TODAY is big news! My song, "In The Morning," is being premiered on The Bluegrass Situation - an leading magazine in the roots music world. Check it out HERE!
LISTEN: JESSIE SMITH 'IN THE MORNING' | THE BLUEGRASS SITUATION
New Album Reviews! And There's A Pre-Order too!
It's coming so very soon. My new album, Like The Sun, is inching out into the wild music yonder, via a pre-order! Order some goodies in the form of music and merch! Check it out here.
And, album reviews are coming in! There are some bloggers in the music biz who have listened to my upcoming album and gave their opinions. How exciting! Check out two of them here:
New Album Releasing 3/24/2017!
Friends! Fans! Lend me your ear! I have a release date. I repeat - I HAVE A RELEASE DATE. March 24, 2017. My first full-length album! It will be a combination of 5 pre-released tracks from The Singles Project, and 5 unreleased new ones!
Get This - Wisconsin Has A Beach.
Last weekend, I wound up on a small sand island on the Mississippi River, along the border of Minnesota and Wisconsin - Bradley and I took a pontoon boat there and stayed for 2 days. We played on Friday and Saturday, and MAN it was fun! We met the most hospitable and fun people, and we are ready to get back there next year for the next Band On The Sand! It's a music festival, it's a party, it's a family; it's everything you'd ever want in a show. Here are some pictures from the event, taken by my new friend Dennis, who founded this festiparty. He's pretty much the Father of Wisconsin, if you ask me.
Sometimes I Close My Eyes And Dream of Mama Mae
I rocked wildly, as I clung to the memory of pain, to the memory of my mother. I couldn’t release it; I would lose her again.
“Abinia,” [Mama Mae] said, trying to hold me still, “you tell Mama Mae why you rockin’ like this.” She held my face and forced my eyes to meet hers. “You talk to Mama. Abinia, you got to talk. Don’t you go away like this. You talk to Mama. You tell her what the trouble is.”
I tried to pull away, but… Mama took my rocking self to her lap. Press me to her strong bosom, she slowed my rhythm to match her own. “Mama gonna take this pain from you,” she said. Rocking back, she breathed deeply, pulling me into herself, and as we rocked forward, she exhaled in deep guttural moans the sorrow I was holding.
Shake That Thing
As someone who has recovered from an eating disorder, I'm often looking for ways to show love to myself, especially in food and exercise. I have to always stay on top of my mental and physical health in a way that doesn't hurt me. There are a lot of messages in the world for the extreme exercisers, the gym buffs, the insanity-driven. For me, that doesn't work anymore. I need exercise to be fun, for it to vary, and to keep my focus on the activity instead of on my "fitness level." In my search, I found these dance videos that are fun and, well, hilarious. I am NOT a dancer. I often just break down in my own dance when I can't keep up with what is doing. But MAN, I can't stop laughing and dancing and laughing and dancing. If you need a little shakeup to start this week, if you need a little more play time in your day, and ESPECIALLY if you need an excuse to shake that booty, stop everything you're doing and dance to this 3 minute song. Thanks, Fitness Marshall. <3:ThaThank Th
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A Story
A Poem Is Evening.
Behind The Song - Sitting Pretty
Just a few days ago, I released the next song in my “Singles Project” series. And already, “Sitting Pretty” is the most downloaded song of mine on iTunes! Slow and steady, slow and steady.
I thought I’d write a little about the story behind “Sitting Pretty.” If you have heard the song, you may have noticed that the chorus says “big dick contest” a few times. And come on, any song with that phrase in it has got to have a good story, right?!
I was writing with my producer Neilson and a couple of other talented friends of mine, and I suggested a song idea. I had heard a statistic that the county I live in has some of the biggest houses in the country, and it also has one of the highest rates of debt in the country. (Full disclosure, I am not 100% sure of the stat’s accuracy, but after driving around my town a bit, anyone could see that it could be a very real possibility!)
I continued by asking, “What’s that phrase, where guys pull out their junk and wave it around to see who wins?”
There was an awkward pause, and then Neilson said,
“Big dick contest. It’s called a big dick contest.”
The other writers and me chuckled, and I said, “That’s what I want to write about. We don’t have to actually SAY that, but that’s what I want it to be about.”
So, we started writing. First a melody and chords; then lyrics. When we got to the chorus, we had:
“So you got that new house in the city/
_______________that you think you’re winning,
Must be something, sitting pretty…”
We were racking our brains about how to finish out that line.
Neilson then started singing “big dick contest” in that line, and it was the smoothest, nicest-sounding fit for the song.
“Why don’t we just say the actual phrase?” I suggested.
“You sure about that?” Neilson said.
“Why not? Who can say they put 'big dick contest' in their song?" I said.
From that point on, “big dick contest” was set in stone, and the rest of the song was completed.
After reading this, if you feel offended, confused, or any other negative emotion due to my incorporation of a phallic phrase, I love you, and...
Take a listen to it here: