Critically-acclaimed singer-songwriter Jessica Lea Mayfield will make her way to Mojo’s on June 27. Columbia is just one stop along her nationwide tour, where she is ready to bring the energy.
Having previously worked with The Black Keys lead singer Dan Auerbach, as well as having been spotlighted in Rolling Stone, Mayfield’s work is not going unnoticed.
Mayfield’s passion for music has been around since her childhood.
“I’ve been playing music my whole life. It started with my parents and their band when I was eight years old,” Mayfield says. “I listen to all kinds of music and I guess I’ve just known that. It’s the only thing I am capable of doing. I couldn’t get a job at Burger King if I wanted to. I was homeschooled; I don’t have any other qualifications.”
Mayfield calls ATO Records home, and she could not be more pleased.
“I think they’re really great. I’ve really enjoyed working with them so far, and it seems like all the time I’m running into an old friend and we’re labelmates, or I’m finding out someone else I know is signing on to ATO,” Mayfield says.
Mayfield’s latest album, “Make My Head Sing,” was recorded and produced alongside her husband, Jesse Newport.
“We had this fella we know, Matt Martin, play drums and the whole record is just the three of us, with me on guitar, Jesse on bass, and Matt on drums,” Mayfield says. “It was a really, really intimate experience. One of the most intimate things I’ve ever done was make this record. It was cool that every little idea I had, almost to the point of perversion, I could hear it if I wanted to. And my husband knows me so well, he knows the kinds of things that I like and he really helped me achieve this record that I’ve always wanted to make.”
The life experiences that inspired this album are slightly different from what motivated her last two records. Moving from heartbreaker to wife, Mayfield’s new album is inspired by living in the now.
“Whether I like it or not, this is the most serious time of my life,” Mayfield says. “Like everybody, this is either where you sit around on your couch all day, or whether you are actually out working and trying to live your life and do what you want, right now. That’s part of what inspired this album, is just not being embarrassed to be myself and just doing whatever I want, in the moment, because you only live once.”
With all that Mayfield and her band have in store, the crowd is guaranteed to have a great time.
“From my show you can expect to see me on guitar, Jesse on bass, and Matt on drums,” Mayfield says. “We’ll play songs from all three records. It’ll be loud, and at times quiet, and we’re going to come and bring our fun and hopefully everybody wants to have fun with us. I’m just hoping everybody wants to hang out and have a good time.”
