Meet Nashville Songwriter Courtney Jaye

Until free-spirited Courtney Jaye landed in Nashville, she’d been snakebit with a long-running case of wanderlust—perhaps the biggest reason her 2010 album struck such an original chord in Music City. The Exotic Sounds of Courtney Jaye features 11 tracks fearlessly pulled from a road-worn collection of sounds: lap steel guitar, ukulele, recorded birdcalls, and her you-listen-to-me-mister surety of voice. You might call her tunes Patsy Cline meets Hawaiian luau, since Courtney played beach bars in Kauai for a blissful stretch several years back.

Listen to Our Favorite Songs

• "I Need Love" from The Exotic Sounds of Courtney Jaye—Listen Now
• "Sweet Ride" from The Exotic Sounds of Courtney Jaye
• "Box Wine" from The Exotic Sounds of Courtney Jaye
• "Don't Tell A Girl" from The Exotic Sounds of Courtney Jaye
• Listen to all on iTunes 

Her Nashville Heroes:
“Skeeter Davis, Rosanne Cash, and Loretta Lynn are all strong women that never really played by the rules of Music Row and still have epic careers.”

Wishes She Had Written:
Adele’s new single “Rolling in the Deep,” cowritten with her producer Paul Epworth. “I’ve read that her new album was inspired by classic country.”

Next Up:
Her follow-up record Love and Forgiveness with Miranda Lambert’s 2010 CMA Album of the Year-winning producer Mike Wrucke.