Despite just being only 21 years old, Jessica Lea Mayfield has already had a lifetime of experience in the music industry. At the age of eight, Mayfield was touring with her family’s bluegrass band – One Way Rider. By 11, she was playing guitar and writing songs of her own and as a 15-year-old she released an EP that was recorded in her brother’s bedroom. It was that album which found its way into the hands of Dan Auerbach (The Black Keys), who took Mayfield under his wing by producing his fellow Ohioan’s critically acclaimed debut With Blasphemy So Heartfelt, which was named Blurt Magazine’s 2008 Album of the Year.
Earlier this month, Mayfield – who lent her vocal talents to The Black Keys track Things Ain’t Like They Used To Be and When The Night Comes from Auerbach’s solo record – dropped her sophomore album, Tell Me. Produced once again by the Black Keys front man, the record features Mayfield’s stark, heart worn lyrics and plaintive vocals set to a mix of blues-inflected country and rock. Last week, Mayfield made her network television debut, when she stopped by the Late Show to perform Our Hearts Are Wrong…
Jessica Lea Mayfield will play a handful of gigs at SXSW before heading out on a cross-country tour that includes her second appearance at Bonnaroo.