Welcome to the show.
-Thank you for having me here. -It is truly such a great honor
to have you here, um...
not just because I'm a fan of your music--
because I'm a fan of how much people are a fan of your music.
Which sounds like a weird thing.
But I always love artists that just get people excited
wherever they go.
Like, have you... have you ever wondered
why people love everything you do
-just beyond the music? -Well, I like to think
I'm just who I am, I'm not putting on any false fronts,
and I'm coming up here and just trying to make people
feel more comfortable about being who they are
and to embrace that.
And I feel like that's kind of the best thing I can do
right now at this moment in time.
-Is just be yourself. -Is be myself.
-I feel it. -(cheering, applause)
-Thank you. -I'm not lying. I feel it.
And... being yourself has been really good, you know?
Uh, you have... you have a bunch of Grammys
with Alabama Shakes, and now, with your debut solo album,
two Grammy nominations. Congratulations.
-(cheering, applause) -Thank you.
-That's amazing. -Thank you. Thank you.
It's been wild. It's been a wild ride.
You know, I used to work for the post office.
I used to work for Cracker Barrel.
I used to work for Shoney's.
I don't know if y'all know what that is.
I've had so many jobs, and in the back of mind,
I was like: But I'll always do music
and I'll always love music,
but this might be the best I get for now,
but I still got that dream.
And then being here on a show--
this is the first time I've ever spoken on a show.
(cheering, applause, whistling)
Um... that's wild.
That's wild. Having Grammys, that's wild.
-It is wild. -It's crazy.
You've been on a wild journey, and-and-and...
it is a scary step to take, because, you know,
Alabama Shakes is really successful.
Headlining festivals and, you know,
you're selling out smash concerts, and...
and then you go out and you... and you create a solo album,
which is a terrifying stage for any musician to-to...
to take in their career, you know?
To move to that next stage. Why would you do that?
-I think... -(scattered laughter)
(laughter)
I'm crazy.
(laughter)
I think I just wanted to truly be myself.
And, you know, I'm really influenced by people
who are just so totally wanting to share their vision
and they start from the ground up.
And that's what I wanted to do when I made this record.
I wanted to start with the rhythm section,
I wanted to make my own bass line,
and drum parts, keyboard parts,
and then put my own voice to it.
Because, to me, every-- music and-and what I'm trying to say
is very connected to one another.
It's not two separate things.
And I wanted to create something like that
even if it's once in my life.
-I wanted to... -You've definitely done it.
And I don't think it'll be only once in your life
because, I mean, you produced this album.
And, obviously, you worked with amazing musicians,
but to produce your own work is powerful.
The stories that you write, you know,
in the music and the songs and what you're talking about
is truly one of the most personal experiences
I've heard in songs that you've been on.
-You know, um, for instance, the song, "Goat Head" -Mm-hmm.
is a story of your mom and dad
and how, as an interracial couple,
people did not want them to exist.
Could you tell the audience
what "Goat Head" is inspired by?
Yeah. "Goat Head" is a story...
The song started as a story that my mother told me
when I was around 14 years old.
I grew up and I was very lucky to have the, uh, ignorance
that my mother's white,
my father's black and we all get along
for the most part and we love each other.
And I thought that was gonna be my experience in the world.
When I got a little bit older, my mom was like,
"No, no, no, no. It was not easy."
My mom told my this story about sleeping in her apartment
and my father coming to visit,
and when he woke up the next morning to go to work,
his car, the windshield was bashed in,
and the tires were slashed, and slurs written on the car,
and in the back seat was a goat's head.
And they basically were saying,
-"Stop this now." -Right.
"Stop this love that you guys share."
And, um, that was hard to hear.
And it's always been in the back of my mind.
And it's always been there.
And once I wrote this song,
I had a chance to release it, you know.
Um, and I think telling my parent's story,
even if it's not my story,
I think it's doing them some good, too,
just to say this happened.
This was wrong and this is what happened.
And I think other people need to hear about this.
(whooping, cheering, applause)
It's powerful because...
every song takes you on a different journey.
There's joy, there's pain, you know.
There's reminiscing and then there's the present.
"Georgia" is a story that shares, in many ways,
that-that theme of a truth
that is painful in its beginning
but then has come to a beautiful conclusion.
-And "Georgia" is a love song to another woman. -Mm-hmm.
And I-I love how you talk about
how it was-it was different for you to sing so explicitly
about loving another woman because of where you grew up,
and the place you grew up in.
Yeah, it wa-- it was hard being the odd man out,
in a small town, and I always felt that way.
And all the friends that I kept also felt that way.
And when I wrote this song,
I just thought how great it would be
to write a song for myself when I was that age.
And I was so confused about who I was
and didn't understand that love could be...
anything, look any kind of way.
And I wanted to write a song
that I could jive to at the same time.
And I had not heard a song like that.
And so, when it was time for me to write this record,
I said how cool would it be to write it
from that perspective when I was just a child
and I was just needing some support,
a little encouragement.
Uh, I need to see something that...
-resembled me and how I feel. -Right.
And I-I loved writing that song
and-and it's actually one of my favorite songs on the record.
It's a beautiful record.
I can genuinely see why it has been nominated.
Um, everyone who listens to it, loves it, including myself.
One last part of it that touched me in a way
that I wasn't expecting because it's not one of the songs,
but rather the title of the album...
-Mm-hmm. -...is Jaime
Yes.
Why did you call the album Jaime?
Yeah, um...
I had a sister, you know,
uh, older sister.
She passed away when I was nine.
She was 13 years old.
She had a really rare type of cancer.
It's called retinoblastoma.
And, um...
She, I lost her at a young age,
and she taught me everything about being creative,
and using my imagination, because when I was growing up,
we didn't have a lot of money, we didn't have
all the video games and all the stuff, you know.
It was just us outside.
And my sister would say, "Well, you can write a song,
"you can have a good time or we can go play in this creek
or we can go find snakes, you know."
I grew up in a, I grew up in Alabama,
so we go out there in the creek...
looking for snapping turtles, um...
But she-she taught me how to use my mind
to create the world that I wanted and...
And so when it came time for me to make a record like this,
this record is so much of my world and so much of how I feel
that it was only appropriate to say, like, "Thank you,"
and put her name on it.
-Yeah -(audience cheering)
Congratulations
again and again and again and again.