NashvilleHype!

It seems at every turn today I was thinking about Jaida and her showcase tonight.  If I said one small prayer for her I probably said a dozen.  That things would go well.  That the sound would be right.  That the place would be packed.

I just got back home from watching one of the most exciting (and packed!) showcases in Nashville in a long, LONG time.  Jaida Dreyer absolutely lit up the place from the minute she took the stage - - and the standing room only crowd ate it up.

Jaida is beautiful, but that’s not where her real strength lies - it’s in her completely unique voice.  As long time readers know, one of my favorite quotes is from Quincy Jones who said, ”Listen to ‘We Are The World’ - you don’t hear the best singers, you hear the best voices”.  Quincy knows about singers and what it takes to cut through the crowd here.  Jaida does as well.

It’s not that Jaida couldn’t be classified as a great singer - she’s certainly always on pitch, has her breathing down to a science, and knows when to push and when not to — it’s more that when you hear her sing, you immediately know who’s singing.  If she were on ‘We Are The World’, just like Michael Jackson, Bob Dylan, Cyndi Lauper, Lionel Richie, and others who had a verse of their own - you would know it was Jaida singing.

Here in Nashville and on myspace there are about 1,000,000 pretty girls who all sound the same.  After a while even I have to admit to getting tired of listening to them — but Jaida stands out, and in a big way.  I love her sound.  A couple of weeks ago I told her, ‘love or hate, people are going to be talking about you and you’re going to be a huge star because of it.”  I’m more convinced than ever.

The Rutledge was packed for this showcase.  I actually haven’t seen a more packed, more enthusiastic showcase in about 10 years.  Generally speaking industry folks are burned out.  I am too.  There’s only so many showcases you can go to.  There’s only so many artists you can listen to.  And there’s only so many times you can hear that “XX is going to be the next big thing”.   Maybe at NashvilleHype! I’ve been guilty of it too — (but if I may, I do have a real track record over the last couple of years of getting it right). WHEN Jaida signs her deal, I’ll be at 8 artists featured on NashvilleHype! to be signed, pretty unprecedented for a weblog/news outlet. 

One thing that really impresses me about Jaida is her work with Carolyn Dawn Johnson.  There’s not a person in the industry that doesn’t either personally like or respect CDJ, and she’s playing and writing with Jaida.  CDJ has been through about everything in the industry - from writing hit songs for others, having hit songs of her own, being on the radio, having a major label, being dropped from it, signing to an indie and leaving it before an album dropped - - she’s seen it all in this town.  And yet, she’s fully behind and fully encouraging to Jaida.  CDJ knows talent when she hears it. 

And then there’s simply the sheer love of doing music.  Jaida moved to Nashville (the last in a long line of 7 different states) to write songs - never thinking in a million years she would be singing.  It wasn’t until some of her co-writers began encouraging her to sing that she decided to give it a try.  When I saw her a couple months ago it was one of the first times she had ever even performed with a band - and though I knew it because I could tell, I don’t think anyone else did.

Tonight, you would’ve thought she had been performing with a band from the time she was born.  Completely comfortable onstage - it was like night and day.  But more, that just says to me that Jaida doesn’t choke under pressure (and having a major label showcase that’s packed out IS pressure!).  Like I said, she totally rocked it out.

Jaida Dreyer is a star.  In every way possible Jaida is a star.  For those that missed out this time, be sure to catch her the next.  You won’t be disappointed.  My only disappointment of the night was the fact I left my camera in the truck — and I wanted pictures.  (Jaida was gorgeous in her little purple dress and cowboy boots)  Hopefully I’ll find some before long to post.

I’ll keep everyone up to date on what happened for her professionally tonight.  I’m positive Jaida is going to be signed.

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