JESSICA LEA MAYFIELD with DANIEL MARTIN MOORE at the Drake Underground (1150 Queen West), Monday (April 4), doors 8 pm. $15.50-$18. HS, RT, SS, TM. See listing.
When a lovelorn friend declares that he or she expects to be single forever, the immediate response is to dismiss such depressed notions with encouraging cheer. However, when Jessica Lea Mayfield says it, you can’t help but soberly wonder if she’s right.
The prodigious singer/songwriter from Kent, Ohio, has already clocked more touring miles in her 21 years than most do in a career. She began performing with her family’s bluegrass band, One Way Rider, at eight, and recorded her first release, 2005’s White Lies EP, at 15. She admits to being most comfortable in hotel beds, passenger vans and onstage.
And then there’s her ominous track record with relationships.
“I attract murderers,” she says with a laugh. “The last guy I dated I broke up with because I thought he was totally insane. And then I heard on the news that he stabbed someone in the neck with a steak knife and killed them. I’ve been single for the last three years.”
Mayfield simply doesn’t have the time to get involved, unless your name is Dan Auerbach and you play in a well-known duo called the Black Keys. The fellow Ohioan discovered her White Lies EP and has since produced her two full-length records, including this year’s hauntingly beautiful Tell Me (Nonesuch).
While her debut dealt directly with breakup experiences, Tell Me, with its alluring mix of country, blues, folk and unflinching lyrical self-examination, shines a light on her nomadic life. It’s a roving way to live that both compels her and makes her long for normalcy.
“The new record is about touring, road musicians, flings, one-night stands. How could I possibly even have a relationship right now?” Mayfield asks. “What do guys expect from me? I can’t meet people in my hometown, and if I meet someone on the road, I don’t want to date my phone.”
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