With her debut single ‘Homeless’ to be released on February 21st, Reya Jayne is set to make 2020 her year.
Staying true to her genre, ‘Homeless’ is an authentic country-ballad. With emotionally heartfelt lyrics and a chorus that’ll get stuck in your head, and not in the bad way.
The ‘coming-of-age’ track takes you on a journey of finding where you belong, and following your dreams is not impossible.
Catching up with Reya, she talks about moving to London at 18, visiting the home of country music (Nashville) and her goals for this upcoming year.
What is life like in London?
To be honest, life in London can be pretty lonely, it’s such a big place it can be quite overwhelming – especially moving here at 18. It took me a while to get used to it, but once you settle into it it’s amazing. That’s really what my debut single is about, figuring out where you belong and if you’re in the right place. The past six months have really been that for me: I finally started gigging, found the right producer, and I feel like its set me up for an amazing year of music.
So you visited Nashville last year, what was that experience like?
As brilliant as London is for the music scene, there really is no place like Nashville. I seriously felt like I was at Disneyland, it was my happy place! As a country artist, my music stems from American influences and to see some of the songwriters behind my favourite songs in the flesh was beyond incredible. I even got to sing on stage with Liz Rose who co-wrote most of Taylor Swift’s debut album – a proper ‘pinch me’ moment. That trip helped me build strong contacts and friendships over in the US and may even have convinced me to move there one day. I also started to write my single ‘Homeless’ while in Nashville.
Tell me a bit about your new single?
The main goal of my lyrics is always to tell a story. The song should take you on a journey from start to finish, but also be relatable. I tend to start off with lyrics – my notes pages on my phone are full of them – then I grab my guitar and just sort of play around till something sticks. I’m really excited about the debut because this story is my own. That was really important for me, for the first thing I release to tell people who I am and how I got to the artist I am today. The song starts off with my first day in London, through the trip to Nashville, up to today as I continue to figure out who I am and where I need to be.
‘Homeless’ means so much to me, and I hope it touches others who maybe don’t have it all worked out yet in the same way.
What’s coming up for you in 2020?
Music, music and more music. 2020 should be a super exciting year for me. ‘Homeless’ is set for release on February 21st, and I might have a few more single releases up my sleeve for the coming months. I’m really just looking forward to performing more and continuing to build up my fan-base and reach fans in the UK. Any gigs and releases will be advertised on my social media. I also graduate from ICMP (The Institute of Contemporary Music Performance) this year with a degree in songwriting, so real life begins!
What’s next after studying?
I’ll definitely be in London for the foreseeable future however I will be travelling back to Sheffield to perform in my hometown of course! After uni I intend to continue with more of the same: writing, performing, recording and finding my place!
You can listen to her new single on the 21st of February on all streaming platforms.
Follow Reya Jayne on social media: @reyajaynemusic
