Jamie O’Neal’s New Album Worth The Wait

It’s been nine years since Jamie O’Neal has released a new album so we were a little disappointed when we heard she was releasing an album of covers . . . until we heard it that is. But the first question we had to ask was ‘Why so long?’

“It was a matter of circumstance” said Jamie. “We recorded a whole album for 1720 records and that company went bankrupt. They didn’t pay any of the musicians, they didn’t pay me, they didn’t pay for studio time. And I really learned a valuable lesson. It’s way too easy for anyone to come to Nashville, start a record label on a whim and then walk away from everything. And that’s what they did.”

So what did O’Neal do next? She launched a new independent record label, Momentum Label Group.

When we heard Jamie’s new album, the old adage “If you want something done right you have to do it yourself” certainly rang true.

Produced by O’Neal and her engineer/musician husband Rodney Good, ETERNAL is an 11-song selection of classics like “Leavin’ on your Mind” (Patsy Cline), “The Sweetest Thing” (Juice Newton) “Help Me Make It Through The Night” (Kris Kristofferson and the George Jones and Tammy Wynette classic duet, “Golden Ring,” which features O’Neal with Andy Griggs (who sounds better than ever by the way).

The album is solid from beginning to end and one of the things that makes the record so interesting is that although every cut is a classic, O’Neal picked some songs that weren’t ‘standards per say like, One Day I Walk (Bruce Cockburn), Just One Time (a#2 hit for Connie Smith in 1982) and I’ve Done Enough Dying Today (Top 10 hit for Larry Gatlin & The Gatlin Bros. in 1978).

O’Neal was born and raised in a musical family and nothing has changed there. And although she’s penned most of the songs for her own albums, not to mention hits for artists like Reba, Martina McBride, Leann Rimes, Cece Winans and others, Wide Awake, is the only original song on the new album. Co-written by her father, James Murphy. “It’s an ode to everyone out there who sleeps next to a snoring moose every night” says O’Neal.

It looks like the tradition will continue with O’Neal’s 11-year-old-daughter, Aliyah, as well considering she’s learned to play guitar and already written a couple of songs.

If you’re in town for the CMA Fan Festival you can catch O’Neal at several shows listed below.

• On Friday, June 6, from 5:30-6:00pm, Jamie will be performing at the Hard Rock Cafe stage in Downtown Nashville during 2014 CMA Fest.

• On Sunday, June 8, from 8am-10am, Jamie will perform a few songs and participate in a quick Q&A during the GAC Music Fest Breakfast taking place this year at the new Music City Center. She will also be on hand to sign autographs in the CMA booth immediately following the breakfast event from 10am-12pm.

• During CMA Music Fest, Jamie will also be on hand to sign autographs in her own Momentum Label Group booth on Friday June 6 from 2:00pm -3pm, and again on Saturday, June 7 from 12:00-1:00pm.