A lot of Country and a little Rock and Roll is what you can feel just by meeting this 22 year old Ontario Native who has been going Back and forth to Nashville since she was a young teenager.
Jaclyn Kenyon is a singer/songwriter from Burlington Ontario Canada and now a transplant in Nashville TN. She has been performing professionally since the age of 12 when she first received National media attention when chosen as the youngest performer ever in Canada’s all female artist showcase “Honey Jam”, competing against artists twice her age. This prestigious showcase is the largest in Canada and sponsored by Warner Chappell Music, it is best known to have launched the career of Nelly Furtado.
Jaclyn was very fortunate following this and was offered her first opportunities in the industry. She was recognized early on for her very mature writing and performance abilities. Warner, EMI and Sony ATV have all offered co-writing opportunities with many of their artists. Jaclyn has wrote with numerous top Billboard writers including members of Bon Jovi, The Eagles , Aerosmith, Crosby Stills and Nash as well well establish Co-writers on her new record including Clay Mills (Darius Rucker, Trisha Yearwood, Little BigTown) Steve Diamond, (Eric Clapton, Faith Hill, Reba McEntire) Liz Rodrigues, Erik Alcock (Eminem,Celine Dion Pink) Robbie Nevil (Miley Cyrus, Jonas Brothers, Disney) Mike Krompass (Natasha Bedingfield, Archuletta, Smashmouth) Rich Redmond (Jason Aldean) Jaclyn has trained for performances with Live Music producer Tom Jackson (Taylor Swift) in Nashville).
At only 15 years old Jaclyn caught the eye of world-renowned vocal coach /producer “Mama” Jan Smith who immediately offered her writing opportunities and a development deal in Atlanta. Jan Smith has personally mentored and/or produced Usher, Justin Bieber, The Band Perry, Sugarland, Drake, Rob Thomas and many other well-known artists. Mama Jan has been quoted in the Toronto Star saying “Jaclyn, as a writer, I believe she can write for anybody,” “Stylistically, she really doesn’t have a lot of limits, which is awesome.” In January 2015 Jaclyn signed her first major production deal in LA with multi-platinum producer /engineer Mike Plotnikoff (http://www.allmusic.com/artist/mike-plotnikoff-mn0000416058), and Igor Khoroshev (producer and keyboard player for the band YES 1997-2001) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Igor_Khoroshev It was a privilege for Jaclyn to have top session players Phil X (guitarist for Bon Jovi) and Gil Sharone (drummer, Marilyn Manson) playing on her album. In early 2017 Jaclyn made the decision to go back to Nashville where her career and musical roots began forming and started an extensive writing and recording process with Producer Mike Krompass along with co-writers Robbie Nevil, Steve Diamond, Rich Redmond, Clay Mills. Her sound is a combination of all her experiences and influences which is a new sound of Hybrid Country with a Rock edge. In June 2019 Jaclyn signed a global distribution deal with Sony’s Orchard, working alongside Soundly Music in Nashville TN . Her first single record release “When We Love” co written with Mike Krompass and Steve Diamond is released June 21, 2019
Jaclyn’s Vision statement is to “Inspire Lives, Touch Hearts and Give back through the Gift of Music”.
Thank you for taking this interview! How has the New Year been for you so far as an artist? The new year has been incredible. I moved to Nashville from Toronto, Canada this year and I love it. It is so inspiring to be in this town, I feel like I have found my people. The energy is incredible. I am so grateful to be here and feel motivated every day to just get better. Can you tell us how you've transformed from the beginning to now as an artist? I feel I have grown up so much as an artist. I feel like a lot of it comes from growing up as a person too. I have really been working on myself, as a 25 year old female life gets kinda weird, you're in this stage where you're still so young but you feel the pressure of life get on your shoulders like you should have it all figured out by now. I feel like I struggled with my identity in what that looked like for me and the kind of life I wanted to create. I found out things I loved and didnt love so much, I found areas in my personality I really wanted to focus on as well, I've always been such a people pleaser and I got my validation from people and when I learnt how much of a problem that was becoming in my life I started to work with God on that. I realized that no one's opinions mattered except for his and who he says I am. When I found freedom in pleasing God and not others I feel that transitioned into my artistry and I was able to make the music I wanted and I cared about without the pressure of trying to "Please others with it" I am in a good and healthy place right now, I feel I am the most creative I have ever been and I am so confident with who I am and what my sound looks like for the first time. How did you come up with your latest project? I haven't released any music since the pandemic. I went into hiding a little bit, I wanted to wait to release new music because I released songs off my EP during the pandemic and they just didn't get the life I wanted them to have. I felt it was a hard time to try and promote the songs, since I couldn't do any shows and really promote the music the way I hoped I felt like it was pointless to put out new music. During the pandemic I wrote a ton of music and I felt really inspired. I came up with a bunch of new songs and brought them down to Nashville and just kept writing more for this project. There will be lots of new music coming soon and I am so excited to share it, I wanted to make sure the timing was perfect and I feel like it is now. Where are you from originally? Toronto, Canada Where do you live now? I am currently living in Nashville Do you think where you live impacts how your music is made? Yes, I always thought no because you can really be creative anywhere but if you want to be the best at something you need to be around the best and Nashville really is where everyone is. I want to learn, grow and become the best I can be and I feel you need to be in Nashville to really do that. What was the inspiration to make music your career? I always loved singing ever since I was a little girl, It was in my blood, It was something I felt God put a calling on my heart to do. My dad was a musician and he taught me when I was younger how to write songs and play the piano and he really was a huge part of my inspiration and love for music. How do you want to shape your career? I want to change lives with music, I want to be able to write songs that make people feel the words they could never express. I believe music is one of the most powerful connections you can have. It's what connects us all as humans and I want to shape my music in a way that does that. Where we can laugh a little , cry a little , love a bit more and grow together through songs. Do you work on a tight timeline always or do you go with the flow when it comes to your music? I like to do both, I like structure and a timeline because it helps me stay focused but I also like going with the flow and allowing myself to be creative in the most random times. If it's in the middle of the night and an idea comes to me, if it's a last minute co-write with a friend that I put together or if it's just saying yes to an opportunity in that moment and taking risks I love that. How did your latest title of your music come to be? I was in a Co-Write in Tennessee & We wanted to write a song about me moving here and the title came up as 'Me & Tennessee" and it's all about a relationship where he just didn't believe in your dream to move and she ended up leaving him for Tennessee. It's this beautiful story of what it looks like with just her and her dream. Is it hard to let go of the music when it is done? Once it's done for me it's done, i feel like i am a perfectionist ( Only when it comes to music LOL ) and when something is done for me that's it. I feel like it's ready and I just want to get it out. Do you feel an emotional attachment to your music? Yes. very much. I feel like every song I write is a story and time in my life that I got to capture through music and I hold onto that. It's incredible what a song does. How would you describe your music in one word to someone who hasn't listened to it yet?
Genuine Where do they go to listen NOW? Spotify, Apple Music, Youtube What has been the best fan reaction to your music?
I had someone make a really cute tik tok in their car and send it to me so excited over a release and that was way too cute. I also had someone record my first interview and send me a clip of it so I had the audio recording forever and that was really special too. Is there anything exciting coming up for you? I am going to be releasing music really soon so please follow me on Instagram, Tik Tok, Spotify, Youtube all that fun stuff to get updated as soon as it is released Are you performing the song anywhere LIVE? I am always playing around town in Nashville performing new music I am working on and I share a lot of unreleased music. I have all my shows on social media to check out :) Give us all your socials and links so fans can link up with you! https://www.facebook.com/JaclynKenyonMusic https://www.instagram.com/jaclynkenyonmusic/?hl=en https://open.spotify.com/artist/7j8PX64gXR7CYEhSLG8vkN https://www.youtube.com/user/jaclynkenyn