Jessie T is the kind of girl you can take home to mama, but she’ll also bring a bottle of tequila to Thanksgiving dinner
Kitchener, ON-based singer-songwriter Jessie T has recently unveiled her single, “I Can Be Your Margarita.”
The single is from her highly anticipated second studio album in late 2022.
“This is the album that I’ve always wanted to release,” says Jessie, “I’m very excited for this new music to be heard and to share more of myself with my fans around the world.”
Listen to “I Can Be Your Margarita” below and learn more about Jessie T via our Five Questions With segment.
Care to introduce yourself to our readers?
Hey Canadian Beats! My name is Jessie T. I’m a singer-songwriter originally based in Kingston, Ontario but now living in Kitchener! I’m a sucker for good songs and bad dad jokes.
Tell us a bit about your music and writing style
When I was 15, I met award-winning Canadian producer Rick Hutt. He suggested I should start songwriting because it was both a way to tell my own story and a tool to connect with and introduce myself to the audience I would eventually grow. When I got home from that trip, I started writing music – in the early days, that was with my dad. It was around that time I also went through my first breakup. In that time, I realized songwriting was more than a series of lyrics and melodies put together; for me, it became an outlet. It has been a way to work through my thoughts and tell my stories – a therapy of sorts!
As much as we all love a good third-person story song, the music I’m most proud of creating has always come from really personal stories. Be it a party song, a breakup song, or a song about life in general, I believe that when you write honestly about your experiences, people really connect to that. That’s the music I’m trying to make.
How have you been keeping creative during the Pandemic?
The pandemic has been an interesting time for me creatively, not only in music but in many areas of my life. During that time, I stepped into my “child brain.” I spent a lot of time painting, drawing, and playing guitar and piano. I know each of those things really positively affected my music and writing.
During the lockdown especially, we were all experiencing some pretty intense emotions, and music – as stated above – was an amazing outlet for me. I intentionally took the time to explore some of the more intense periods or situations in my life and write about them.
I also started performing live online every Wednesday night. Pre-pandemic, I would play three to five times a week. Going from that to nothing was pretty difficult, but playing online really helped bridge that gap. I took requests, tried out new originals, and each week we had people from all over the world tuning in – Kenya, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Germany, and Texas, to name a few. One of my videos accumulated over 27,000 views organically, which was crazy to see. As an artist, it’s important to be present on social media, but that really opened my eyes to the digital world and what it’s capable of. We all faced challenging times during the pandemic, but I’ll always be grateful for the perspective I gained in those years.
If you were asked to suggest only one of your songs for someone to hear, which would it be?
I wrote a song called ‘Remember Me,’ with David Madras. It comes from a super personal place – in January 2020, I lost a close friend of mine named James Cameron to mental health. In remembering James, I realized it wasn’t the big moments I often recalled from our friendship. It was the small nuanced ones. That got me thinking – what people would remember about me if I was gone? Me and my band recorded a live performance of the song with the help of my friends AJ and Jonny at Roadhouse Productions. I think the video really captures the intention of the song. It’s on my YouTube channel for anyone that wants to check it out.
Canadian Beats is all about Canadian music, so who are your current favourite Canadian bands/artists?
So many folks in the Canadian scene inspire me musically – Carolyn Dawn Johnson has always been one of the folks at the top of that list. Over the pandemic, I’ve also had a chance to meet and work with some new musicians that have become huge influences. It’s hard to list them all, but a few of those artists are Robyn Ottolini, Mackenzie Leigh Meyer, Elyse Saunders, Katy Topham, Nicole Rayy, Genevive Fisher, Tenille Townes, JJ Wilde, Serenda Ryder.. the list goes on! There are so many strong female voices out there. It’s so amazing to see them telling their stories, being themselves, and doing their thing. I’ve also had the privilege of performing with some of the voices that got me into country music; Michelle Wright, Beverley Mahood, Steve Wilkinson, Adam Gregory, Jamie Warren, and Dallas Smith, among others. I toured with Jason Blaine this summer, singing backup vocals and playing tambourine. It’s been wild sharing stages and learning from so many of these talented people.