“...but the true stunner is McDell’s unforced voice” - Rolling Stone
“The New Zealander enchants with airy vocals and confessional lyrics” - Billboard
"Endlessly enchanting, it’s a voice that comes around once in a generation. If Jamie McDell defines her first decade of artistry, then McDell is bound to make waves.” - Holler Country
“Over incandescent instrumentation, McDell examines the price we’re willing to pay for power and possession. Her lyricism lays out devastating depictions of deceit and the rippling fallout from a false sense of security.” - American Songwriter
"It doesn’t take long to realize that McDell has a way with words. Not only that, but she manages to sing acid-tongued lyrics in a very sweet voice that almost makes it sound complimentary – to a point." - Americana Highways
“The song has McDell examining her flaws with sweet melodic vocal twirls and jangly guitars.” - Parade Magazine
LISTEN TO “BEACH HOUSE”: HERE
Gold Certified New Zealand music award winner Jamie McDell has released the “Beach House” single off the Beach House EP due out June 16th.
Having been a working musician for over a decade, especially under the limitations of the pandemic left McDell feeling exhausted and burnt out on the fickleness of the music industry, so in January 2023, when travel restrictions had eased, McDell returned to New Zealand. Jamie took the opportunity to connect with family and travel across the ditch (the Tasman Sea) to record some new tracks. McDell was one-foot outside of music and three months into a job search when she wrote “Beach House.” The sanctuary of being at her husband’s family-built beach house gave her the sauce to express and exercise her self-doubt through songwriting. She was also able to reconnect in person with her producer and manager Nash Chambers at his sister, Kasey Chambers’ studio to record what would become the Beach House EP. Among the recordings at Kasey’s studio, was “Beach House,” “Madeline”, a tale of a dreamer, and a 1988 Tracy Chapman cover “Talkin’Bout a Revolution,” a sentiment that is just as relevant today.
McDell, who is now 30 started her career at 16, was signed by EMI, and went on to achieve Gold Album sales and receive multiple New Zealand Music Award nominations. She abandoned her major label roots to pursue music that was closer to her heart and began writing and recording in Nashville. In March 2017 Jamie made a trip to Nashville, looking for a change of scenery and to connect with the environment that birthed much of the music throughout her youth. It’s here she wrote the songs that would make up the fabric for her third record “Extraordinary Girl”. She met with expat Australian producer Nash Chambers for coffee one day and decided they shared the same musical values. Not long after that meeting McDell arranged to fund her first independent record Extraordinary Girl, which was recorded over the space of two days at House of Blues studio in Nashville. She then returned home for the albums’ release, promotion, and supporting tours throughout New Zealand and Australia.
After opening a US tour for Robert Ellis (Texas Piano Man) in early 2020, she would then visit Nashville once again, team with Chambers in his eastside studio and gather the amazing musical talents of Dan Dugmore, Jedd Hughes, Dennis Crouch, Shawn Fichter, Jerry Roe, Jimmy Wallace, Tony Lucido and Ross Holmes, along with guests such as the McCrary Sisters, Robert Ellis, Erin Rae, and Tom Busby (Busby Marou). Her self-titled album, released in 2022, contains some of McDell’s most brutally honest writing and performances, while the production takes the listener on a modern journey through 70s folk and country blended with a healthy dose of roots and rock. This record became Jamie’s fourth full-length release that was praised by Americana UK noting her ‘“superb storytelling,” Twangville stating that ‘McDell writes with an enticing mix of strength and vulnerability,” and Holler Country drawing comparison to “Patty Griffin’s grit and The Chicks commanding vocal strength.”
McDell will be playing select shows in the U.S. to promote the EP including the Moccasin Creek Festival and a show in Chicago with Adeem the Artist.
TOUR DATES
June 21 - The Station Inn, Nashville, TN
June 22 - Old Town School of Folk Music w/ Adeem the Artist, Chicago, IL
June 23 - Moccasin Creek Festival, Effingham, IL
June 30 - House Concert, Houston, TX
