Jaimee Harris

Alternately tear-stained and defiant, Jaimee Harris’ passionate Americana is inspired by artists including Emmylou Harris, Eliza Gilkyson, and Mary Gauthier. She made her full-length debut with the genre-blending Red Rescue in 2018. The follow-up, 2023′s Boomerang Town, a song cycle about destructive behavioral patterns, committed to a more earnest Americana.
Growing up in a small town outside of Waco, Texas, Jaimee Harris’ love of music was encouraged by her parents; she got her first guitar as a gift when she was five. Her father took her to the first Austin City Limits Music Festival, where she got to see the likes of Emmylou Harris and Patty Griffin perform. It was a “eureka” moment for young Harris that caused her to see music as a way out of small-town life. She eventually began writing songs and was later inspired to press the accelerator on her planned music career the morning after the 2016 U.S. presidential election. By that time, she was living in nearby Austin. Using songs dating back to 2013 and as recent as 2017, Harris recorded her debut album, September 2018′s Red Rescue, with Craig Ross (Patty Griffin, Spoon). Other contributors included the Whitmore Sisters’ Bonnie Whitmore (bass), Jimmy LaFave (vocals), and BettySoo (vocals). As accolades for her debut rolled in, Harris relocated to Nashville and embarked on a tour with prior workshop mentor and fellow queer country musician Mary Gauthier.
Ruby White Records released Harris’ acoustic mini-album, The Congress House Sessions, in March 2021. It was followed that year by non-album singles including the Aaron Lee Tasjan-produced “Keep Me on Your Mind,” and “Losing Heart,” a duet with Irish singer/songwriter Pat Byrne. Singles from Jaimee Harris’ second album appeared throughout 2022, with Boomerang Town arriving in full on Folk 'N Roll Records/Thirty Tigers in February 2023. A song cycle about breaking destructive patterns, it was produced by Mark Hallman, who had previously recorded with Gilkyson, Gretchen Peters, and Carole King, among many others. ~ Marcy Donelson