Jamie Floyd

Artist, Songwriter

In this session of How To Fail Successfully, I have a conversation with singer-songwriter, Jamie Floyd as she discusses how she went from losing her first record deal as a teenager to eventually working her way back up to the top with many bumps and bruises along the way.

 

Who is Jamie?

Jamie grew up in West Palm Beach, Florida, surrounded by a family full of professional musicians from New York. The collision of the two worlds made for an interesting array of musical influences that naturally show up in her songs, unique style of guitar playing, and her singing. Her parents, Tom & JoAnn Floyd (two full time musicians who have had a successful band based in South Florida for the last 35 years), introduced her to a eclectic collection of legendary musicians in country, jazz, and blues, including George Strait, George Benson, James Taylor, Trisha Yearwood, Linda Ronstadt, and Bonnie Raitt. To this day Jamie’s roots are anchored in the traditions founded by these legendary songwriters, guitarists, and interpreters.

Jamie began singing and performing regularly with her parents, playing society gigs in Palm Beach, starting at the age of 2. At 11 years old she began recording, which soon led to the negotiation of her first record and publishing deal with Ric Wake and Epic Records in New York. She spent her teenage years co-writing and performing with Nashville’s most sought-after songwriters and musicians. At 18, she made the move to Nashville. While pursuing her artist career, Jamie has been a successful staff songwriter for several independent and major Nashville and California based publishers. In 2013, she started writing exclusively for her own publishing company, Jamie Floyd Music. Most recently, she penned the title track to Warner Brothers Nashville recording artist Ashley Monroe’s brand new 2016 Grammy-nominated album: “The Blade” (co-written with legendary songwriters Allen Shamblin and Marc Beeson). Ashley’s heartfelt version was named, “one of the top songs of 2015” by NPR Music and The New York Times. The track also features country superstar Miranda Lambert and was produced by Vince Gill and Justin Neibank. Jamie also co-wrote, “Mississippi Flood” which was featured on Season 3 & 4 of ABC’s NASHVILLE. The song is performed by Hayden Panettiere’s character (“Juliette Barnes”) and is available on the NASHVILLE Season 3 Vol. 2 Soundtrack.

Jamie has written songs for many artists in both Pop and Country Music over the years, including Ronnie Dunn of the legendary duo Brooks & Dunn, R&B superstar Brian McKnight, and upcoming country and pop acts Kellie Pickler, Natalie Stovall & The Drive, Lucie Silvas and Australian country music superstars Jasmine Rae, The McClymonts & Kristy Cox. Her songwriting success has also translated to film and television, where her work has appeared in hit shows Finding Carter (MTV), NASHVILLE (ABC), The Client List (Lifetime), and Beauty & The Beast (CW Network). She also penned original music for the TV movie Manson’s Lost Girls (Lifetime) and the finale and additional music performed by Brian McKnight in Dolly Parton’s Christmas movie, A Country Christmas Story.

Jamie is currently writing and recording the soundtrack for an upcoming major motion picture, in which she also appears. In addition, she will be featured in THE LAST SONGWRITER an upcoming documentary that chronicles the dire challenges songwriters face in the age of streaming alongside some of the industry’s most legendary songwriters, including Garth Brooks, Jason Isbell, Emmylou Harris, Matraca Berg, Tony Arata, Allen Shamblin, Lee Thomas Miller, Jim Lauderdale and Tom Douglas. The film is directed by award-winning filmmaker Mark Barger Elliott with a t...