Biography
Jessica Lea Mayfield, a songwriter shaped by folk traditions and hailing from Kent, Ohio, joined her family’s bluegrass ensemble One Way Rider for stage appearances beginning at age eight. Three years afterward she turned to composing original material, frequently joining her older brother for open-mike sets across Ohio before securing a weekly solo residency at a neighborhood bar. At fifteen she retreated to that brother’s bedroom and captured a collection of acoustic pieces that ranged from stark, forceful folk numbers to weary country ballads; those tracks formed the entirety of White Lies, her self-released debut issued under the alias Chittlin’.
A mere hundred copies of White Lies were produced, yet one reached Dan Auerbach, vocalist and guitarist of the Ohio blues-rock band the Black Keys. Auerbach’s involvement quickly expanded her reach: Mayfield contributed backing vocals to the Black Keys’ 2008 album Attack & Release on the song “Things Ain’t Like They Used to Be,” then spent two years tracking her proper debut, With Blasphemy So Heartfelt, inside Auerbach’s home studio. Polymer Sounds issued the album in September 2008 to widespread critical praise, after which Mayfield toured as support for the Avett Brothers, Cake, Lucero, and the Black Keys.
Her road schedule carried into 2009, encompassing eleven shows opening for Ray Lamontagne and a summer appearance at the Bonnaroo Festival. She also lent her voice to Auerbach’s debut solo outing Keep It Hid and again collaborated with him on her follow-up, Tell Me—the first album she placed with Nonesuch Records—which surfaced in early 2011.
A sharp departure arrived with Make My Head Sing, tracked at Club Roar Studio in Nashville alongside drummer and engineer Matt Martin and co-produced by her husband Jesse Newport. The resulting set, a fierce electric-rock statement, reached stores via ATO in April 2014. Mayfield subsequently revisited her acoustic foundation for a measured tribute to Elliott Smith, Seth Avett & Jessica Lea Mayfield Sing Elliott Smith, recorded with Seth Avett of the Avett Brothers and released in early 2015; the accompanying tour featured Smith covers alongside material by the Beatles and Bob Dylan plus selections of their own.
Retaining the electric edge of its predecessor, her fourth solo album, Sorry Is Gone, took shape amid a separation from her husband and appeared in September 2017. John Agnello handled production while guests included Seth Avett and Sonic Youth drummer Steve Shelley.
A mere hundred copies of White Lies were produced, yet one reached Dan Auerbach, vocalist and guitarist of the Ohio blues-rock band the Black Keys. Auerbach’s involvement quickly expanded her reach: Mayfield contributed backing vocals to the Black Keys’ 2008 album Attack & Release on the song “Things Ain’t Like They Used to Be,” then spent two years tracking her proper debut, With Blasphemy So Heartfelt, inside Auerbach’s home studio. Polymer Sounds issued the album in September 2008 to widespread critical praise, after which Mayfield toured as support for the Avett Brothers, Cake, Lucero, and the Black Keys.
Her road schedule carried into 2009, encompassing eleven shows opening for Ray Lamontagne and a summer appearance at the Bonnaroo Festival. She also lent her voice to Auerbach’s debut solo outing Keep It Hid and again collaborated with him on her follow-up, Tell Me—the first album she placed with Nonesuch Records—which surfaced in early 2011.
A sharp departure arrived with Make My Head Sing, tracked at Club Roar Studio in Nashville alongside drummer and engineer Matt Martin and co-produced by her husband Jesse Newport. The resulting set, a fierce electric-rock statement, reached stores via ATO in April 2014. Mayfield subsequently revisited her acoustic foundation for a measured tribute to Elliott Smith, Seth Avett & Jessica Lea Mayfield Sing Elliott Smith, recorded with Seth Avett of the Avett Brothers and released in early 2015; the accompanying tour featured Smith covers alongside material by the Beatles and Bob Dylan plus selections of their own.
Retaining the electric edge of its predecessor, her fourth solo album, Sorry Is Gone, took shape amid a separation from her husband and appeared in September 2017. John Agnello handled production while guests included Seth Avett and Sonic Youth drummer Steve Shelley.
Albums
Sorry Is Gone
2017
Seth Avett & Jessica Lea Mayfield Sing Elliott Smith
2015
Make My Head Sing…
2014
With Blasphemy so Heartfelt
2008
Singles
