Jaimi Shuey

This slipped through the cracks when it was released late 2006. I knew I liked it, but I couldn’t figure out why, put it aside meaning to come back to it later and, well, you know how that goes. Calling it a problem would be going too far, but listening to the ten individual tracks, all originals, I found myself thinking on this one Shuey writes very like and sounds a bit like, Lucinda Williams, on the next like Iris Dement, on the next like Loretta Lynn, while Ouija, about going too far on a first date, and Oblivion have a Nina Simone-ish torch cabaret jazz feel. Not that any of this is cause for complaint, on the contrary, but the first impression you get is that she’s a bit of a chameleon. However, when you consider the album as a whole, it’s clear that, while she still wears her influences, most of whom are pretty much out of the picture these days, on her sleeve, this LA based "Country Girl from the big city" has her own distinctive talent. Beautifully produced by Charlie McGovern at his Big ’Ol Studio, and featuring Don Heffington drums/harmonica and Kip Boardman piano/Wurlitzer, Wrong Girl may well sound like a warm up as and when Shuey makes her second album, but until then it’s as impressive a debut, in it’s field, as any since Infamous Angel. - John Conquest - John Conquest

Jaimi Shuey at the Echo

“I spent most of my teenage years in coffeehouses writing poetry, drinking buckets of coffee, daydreaming and making up stories about the people that came in from out of the rain,” Jaimi Shuey says about growing up. Those made-up stories have been turned into gently lulling country-pop tunes on her new CD, Wrong Girl (Boronda Records). On “Country Girl,” the L.A. singer laments that she doesn’t know how to rope a steer or have genuine Southern roots, but John McDuffie absolves her with a slide of his rootsy pedal-steel guitar. She admits to being jealous about a lover’s engagement on the country weeper “Wrong Girl,” and is itchin’ to head out West and escape a “Jerkwater Town.” Drummer Don Heffington (Lone Justice, Emmylou Harris) scratches a downbeat groove on the jazzy idyll “Ouija,” where Shuey asks the magic board why her boyfriend won’t call her back: “Did I go too far?/Am I slutty, am I pretty, am I smart?” Fans of non-cornpone-prone country music should be grateful that Shuey’s so memorably unlucky in love. This free show starts at 5 p.m. (Falling James)
- L.A. Weekly, May 4-10, 2007

Impressive debut set from the itinerant Jaimi Shuey - she moved from Southern California to the Pacific Northwest in her youth, although she’s now seemingly returned to her roots, given the album was recorded back in California. Gifted with a distinctive frayed around the edges quality to her voice, that imbues these occasionally blues and jazz-inflected takes on rootsy-Americana with an unforgettably soulful honesty, Jaimi Shuey evocative songs make quite an impact. Backed-up by a fine band that melds the likes of Don Heffington on drums and Kip Boardman on piano (whose own solo albums are well worth seeking out), Wrong Girl sounds right to me. Deny the everlasting pleasure of ‘Ouija’s sultry nightclub allure or the more traditional honky-tonk of ‘Country Girl’ at your peril.
Geraint J.
- Leicester Bangs

It’s the achy twang in Jaimi Shuey’s inviting voice that immediately captures your attention. You feel her yearning for love in “How Long”, sympathize with her hurt in “The Wrong Girl”, and share her sense of adventure in “Wild Things”. That strong opening trio invites comparisons to a young Lucinda Williams. But just when you think Shuey is headed off down gravel roads, she shifts gears with the stylish, jazz flavored “Ouija”, a tune reminiscent of another southern California chanteuse, Eleni Mandell. The latter half of her ten track debut swings confidently between dusty honky-tonk and more sophisticated lounge. On “Country Girl” and “Jerkwatertown”, she offers evocative portraits of small town girls, while “A Bite” is a fun, food-equals-sex ditty about “a hungry girl.” A memorable debut, Wrong Girl proves Shuey has the right stuff.
-Michael Berick
- No Depression Magazine - Sept./Oct.2007 issue