Country singer Faith Jackson gets ready to rock with ‘Metal’

ALBANY — If 2015 is any indication, Leesburg-based performer Faith Jackson might soon join the list of famous folks from the small community as her popularity continues to grow in the music business.

The singer, who is busy touring throughout the Southeast, was recently nominated for her fourth consecutive GA Music Award and followed that up with the announcement that she will be joining the cast of the touring musical “Metal,” proving her versatility as an artist.

Despite her hectic schedule, the singer took time to sit down recently to discuss topics that ranged from finding a career through a karaoke night, landing a gig through an iPhone app, why both country and rock are so important to her, and how she could never do enough to thank her fans.

On her roots and how she got started in the music business:

Growing up, my whole family was musical. My dad and my aunts were all in a gospel group together when I was growing up, so music’s always been a part of my life. But me in particular, I started my own band because I lost two babies when I was living in Colorado and I needed something in my life to put some juice back into me. Music became that.

Believe it or not, my ex-husband took me to a karaoke show one night and forced me to put on makeup and (fix my) hair, and, yes, I had to be forced at the time. We went, and I actually got up and sang a song and it sparked something in me. I said, “This is what I want to do.” So I packed up my bags, and I literally did like the “Beverly Hillbillies” and moved away from Colorado and moved back here and settled here and started a band.

I’m originally from Mitchell County, and I was working with a producer out of Nashville at the time and his immediate thought at the time is that I needed to move back home, closer to where I grew up.

Why not Leesburg? (laughs) Luke Bryan’s from Leesburg. Phillip Phillips is from Leesburg. It’s the hub. I joke with Miss Lisa (Davis) from the Chamber all the time and I say, “You know, its time that there’s a female name on that sign,” so that’s what we’re shooting for.

On her growing fame and being nominated for another GA Music Award:

I was first nominated in 2012, which was the first year they had the awards, and actually won. I’ve been nominated every year since then. The fans are what keep us alive. When you know that you’ve been nominated for something because your fans have thought enough about you to put you up for an award, that’s probably the biggest compliment I think as an artist that you can get. Because without your fans, you’re nothing. They’re what keeps your music alive. Even after you decide to stop playing, they’re still listening. That’s important to have them, and I was really excited and honored to have my fans be extremely supportive.

On how she was cast in Metal:

I don’t know if you’d call it a fluke or just a wild experience. I was actually visiting a friend of mine, it was very late and she was on the phone with Taylor (Anderson, who wrote “Metal” and has been instrumental in getting it produced). I was just there hanging out.

Taylor and the assistant producer were banging their heads trying to find somebody to actually fill the cast member slot that I now have. (My friend) just said to Taylor, “Well, Faith sings.” And I remember sitting on the couch going, “Whoa, whoa, I sing country not metal. I mean I love rock music — yay, Ozzy Osborne — but I don’t think I can do this.”

She said, “Hush girl, you can do this.”

So Taylor had me send over a demo.

I didn’t have a band with me; it was late at night, so I have an iPhone and I found a karaoke app and it took me about eight takes to get it done because the timing on it was just off.

So, I actually auditioned for “Metal” with a karaoke app and sent it to Taylor, and he said, “I want you to come down and meet Jack (Starr, the show’s producer).” So I went to West Palm and met everybody and sang for them, and it’s all go from there.

On a good song, country or otherwise:

My kids are 16 and 17, and I can put Def Leppard on or Metallica and they’re right there rocking with me in the car. It’s really cool to see that. I think, unfortunately, there’s a lot of good music on the radio, but we all know there’s a lot of really bad music on the radio too. I think what is happening is that people are looking for something else to listen to. I think that’s why things like satellite radio and such are starting to become so big. People are searching for something different. That’s why I’m excited to have the opportunity to do this. I think it’s also going to lend itself to the music that I’m writing in my individual career as well, to have that blend, really finally be able to blend those two styles that I love so much together.

Let’s face it, when you listen to country, obviously country went through a period where we sang a lot about our dirt roads, we sang a lot about our trucks, we sang a lot about our beer drinking, and that’s cool, that’s all great. But what I’m excited to see and what I want to see start happening in country is where we get back to what country originally was. It was story telling.

Waylon Jennings, Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash, all those guys like that, even before them, Little Jimmy Dickens and Glen Campbell, all of their songs told stories. You could start at the beginning of a song and get to the end of a song and you knew that that person had either experienced what they were singing about or someone that they knew, that they were very close to, they’d gone through that. I think that’s a little bit of what we’re missing right now in music all the way around. Not just in country, it’s everywhere. It’s widespread across music.

I think that’s what we need to get back to in music, writing about our real-world experiences. Yes, pickup trucks and beer, I’m from south Georgia, I did a lot of it myself, but its not the only thing I did. So I don’t think it’s the only thing the audience wants to hear about.

On why she joined the cast of Metal:

I remember being in high school and jamming out to this stuff at dances or driving down the back roads and partying with your buddies in the pecan orchards and jamming out to this stuff and then flipping it over to Hank Jr. So, it’s exciting to me to have the opportunity to finally have somewhere that I can present (this music) and give people the opportunity to enjoy it and relive it again in such a cool way.

If anything, I think it’s going to accelerate what’s going on. I’ve already seen some of that starting to happen anyway.

I have two very distinct sides to me. If you split me right in half, you’ve got rock on one side and country on the other. I grew up with my dad sitting me on the front porch listening to Led Zeppelin and Molly Hatchet and Dr. Hook. And then you had my grandfather and my uncle who were very much Hank Sr., Hank Jr., Little Jimmy Dickens fans, that very old style of country.

When you come to one of my shows, that’s pretty much what you’re going to get. You’re going to get some rock and country. I’d say we’re about a 60/40 split. And even the original music that I write, it’s pretty much the same way, it’s rocking country.

We’re actually excited because we came up with an idea for an album where I’m going to do two different sides of it, where we’ve got 45 minutes of just hard-rocking country and 45 minutes of your traditional classic style country. I’m excited about that because I think it will allow the friends and family that listen to our music the opportunity to see both sides of what we’re trying to do.

On fan reaction to joining “Metal”

I was worried at first, but there’s been an overwhelming amount of support for it. I think the first day we announced it, I opened up my email in-box and there were over 200 emails just congratulating me and folks saying how excited they were. And of those 200, 82 of them said they wanted VIP tickets. It was excited to open email and see that kind of excitement coming from your fan base about what you’re doing.

If anything at all, I think it’s going to accelerate what’s going on. I’ve already seen some of that starting to happen anyway. My fan base is getting so excited about what’s going on with “Metal.” I see the interest level starting to really gain momentum. I have a wide fan base that ranges from 15 to 55, so when you’re looking at the fan base and who would come to the “Metal” show, well there you go, that’s your audience.

I just think its another thing going on in my life that the fans can become a part of. I don’t want my fans to ever think they’re just watching what’s going on with my career. I’ve always tried to make sure they’re not just fans, that they’re friends, that they know what’s going on in my life and they’re a part of that. That’s why I try to share as much of it with them as I can. I want them to feel like they’re there for every step of my career.

Up next

For the next few months, Jackson will continue writing for her split album as well as performing shows with her band, which consists of guitarists Jared Johnson and Bruce Carder, drummer Josh Hughes and bassist Frank Simons.

The group’s next gig in Albany is slated for Aug. 22 at Hammer Jam, at Austin’s Fire Grill. The first performance of “Metal” is Nov. 21 at Destination Daytona in Daytona Beach, Fla.