Interview with Savannah Jaine, featured artist

Posted by Georgia O'Reilly on February 28, 2024 in Interview | Leave a comment

This week’s featured artist is Savannah Jaine. Savannah Jaine is a dynamic artist based in NYC. A diligent workhorse from a young age, this America’s Most Talented Kid’s alum honed her chops as a contract vocalist working long hours on stage – and that unique experience shows itself in her rich, resonant and powerful vocals. A big believer in creating your own opportunities, she toured, busked and traded live music for beds at hostels throughout Europe. She blogged about her adventures all the way, building a following on social media. She has held artist residencies in Abu Dhabi and Ibiza, Spain. She recorded her first album SLOWBURNBABY in Manchester, England set for release on March 15th. Here in NYC she is the creator and producer of the “For the Girlies” cabaret uplifting women and non binary performers and frequently hits the stage with her Savannah Jaine Band.

Interviewer: Your blog documented your musical adventures throughout Europe. How did those experiences influence your artistic perspective and contribute to building your social media following?

Savannah: My experiences travelling through Europe definitely influenced my artistic perspective by meeting and jamming with artists from different backgrounds, it shows up in the more acoustic recording of my song “Chapel On A Hill” which is a song I wrote in NY but finished at a jam in Glasgow, and then it ended up having a bit of a flamenco-style guitar solo inspired by my time spent in Spain. It contributed to building a following as well because in hostels I feel you really bond with the people you’re staying with, whether it be for a few days or a few weeks, it felt like in every city I visited I was able to find a large group of like-minded adventure-seeking people who loved music and a lot of them I have stayed in relative touch with over the years in one way or another. 

I: Your upcoming album was recorded in Manchester, and you’re clearly well traveled, with shows all over the world…do you think your geographical location plays a role in the music you write or how you perform? 

S: Yes I recorded my first album at The Milkshed in Manchester, a studio my husband’s childhood best friend started, they used to play guitar together in a “cool kids band” when they were 9 and 10 years old so it was amazing to watch their relationship as it grew into both being professional musicians at a high level. I definitely think my experience traveling shows up in the way that I write trying to incorporate different styles and then just also the subject matter – I have a song “Room with a View” that is about a lot of the places Ive been and how I am shifting my focus from travelling to staying a bit more settled in the coming years. I am very glad I had those experiences though as I don’t feel I would be the artist I am without them. 

I: As a believer in creating your own opportunities, can you share a specific moment or experience where this mindset played a crucial role in your career?

S: Definitely! Sometimes you need to create what you want. I want to play more shows with my band in NYC so I started a Live Events Production Company called SmokeShow Music Co recently and we produce concerts and book/promote other bands but I’m always slipping my band into the fold as well! If you want to create connections and travel and tour – doing a hostel tour is a great way to get stage experience and reach people who may really love your music and a lot of that is intimate acoustic performances in spaces that don’t usually have music, but are open to hosting if you ask. I wanted to network and make friends with more fierce musical women so I started the Girlie Show to create the kind of community I was craving.  I wanted to sing more weddings in NYC so I emailed every wedding band in town my resume and now I get regular calls, I did 30 weddings last year and hope to do more this year. I feel a lot of people wait for the inquiries to show up in their inbox instead of chasing them down and holding them hostage until the universe says “ok fine kid, sing a few songs, stop emailing me”

I: “For the Girlies” cabaret is a fantastic initiative. What inspired you to create and produce this platform, and how has it impacted women and non-binary performers in NYC?

S: When I first started doing open mics and songwriter nights around 15 years ago I would look around and notice I was the only woman in the room and that was intimidating!  I definitely remember feeling just a bit different than everyone else, feeling that fear and pushing through it. But I know in talking and connecting with other women and writers beyond the binary that this can be scary enough to prevent artists from performing and sharing their stories.   I felt that I wanted to create a space where women and non-binary people are the majority and can feel comfortable. A few of the artists I have featured had never performed their material onstage before  – and after a few nights under their belts I have 1 who just booked their very first songwriter showcase in the East Village! So that is very exciting and I’m quite proud of that. I have heard from several artists that they love performing new material at my nights as it’s always a big supportive safe environment and that means I totally am doing what I set out to do!  As a networking event as well, a lot of my performers are vocalists who need to put together bands for certain events and I have had a lot of success connecting my horn players to vocalists who give them constant work now, the musicians in the house band all have gotten calls from the singers we feature for other gigs and it feels like the beginning of a lovely community of artists who hire and support each other! 

I: How do you balance your roles as a solo artist, band member, and creator/producer of events like “For the Girlies”?

S: Oh I don’t really, your guess is as good as mine. I am getting better at time management every day, just a few more days and maybe I’ll have it down. I set a lot of Iphone alarms with specific tasks on them.  But I will still always be up at 2am putting together charts and arrangements of Miley Cyrus/Gloria Gaynor mashups for us to perform on Girlie Night and I’ve accepted that’s just who I am. I’m happiest when I’m working on something musical and I am lucky enough that it’s my full-time gig so my mind is always going “ok, we work on charts for Motown Band Night for an hour. Then at 12noon we’ll switch to Girlie show. Then at 4 we can work out the solo to that Queen song, no worries. I’ve got that soloist cover gig tonight 7-10 so I can run stuff onstage then. Didn’t we want to do some Steely Dan? We’ll have to put it in Bb,  easily done on piano, let me transpose that for the band when I get home, Oh wait, now it’s 3am, maybe I should eat something” end scene.

I: I saw that you and your husband met in Dubai while you were there for a contract gig and then continued to make and write music together; as an artist, did your work style change with this transition from a solo artist to now more of a duo?

Yes we did! I had a lot of experience working in a duo capacity as a vocalist so we sort of just did all the same things but I got to play guitar this time! We had been working in a rock band and had to work out some new arrangements but it ultimately was really good for me as a guitar player, he was one of the first duo partners I had who really encouraged me to play and get better as a rhythm player on the gig and it was great to focus on that – I love playing guitar for other musicians to solo over. 

I: I also saw that you both bonded over your love for country, Americana, etc. Historically, the country music scene hasn’t been super inclusive or progressive. Has it ever been difficult to share your passion and love for the genre while also continuing your work providing opportunities for women and non-binary performers?

S: I grew up singing country music and so did he – but we actually both had the same disenchantments with the ‘commercial’ country industry for those reasons specifically. I look towards Americana artists like Chris and Morgane Stapleton, Jason Isabell, Margo Price, Yola and others who are very vocally progressive, Amanda Shires who recently spoke out and wrote a song about Abortion rights, Maren Morris who has been so incredibly vocally supportive of Trans people and legislation at the detriment of her place in the genre, and Famously, The Chicks who spoke out against the Bush Administration and who subsequently wrote the banger “I’m Not Ready to Make Nice” about  the backlash they received.  Country/Bluegrass music was the music of the working class when it began as a protest against everything it seems to stand for now, I’m not sure when it all went so sideways. I just try and post and share and speak and remind people of the history of the genre specifically. Enslaved people of color in the US invented the Banjo by using the design of instruments they remembered from West Africa and it was historically played by black musicians until white people started utilizing it for the horrifying ‘Minstrel Shows’ in the 20s and a lot of the biggest country hits in the early days were plagiarised from black gospel hymns and released by white artists. As with most genres, it was stolen and appropriated and I hope that things are changing, recently Luke Comb’s grammy performance with Tracy Chapman and a new Beyonce Country Album have given me a lot of hope for the future of the genre.
My recent album did go a bit more Country than originally anticipated and my next one won’t be Country as I just like to switch genres a lot – but I do have love and hope for the country music industry, it does seem like a lot of good people are trying to make the changes needed!

(Citing my source for the history in this answer, great videos made on the history of the banjo/country music specifically by @jesse.and.friends on instagram)

I: If you could give a piece of advice to someone who is wanting to get into singing/songwriting what would it be?

S: Get up onstage as much as possible, no matter how scary it is, if you can find a space where you feel safe and comfortable, the only way to get better at something is by doing it! The only way I got comfortable was forcing myself to be uncomfortable- the only way out is through. 

I: Who is your biggest musical inspiration, either currently or someone who inspired you from the very beginning?

S: Oh gosh I have so many! My earliest I can remember was Kelly Clarkson, American idol really changed my life as an 11 year kid who did not come from a musical family. She performed “Respect” on the show and I remember telling my mom “I really love that new Kelly Clarkson song, Respect” and my Mom went “oh no, that’s not her song originally” and went out and bought me Aretha Franklin’s Soul Queen album which I devoured and learned every single song on (there were 60) and this happened with most major artists as Kelly covered Celine, Chaka, Mariah, Whitney and more on the first season of American Idol.  I came out of that season with a huge collection of new CDs. I would tape every performance on VHS and stay in my room until I could hit the notes the way she could. I didn’t have a lot of friends. I recently have learned our neighbours complained and my father yelled at them, go Dad.  After the first season of American Idol the singers did a “Motown Concert” that only aired once but I taped it and watched it every day for about a year, probably. 10 years later when I was 22 and got my first music job leading a horn band for Carnival Cruise Lines my music director gave me a stack of Motown charts and said “you need to be off-book by Friday” and I said “I’m off-book now boss” because it was all the same songs I learned as a kid. 

Recently I learned Kelly Clarkson moved her daytime talk show from LA to NYC and I keep hoping to run into her and thank her personally because I’m not sure I’d have had such a career if she didn’t pick such good songs on American Idol in 2001. 

I: Looking ahead, what are your aspirations for the future of your music career, and are there any particular goals or projects you’re excited to pursue next?

S: I am so excited for this year!! I am writing a new album and trying to find a producer/studio so I am stoked for that. I am doing more shows with my band, a rock show on March 12th so I can live out my Guns and Roses dreams and then putting together a more Soul/Motown show with a full horn section for May. On the wedding/corporate side of things we are renting a video studio soon to make a huge promo video for the band/horn section with 3-4 singers and I’m really excited to start managing and booking my own Savannah Jaine Band – we need a better name possibly but it’ll come. The Girlie show house band has been killing it recently and I have some high hopes for collabs with other bands and events at other venues, there’s a lot going on that I am excited for!