Jaye Drew
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Jaye Drew

Portland, Maine, United States

Portland, Maine, United States
Pop Singer/Songwriter

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"Moving On Up--Jaye Drew Proves Herself a Smooth Operator"

In the R&B and soul the very talented vocalist Jaye Drew purveys, you need something real, a grit and substance that allows you to rise above sentimental pap and make people actually give a fuck about you. She finds — and shows — just that on A Moving Train, her debut full-length.

Especially on “Trouble and Time,” a sultry and pained Fiona Apple take that bleeds Hammond organ and gospel-fueled backing vocals. Drew shows off all her voice’s tremendous body and crushes with a verse like, “Your eyes are not blue/I wasn’t born to feel like I do/You’re so pretty I could cry.”

And the falsetto she pulls off in “Stay,” naked with nothing but a guitar accompaniment, is tremendous, full of longing and fear: “Will you wait a minute?/Won’t you stay, stay a minute?” At that point, I’d pretty much hang around all day (and most of the next for good measure).

The disc as a whole, put together over the course of a couple years with producer Mark Zuppe, moves around a little bit, from Jamiroquai laser-beam keyboards to clap-your-hands funk to Norah Jones whispers, but Drew manages to hold things together and the disc gets stronger as it goes along. She succeeds with sexy and seductive (“Slave Driver”) and even pulls off the Latin-flavored “Crime of Passion” with assured aplomb.

As a finishing tune, “Passion” features some great piano work by jazzman Matt Fogg and quick fingers from guitarist Scott Morgan, and makes the disc feel short at just nine songs. The instrumental break that takes us out is pretty tremendous, finally breaking down into just the piano and conga, and it’s indicative of the album as a whole — not just a forum for Drew’s voice but an attempt at something greater, something meaningful and musical.

As yet another addition to Portland’s growing R&B/soul scene, Drew has a real charisma and spark, giving off that feeling that she isn’t playing and singing this kind of music because it’s fun and people can dance to it, but because she has to. It’s a realness that ought to resonate.
- The Portland Phoenix


Discography

Still working on that hot first release.

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Bio

“In the R&B and soul the very talented vocalist Jaye Drew purveys, you need something real, a grit and substance that allows you to rise above sentimental pap and make people actually give a fuck about you. She finds — and shows — just that on A Moving Train, her debut full-length.”

—Sam Pfeifle, The Portland Phoenix, August 12, 2009

Jaye Drew made her debut in front of Hell’s Angels and Mountain Men at motorcycle rallies across New England. Then coffee shop owner and biker-band front-woman, Lisa Gallant Seal, took the songwriter under her wing when she was only sixteen. It was then that Drew, known for her sultry timbre and siren delivery, honed her craft. She started out on stages such as Maine’s infamous ‘Party Behind the Barn’ while opening for ‘TheBrotherhood Dogs’ at hog-roasts throughout the Northeast.

In 2002, Drew got a demo into the hands of two of her musical influences, Jack Johnson and Ben Harper. Harper’s lengthy voice message regarding Jaye’s talents as a singer-songwriter, noted that the disc was in rotation in his car, “It’s better than 99% of the stuff out there…girl’s got talent.” Ben’s encouragement along with a face-to-face with Jack Johnson, who described her voice as “amazing”, further inspired her to pursue music.

Drew first met guitarist-songwriter, Scott Morgan, briefly in the late 1990's. She had taken a handful of guitar lessons from him–neither of them knowing that she would someday take his last name. Years later, in 2006, Drew set out in search of musicians and stumbled upon what would become the short-lived “A Moving Train“. When the guitarist slated to join the fledgling project was a no-show, Morgan was called in by one of the other players. Today the Morgans have a happy homestead in midcoast Maine where they collaborate on projects in a home studio, raise chickens and keep horses

The seasoned and well-schooled group offset Drew’s self-taught technique and the band culminated in an urban-contemporary album produced with Jaye’s longtime friend, Mark Zuppe (NYC). Keyboardist, Matt Fogg, garnered the group some premature clout via mentions in Keyboard Magazine, Jazz Times and his sponsorship by Yamaha Keyboards. The album was not promoted, due in part to the disbanding of the group avant-release.

Tracks from ‘A Moving Train’ have been featured on Maine radio stations WCYY, WCLZ, WBLM, Last.fm & WMPG, and are currently in rotation around the world on Live365, Midnight Blues Radio Special and DaOne Miami. Jaye Drew and A Moving Train received several nominations in the Portland Phoenix “Best Of Music Poll” over the span of the project. Recently, reactions from listeners around the world have inspired Drew & Morgan to begin production on a rerelease of the album.

The amended release will include several new tracks and exclude a few songs present on the original version. New artwork, a new title and a few extras will accompany the 2013 full-length urban contemporary/dance album. Four of the five original players and a few notable guests are expected to be featured on the re-release.