Jamie Wyatt at the Tractor Tavern

Jamie Wyatt, whom I saw last month at ChinookFest brought her band back up to the PNW for a series of shows in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana. Jamie who grew up in the South Sound (Fox Island) until her move to LA after high school I’m sure had built-in audience in the Seattle area aside from here many devoted fans.

She came with a very full band, utilizing some old local friends to add to the fun. She started the show with Wishing Well off her 2017 album, Felony Blues. It’s a peppy song that I have most associated with Jamie. She worked through a set of memorable songs that expose Jaime’s not so glamorous life. Songs about heartbreak, addiction, 8 months in lockup, and coming out as a gay woman to the country community. An admitted introvert Jaime is raw and honest in her lyrics and music. She sings about life more like Johnny Cash than Carrie Underwood.

Songs like Mercy, Misery, and Gin and Whiskey will, as intended, break your heart with their themes of regret and loneliness but in turn, Jaime will introduce those same themes in a way that makes you want to dance with songs like Hurts so Bad, Your Loving Saves Me and Giving back the best of me. Jamie also explored the loss of her Dad and a close friend who both passed in quick succession in the song By Your Side.

Jamie expresses herself through music but there is one song on her new album, Neon Cross, that is more relevant now with certain political situations in America and Jaime spoke from the stage about the recent Supreme Court decision as she started her feminist anthem, Just a Woman.

 Not everything was serious she does poke fun at herself, the industry, and her incarceration. With Goodbye Queen, Make something out of me and Wasco respectively. She playfully waited to play Neon Cross until the end of the set and didn’t play Wasco until the encore. There is no world in which these songs would not make a set and Jaime is very aware of this. She is in tune with her audience and knows what she wants and what her fans want and is not shy about making everyone happy.

The surprise of the night for me was when she took her place at the piano and sang Sweet Mess. A soft and quiet moment in contrast to the yelling and singing of the audience to end the night with WASCO

Jaime is making her own road on her terms. Playing music that she likes. She is a true independent and alt country star. Living outside the lines of conformity and her fans love her for it.