Jayne Denham Talks Trucking, Album Making & More!

Sept. 24, 2019 -- Music Matters Magazine

Jayne Denham is an Australia native, now American toying international country singer-songwriter. Jayne has reached the top of the Australian country music charts 4 separate times with many achievements to her name. Now she has made the leap to American to share her amazing voice with us!

Jayne Denham recently released her album “Calamity” Which has been in high regard to fans world wide. In Dallas, at the Great American Truck Show Jayne released her newest single “Black Coffee and White Lines”. Today we have Jayne with us and she opens up about where she started and how she got here, and where she wishes to go from here.

Ryan: Being mainly exposed to the American market of country music most Americans do not hear country from around the world. How big is the country music scene in Australia?

Jayne: Australia is a big country in mass but smaller population for its size.  So the Country music scene is rather small in comparison to the USA, but we do love our Country Music. We love American Country here & it has a big influence, but we also have a strong heritage of our own style of Australian Country Music, songs that talk about our towns, language and culture.

Ryan: You have performed all over Australia and earned a pretty big name for your self in doing so. Coming to the US, are there any cities or venues you with to perform at first?

Jayne: I must say any Aussie’s Country Artist dream would be to perform at the Grand ole Opry.

Funny Story, I was invited back stage to the Opry a few times to hang out with the artists. One night after the show,my manager said, come & get your photo taken in the famous circle and microphone. So I was standing there…then, all of a sudden the curtain started coming up, you should have seen my face, I panicked and ran off stage. We laughed so hard & I said…Well…. I missed my moment I should have ripped out my song  ‘Addicted to the Diesel’

So you could say I have been close to living the dream. Ha ha

Ryan: Are you excited or anxious about dipping your toes in the music scene here? 

Jayne: I never thought in a million years my music would take me to America that’s for sure. I was happy doing my things here in Australia, and then a few years back, I was invited to perform at ‘The Great American Truckin Show’

I had never traveled on my own overseas before so it was way out of my comfort zone. But I did it and have been jumping the pond ever since. It really is exciting to be performing in the music scene both here and in the States.

Ryan: You bring out a electrifying performance when you take to the stage, what pumps you up before hitting the stage?

Jayne: I come from a long line of Entertainers in my family & I loved dancing, so as a child I would practice “MY SHOW” in the reflection of our glass sliding doors. I had an enter stage left and exit stage right. I would turn up the music really loud (poor neighbours) run into the lounge & that was it; the show was ON. I think I wore the carpet out.

So now having an audience to watch my high energy show, well, that is what pumps me up!

I am in my happy place & you won’t see me stop moving. Its just me I guess….but I do joke with people in the US,  when they ask me, “Where do you get your energy to jump around? I answer “it must be just living near kangaroo’s!”

Ryan: You have a strong passion for supporting truck drivers, what lead you to being and advocate for them? 

Jayne: I loved writing songs about people I think are cool. One day a friend of mine told me about her cousin Jude who drove a truck, she was, glamorous fun & looked like Sandra Bullock, so I thought, now that’s an idea for a song. She sounds cool.

So I wrote what I thought was exaggerating about this girl…and then I met her. She was everything I had written and more, so I asked her if she would star as herself in the music video with her truck, and the rest is history.

I was instantly invited to perform at Truck shows all over Australian and people started calling me ‘The Trucker Chick’

I had so much fun and met so many great people, everyone was saying please write more songs for us, it was then I knew I wanted to continue to write songs to bring light and celebrate an industry and people we can not do without. So each Album I have continued to add a few truckin songs. I have family members who had trucks & use to take me on trips as a kid & loved it, so I guess it all started there too.

Ryan: Let’s talk about “Calamity”. You recorded it in Jay De Marcus’s home studio. Walk us through that. How was that entire experience? 

Jayne: I was set to record the Album at a studio in down town Nashville, then suddenly the night before, my producer Brian White called and said “change of plans, we are now recording at Jay De Marcus’s home studio & he is going to play bass” Well I then proceeded to scream with excitement and jumped off the couch!!!

It was such a fun record to make, not only did I get to record in his top shelf studio, but the players were the best in the biz. I felt so blessed to be there, but what topped it off was when Jay and the guys said while we were playing the demo’s, how much they loved my voice & that my style of music was really cool.

It meant more than words can express, because these were the guys I listened to on my favorite albums & now they were playing on my record and really liked it. It was at that moment I felt all the years of hard work in Australia trying to find my own sound and voice had paid off.

Ryan: It seems like this album is getting a lot of positive feed back and is impacting fans. How does that make you feel, especially with soon to releasing a new single off of the album?

Jayne: Brian White’s brief to the band in the studio was…..Jason Aldean meets Joan Jett. I laughed, as that is totally me. So to have fans love this Album means the world.

‘Black Coffee and White Lines’ is the last single to be released from this Album and I am excited to say, I will be flying to Alaska in November to film the music video with 4 of the Ice Road Truckers.

Then its back to the studio I go in 2020.

Ryan: Being a singer/songwriter must give you a sense of accomplishment putting together a piece of work and performing it before a crowd. What other talents do you posses or dabble into that fans might not already know? 

Jayne: Hmmm well I am not the best cook…but I was a hairdresser for many years, till I went full time music, I love fashion & one day, hope to open my own clothing store. That is my other happy place, making people feel great.