can hear an array of eclectic influences from old time waltzy laments and locked in mellow grooves to quirky country soul.

Jayne and her band have supported a variety of artists, such as; Sam Brown & Dave Rotheray's Homespun, Kathryn Williams, Jim White, Lucky Jim and Jason Mraz, along with TV appearances, live radio sessions and independently releasing their own recordings, Dandelion Clock and The Chapel Session.

After taking a break from gigging to work on a new set of recordings, Jayne and her band are now busy gathering a series of dates to promote their new release. We caught up wit Jayne recently.

INTERVIEW

1) Your songs have a maturity that belie your years, when did you start writing ?

I think I first started writing little tunes when I was about 8 or 9, on a ukelele my Grandad gave me. Then on my 11th birthday my folks bought me a guitar, which gathered dust for a while. I finally got round to learning how to play, and started penning some songs in my early teens.

2) When you first started playing who were your early influences ?

My earliest influences range from female singer songwriters such as: Joni Mitchell; Janis Joplin; Kate Bush; Joan Baez and Tracy Chapman, through to bands and artists like Nick Drake, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Jefferson Airplane, Beach Boys, The Smiths, The Cure and always Elvis.

3) Your current set classic american feel writers such as Carole King
Suzanne Vega and Natalie Merchant come to mind, how would you describe your music at the moment - would you agree with this ?

Our music at the moment has evolved into a mixture of swings and shuffles, lazy country, and nice laid back grooves. We've been experimenting with different sounds and textures, layering banjo, harmonic, steel guitar, and clarinet, to the existing core of instruments. For a while now I've been listening to artists such as; Gillian Welch; Aimee Mann; Jolie Holland and Ani Difranco, who are really influential on the way I'm approaching my own songwriting. Carole King, Suzanne Vega, and Natalie Merchant, are all artist i've listened to over the years, Carole Kings "It's Too Late" was one of the first tunes I learnt on guitar! I think it's fair to say they all inspired me to song write.


4) You've put a really tight band together how did you come across them, do you enjoy playing with them ?

The band has come together over the last few years, first I met Loz Ruston (guitar) on a train, he had his guitar with him, and i had mine, so we soon got chatting about music and a few weeks later did our first gig together. Then I met the lovely Jayne Dixon (percussion) and Gayle Henry (harmony vocals) when i saw them both performing at a gig in town. I was cheeky enough to ask them if they wanted to pop round to mine some time, and have a go at some songs, with the offer of tea, toast and chocolate, they came!

I've known Jonny Coye (bass) since we were kids, and around our late teens we spent a few merry nights drunkenly jamming at friends parties, and then i asked him if he was into coming to play some gigs with us,
he foolishly agreed , and now he's stuck with us! Peter Walker (drums), approached us after one of our gigs where he was playing with another band and suggested getting together.

We've all become very close friends and have shared some great times together. It's always a pleasure being with the guys, we all get a real buzz from playing together.

5) What plans do you have for the rest of the year?

At the moment we're finishing our new cd 'could be anything', recorded at Blue Whale Studios in Birmingham, and we're setting up some gigs to promote it. We're working on the website www.jaynepowell.co.uk , which will be up and running in the near future. Some festivals in the summer,
and then who knows what else !

Thanks

You can see Jayne perform live at the Rootsmusic gig on Friday 8th April at the 12 Bar Club 22 - 23 Denmark Place London WC2 8NJ.

to email jayne please copy and paste and close the gaps

jayne_po well@ btinternet.com