“… a barrel of laughs and a whole bunch of talent.”
– Amanda Putz, CBC Radio
“As a writer, Jamie takes the archetypical forms of folk music and storytelling and turns them on their heads! A fresh (in every sense) and original artist.”
-Catie Curtis
Singer-songwriter-parking lot attendant Jamie Anderson hails from Ottawa, Ontario except for the part of the winter when she hides out in the desert of Arizona. She has played her unique original songs in hundreds of venues in four countries. Proficient on guitar, ukulele, and mandolin, this musician with an expressive soprano is folk without the Birkenstocks, country without the big hair, and jazz without the weird chords. Her thirteen recordings offer a variety from a re-release of one of her older tunes, the sultry “Dark Chocolate,” with a string section, to “Mi Corazon,” a lively love song with a Latin feel. No show of hers would be complete without a snarky break-up song like “Bite Me” or comedy like “Marry Me” where she implores Rachel Maddow to do just that because really, who wouldn’t? Jamie doesn’t really park cars, but her mama said she should have something to fall back on.
Her most recent recording is The Curves are Still There, the jazz-flavored title song inspired by a conversation about body image: “The curves are still there / They just widened the road.” Also on the album is a heartfelt folk ballad about her mother, “Joy,” and “Ghost Song,” written after a stay in a haunted apartment. It was all recorded in James Stephen’s Quebec studio (Ian Tamblyn, Lynn Miles) who also co-produced the album.
Jamie started releasing albums in the late eighties, selling thousands of albums at a time before YouTube and Spotify. She’s appeared at folk and women’s music festivals, coffeehouses, colleges, pride events, and even made an appearance on CNN where a clip of her performance aired at the top of every hour for one day.
Jamie’s dad was a country musician, a painful thing for a teenager who would rather listen to Carole King, but it did mean there were always guitars lying around the house. In high school she memorized every chord in a Mel Bay songbook, and for the next few years played local coffeehouses and weddings. She recorded her first release while still a broke college student, with money donated by a woman who heard her at an open mic. Jamie started touring in 1987 because she needed to earn gas money to get to a music festival. She’s been collecting tiny motel soaps ever since.
Laughter is a big part of Jamie’s live performance. Her offbeat song intros and stories help keep the performance fun, but don’t be surprised when she delves into more serious issues. She’s emceed at many events and she can hula hoop while playing the ukulele. When Jamie isn’t touring, she teaches music. Her YouTube channel has 82 K subscribers. One of her guitar lesson videos has gone viral, with over two million views. See it here.
Jamie’s also an author with two memoirs, Drive All Night (2014), and Drive All Day (Because I’m Too Old to Drive all Night) (2022). An Army of Lovers: Women’s Music of the Seventies and Eighties was published in 2019. It is the definitive book on women’s music, covering festivals, performers, and radio shows. A collection of gig-from-hell stories from musicians is as of yet unpublished. She’s also been a staff writer for a music licensing company and penned feature articles and reviews for Acoustic Guitar, SingOut!, Minor 7th, and GigPlay.
Awards include finalist in non-fiction for An Army of Lovers (GCLS 2020), and Drive All Night (GCLS 2015), many music awards, and others that only her ego cares about.
Jamie’s expressive voice and personable stage manner are an asset to any stage. She’s blind in one eye though so if you hand over the keys to your Volvo make sure your insurance is up-to-date.