Well, it’s CMA Fest week, and for the first time in my literal lifetime, it’s not happening. We all hate it; Nashville hates it; country fans hate it. But in spite of missing our favorite Broadway weekend of the year, we’ve got one of the city’s most genuine, successful, talented female singer/songwriters with us today to talk all things music, creativity, and, you guessed it, Enneagram.

You may not know Jessi Alexander, but you absolutely know her music. Born in Jackson, TN to what she calls a “blue collar but richly creative family,” music, particularly country music, captivated Jessi as a West Tennessee kid. She’s since been in Nashville for 20 years and has been a Grammy nominee as well as a CMA & ACM song of the year award winner. She’s written with and for a countless number of top tier recording artists, a few of which you might recognize:

Miley Cyrus, 2009, "The Climb"     

In her early twenties, Jessi found herself at rock bottom, struggling to keep her contract as a songwriter all while being her mother’s primary care taker as she battled and eventually passed away from ovarian cancer. She gives us the miraculous inside scoop on how this chart-topping, cross-genre hit of her lament and hopelessness in almost giving up her career actually buoyed her back into the success she’s sustained for the past decade. “I still marvel at that song and feel so blessed to be a part of it,” she humbly admits. She even taught Miley how to play it on guitar.

Blake Shelton, 2012/2013, "Drink on It" & "Mine Would Be You"

She shares the depth of hers and Blake’s long-lasting working relationship, collaborations, as well as a testament to his rich humor and generous humanity that all of us hoped was true. Turns out, it is!

Lee Brice, 2012, "I Drive Your Truck"        

One of the pinnacle works of her career, “I Drive Your Truck” is an anthem to any who have lost loved ones. Though not first penned to honor her mother, Jessi says the great impact of the song came simply because its contents are “so the guts of me and of the other co-writers.” The hurt is real, and the story’s truth of how to love, remember, and connect with those who have passed in the beauty of the mundane speaks to any heart in, any phase of grief. 

We celebrate how writing or being creative in any form is such a beautiful and crucial vehicle to process our hardships.

“Even in this [pandemic] hardship, music can keep us steady. It’s a refuge.”

We hit on the history and huge importance of gutsy, truthful storytelling in country music. We even talk through what the enneagram requires of us (at least for Jessi and I) as doers and storytellers and relational people living life as a 3 in quarantine. 

Finally we want to remind ourselves of our responsibility as music lovers to support these committed songwriters and artists during very trying economic times. Go buy their music – not just for your own guaranteed pleasure, but to play your part in sustaining their careers and their families’ income.

Where do we find Evan?

@jessilalexander

www.jessialexandermusic.com

Download her new record, Decatur County Red

Watch the full film including the real story behind, “I Drive Your Truck”