Jaime Kyle was the first female rock artist to be signed to a major record deal out of Nashville. Her albums The Passionate Kind (Atco/Atlantic), Back from Hollywood (Now and Then, England) and The Best Of My Heart (Frontiers, Italy and Nippon Crown, Japan) were critically acclaimed on album rock radio. European press dubbed her “The goddess of hard rock.
Despite which, ‘Driving With The Breaks On‘, from her most recent album, Wild One, featuring Britain’s Kris Barras on lead guitar, sees her taking a sideways move, as she explained:
“I was working on this album before covid. It was going in another direction and then I rediscovered how much I love singing blues. The riffing, being free to express myself vocally. With a rock edge, I feel the song soars with the painful emotional indifference and moody instability of not knowing what is going on in a relationship.
“Second guessing causes crashes. The forward motion stops abruptly, and I think you can hear the emotional frustration in my vocal. The music is haunting, hypnotic, and fiery all at the same time.”
You can stream/buy that single here and check out the new video for it here at RAMzine.
Wild One was released back in November last year, the title taken from one of her much-covered songs, and that too was released as a single, with accompanying video that you can check out here at RAMzine.
Discussing how she became established, before the likes of Taylor Swift and Miranda Lambert, Kyle said: “It was difficult breaking through. There weren’t many female producers and engineers, maybe a couple, and I was one of them.” It meant she learned to be scrappy and creative. When she was missing a musician for a Nashville session, she scoped out local bar bands and hired a bass player on the spot for a midnight session.
That chain of events led to Nancy Wilson of Heart recording Kyle’s song ‘Stranded’. The word “no” was never an option. When a record executive listened to a demo tape of ‘Wild One’ and threw it down the hall, she didn’t miss a beat. She picked up the broken tape, fixed it, and the demo found its way to Faith Hill. The rest is history.
Kyle writes for herself, but that doesn’t stop industry greats from covering her music. As noted, Faith Hill recorded ‘Wild One’ co-written by Kyle, and it made chart history as a debut artist remaining at number 1 for four weeks. Inspired by her childhood experiences in rural Kentucky where imagination was her best friend and music her escape.
In addition to Hill, ‘Wild One’ has been covered by Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Maddie and Tae, Runaway June on the Academy of Country Music Awards, Lauren Alaina on American Idol, and recently by Rebecca Howell on the hit show The Voice.
Faith also recorded Kyle’s ‘Bed of Roses’. Additionally, Kyle’s songs have been covered by” Joe Lynn Turner (Rainbow), Howard Leese of Heart and Bad Company (as sung by Jimi Jamison of Survivor), Michael English, Baton Rouge, Jo Dee Messina, and Lee Greenwood, among others.
Kyle also co-wrote and performed the duet ‘Who I Am’ a song that won multiple cinematic awards for the film Forget Me Not, and co-wrote, performed, and produced ‘That Night Of Nights’ from the movie The Least of These: A Christmas Story, that has become a sought-after holiday classic.
From singing tours in the U.S. and Europe to writing and recording sessions in Nashville, New York, and Los Angeles, Jaime Kyle continues to garner respect. “Everything I’ve gotten in this business is from the merit of the songs. The place where poetry, melody, and emotion meet are where you’ll find me and my music.”
The Wild One album is available on Juno Records here.
