Sitting in my kitchen I’m reading about Tom Waits, and he’s turned me into dust and salt water and makes me feel like I’ve come home. I grew up with his music, I grew more with that of Jeff Buckley, and I turned myself into a kid again with Bright Eyes, to arrive at my own sound. I’ve found that Alt-Country is the genre to encompass my musical ambitions and express what I want to share. ***
I was born in Germany on May 18th, 1978. I have lived on a Welsh mountain. I have lived in the grayest city in Scotland, to watch the oil-riggers stumble ashore and get lost in cheap liquor. A great time to listen to Tom. ***
I have lived in Airstream trailers and apartments and houses in California, I have burned myself to a crisp in her sun, leaned into her wind, and skidded down her snowy mountain sides. A great time to listen to Jeff. ***
I moved to London, England five years ago and I love this dirty city, the Hollywood of Singers and Songwriters. Creating music is what makes me alive. Often the fire of my gypsy soul and the wind’s pull at my bones tell me to hit the road again. So there are times I have to chain myself down with my melodies to know I’m still staying the course. A great time to be a kid. ***
I have been a student but never earned a degree. I have been a wayward wife. I have worked cleaning houses and on ranches and farms. Every car I’ve ever owned was a hunk of junk, but I loved driving them all, even the old beater with the broken choke I was given for free. Wherever I lived, I’ve always owned a cat. ***
There is no specific time when I started making music. My being is defined by the fact that I am a singer, I believe I was born as such, and my task has been to find my voice. I chose the guitar to be my orchestra and have been playing for many years, with more or less competence. I take the cheater’s way out in alternate tunings, and cannot tell you the names of some of the chords I’m finding along the way, only that they touch me, and so I know they are mine. Perhaps owing to a dischord in my psyche, I favor lilting melodies and melancholy chords. ***
As well as the aforementioned, I pull musical influences from the great Johnny Cash, Emmilou Harris, Richmond Fontaine, M.Ward, Calexico, Brubeck, Getz, Nina Simone, Sarah Vaughn and others too diverse and numerous to list. ***
Lyrically I try to contain the wildness of my mind and heart. My favorite writer isThomas Pynchon. He is my great literary love and inspiration to many of my songs, though I also have a great affection for Haruki Murakami, DBC Pierre, David Sedaris, and Flann O’Brien’s “Third Policemanâ€. The last book I read from cover to cover was Anthony Kiedis’ “Scar Tissueâ€. ***
It’s always been my dream to run away and join the circus, though I am told I don’t hold many relevant skills. So in the meantime I keep writing music and letting my restless soul drift around the world that way. Should you decide to wander along a while I look forward to meeting you on the road, ***Your friend and mine,
Jamie Burnham
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