Jaimee Harris Announces New Album “Boomerang Town” – Out February 17th via Thirty Tigers External Inbox

Jaimee Harris’s Sophomore Album Boomerang Town Sits In The Intersection Of Social, Personal, And Political Currents

Out February 17th via Thirty Tigers; Lead-off single “Missing Someone” out now

Nashville, TN – October 26, 2022 – Songwriter and musician Jaimee Harris started writing “Missing Someone” as a silly little love song to her long-distance partner. “Instead of sending each other postcards or letters, we wrote each other love songs and sent voice memos to each other,” she recalls. The deeper she got into the writing process, the more the song morphed with her life experiences and her strengthening relationship with her partner, venerable folk songwriter Mary Gauthier. “This song came out of that burst of inspiration early on in our relationship,” says Harris. “But the pandemic has certainly deepened the meaning of this song, as well as the experience I had playing it for the women currently incarcerated in the Gatesville prison located twenty minutes outside of my hometown.” After all, isn’t that what songwriting is all about? Giving up a personal meaning so that others can relate to it in their own way?

“Missing Someone” is the first single from Harris’s upcoming sophomore effort, Boomerang Town—out February 17th via Thirty Tigers. Boomerang Town marks a bold step forward for this country-folk-leaning singer-songwriter. It is an arresting, ambitious song-cycle that explores the generational arc of family, the stranglehold of addiction, and the fragile ties that bind us together as Americans.

This week, Folk Alley premiered “Missing Someone,” writing, “Jaimee Harris has been making waves with her emotive, stirringly honest songwriting that walks the often thin line between folk and country. Whatever you want to call it, it rides on the smooth instrument of Harris’s vocals and her courageous storytelling lyricism.” The song’s accompanying video is part of a series of music videos for the entire Boomerang Town album—all made by fellow musicians. The “Missing Someone” video was directed by Neilson Hubbard and Joshua Britt and features a lively cast of characters including the aforementioned Gauthier as an aerobic instructor and Harris sporting red, heart-shaped shades that fit the mood just right.

Fans can have their first taste of Boomerang Town by streaming or purchasing “Missing Someone” at this link, watch the music video here, and pre-order or pre-save Boomerang Town ahead of its February 17th release right here.

For Harris, Boomerang Town began gestating around 2016, a time of great loss for many in the Americana community, with the songwriter losing several musicians close to her. The shift in the nation’s political landscape had ushered in a new level of polarization that saw whole swaths of cultural life being demonized. For someone who grew up in a small town outside of Waco, Texas, Harris believed the values instilled in her by her parents were not entirely in line with how many on the left were viewing—and vilifying—Christians, citing them as responsible for the new change in leadership. As a person in recovery, Harris has had to re-evaluate her own connection to faith and find strength in a higher power—“Though he’s not necessarily a blue-eyed Jesus,” she laughs—though she certainly knows what it’s like to “be told how to vote” in a Southern church setting.

It was from the intersection of these social, personal, and political currents the album was born. And while much of the material on Boomerang Town was inspired by personal experience, the songs on this collection are far from autobiographical xeroxed copies. More than anything, they come from a place of emotional truth.

More About Boomerang Town In Harris’s Words: “Why was I able to get out of my boomerang town? Why are others stuck there, longing to leave but unable to find their way out? Writing these songs, bringing these narrators to life, brought me closer to the answers.

Even though I was able to leave, I was not able to escape the generational cycle of addiction and mental illness. I had to deconstruct my Evangelical upbringing, keeping the good things I took from it (the importance of service and loving my neighbor), and rejecting the bigotry and brainwashing – then find faith again, my own way, outside of religion, through recovery, fellowship, and the alchemy of songwriting.

My hometown is no different than the hometown of millions of others. These songs tell the story of what it is like to live in these towns, in these times. This is what it’s like to be a part of the post ”Born to Run” generation. Springsteen’s generation had somewhere to run to. I’m not so sure mine does.

Whether or not you grew up in a small town or were born and raised in New York City, I bet you can relate to these characters. I bet you know what it feels like to grieve the loss of a loved one or a dream. I bet you’ve experienced how one seemingly small decision can alter the course of your entire life, for better or worse. These characters are a reflection of a people whose resilience, hope, and faith is being tested.”

Catch Jaimee Harris On Tour:

Jan. 5 – Winter Haven, FL – Gram Parsons Derry Down*

Jan. 6 – Sarasota, FL – Fogartyville Community Media Arts Center*

Jan. 7 – Ft. Lauderdale, FL – Broward Center for the Performing Arts*

Jan. 8 – Gainesville, FL – Heartwood Soundstage*

Jan. 10 – St. Augustine, FL – Cafe Eleven*

Jan. 11 – Tallahassee, FL – Purple House Concerts*

Jan. 13-15 – Seaside, FL – 30A Songwriters Festival

Jan. 18 – Mobile, AL – The People’s Room

Jan 20. – LaGrange, GA – Pure Life House of Music

Jan. 26 – Little Rock, AR – White Water Tavern^

Jan. 27 – Tulsa, OK – Mercury Lounge