with her I’ m sure didn’ t sound the best at first. And I was singing, trying to learn how to do those soulful runs. I don’ t think I was born naturally with a soulful voice. But listening to a lot of R & B and soul as a young girl, I thought I’ ve got to learn how to sing like that. Sister Act 2 is one of my favorite movies. So, I love the soundtrack from that movie. I loved singing along to that. And then I discovered a little bit more of Lauren Hill’ s catalog and she is still one of my favorite singers and artists.
[ WM ] That’ s great. Let’ s talk about a few of the songs on your new, full-length project. After reading your background, I welled up in tears listening to“ Desperate”. Tell us about this song.
[ Jamie ] So I moved to Georgia during the pandemic and reunited with my Dad after not seeing him for eight years or so. And it was a really, really, beautiful time in my life. I laid the music down completely and really focused on helping him. He passed in 2020, and at the end of 2023, I moved straight to Nashville and signed a record deal. And so when I got into the writing rooms, I had just lost my Dad, and it was just a crazy time for me, which was excitement from being offered a record deal and getting started as a new artist, but I was also carrying a lot of grief and just confusion over the past several years of my life that I was still healing from. And so, I got in the writing room the day we wrote“ Desperate”, and it was almost as if those were the words I had needed all this time. I wasn’ t able to walk in and write the uplifting Christian hit. I was writing from my loss and my grief and turns out it was the song I needed and the song a lot of other people needed to.
[ WM ] This is profound stuff. What about“ Left It in the River’? When you combine truth and
emotion with God-given talent and God-given gifting, it’ s an unbeatable combination. Tell us about“ Left It in the River.”
[ Jamie ] So“ Left It in the River” is an anthem that points to my most impactful moment in my faith, which was making the choice to be baptized. I had just come out of a broken life of drugs and alcohol and just aimlessly wandering through life. And I was about a year into my walk with Jesus where I decided to go all in for God. It was like a rededication of my life at 21 years old. I made my public declaration, and I was carrying so much weight and so much shame and heaviness from my past. And the idea of being washed clean was just so appealing to me, just like,“ Yeah, I want all of that gone.” My friend and I were in an old Nazarene church in a tiny little town. I moved out to live with my aunt after trying to get out of that lifestyle I was in.
And I started attending this little Nazarene church where there was maybe 15 or so people that went there. And they were all family members. I definitely stuck-out like a sore thumb! The pastor was about 80 years old, and he asked one Sunday if anyone wants to be baptized, He said,“ I’ d be happy to slap on the waders and take you out into the water.” There was a body of water nearby, and it was mid-October and my best friend and I just went out there with him. In that moment I went under just was such a supernatural feeling of just being filled with God’ s presence and washed clean in my past. And from that point on, it was like that’ s the feeling that I chased after, it was a new high. It was just purity and joy and freedom. I was like,“ Oh, I don’ t want anything from my past.” Again, it was just a marking moment for me where I didn’ t want anything to take away from that new feeling that I had
that new life. And so finally 20 years later, I have an anthem to remember that by. And it’ s just fun. Every time I sing it, it does take me back to that feeling. And people around the country have been tagging me in their baptism videos and it’ s just such a joy. I really didn’ t see that coming. It’ s just been really cool to see so many people even deciding to be baptized after hearing the song. There’ s been a bunch of little kids that get it in their head and they’ re like,“ Mom, what is this about?” And even I heard this lady tell me after a show last year that her kids were practicing their baptisms in the tub and asking, can we be baptized and practicing on their siblings and stuff. It’ s just been such a joy and yeah, an unexpected delight to have people tagging me.
[ WM ] That’ s fantastic. When you said you decided to go all in for Jesus, it made me think that it was kind of an inch at a time for me. I entered the water really and fully over the years. And then eventually something jars you, something changes you, and you are all in.
And“ Won’ t Let God” is such a powerful expression of hope. I love that song. And the imagery of yourself as the little girl in the video seems extremely apropos. Did you speak into that when they were planning, well, we’ re going to do a video. How did that happen with the little girl in the video?
[ Jamie ] Yeah. Well, this was my first big budget music video, and I had a couple of phone calls with my team about it. I just said,“ Well, give me a week or two to really dream up what I would want for this song.” And I’ m listening to this song, and I saw a little girl in my mind’ s eye, just really a group of people following this little girl around and seeing the 10 February 2026 Subscribe for Free...