It's not every day that a chart-topping, Ivor Novello award-winning artist stands casually chatting at the back of your gig in a tiny Manchester venue, kindly asking you about your music and not mentioning anything about themselves. But such was the scenario for Caffs (flying solo this week as Danni faces down a school strike-based childcare emergency) when none other than singer-songwriter Jamie Lawson came down to support friend and songwriting buddy Ed Cosens (Reverend and the Makers) at a gig Caffs was supporting as Test Card Girl. Jamie is a fantastically inspiring example of how things have drastically changed for musicians over the last 10-15 years, and how to survive in the industry, however successful a record has been, you have to adapt to new audiences and new ways of consuming music all the time to survive.
Jamie released back-to-back records,
Happy Accidents (2017) and The Years In Between (2019) preceded by Jamie Lawson (2015), his self-titled third album, which entered the UK charts at Number One and gave the world Wasn’t Expecting That. That breakout classic scooped the then-largely-unknown artist the 2016 Ivor Novello for Best Song Musically and Lyrically. And now, finally, he's back with a glorious new album Little Weaknesses. It’s 14 tracks of concise, emotive, painterly beauty. Only one
song crests the four-minute mark, four of them say what they need to say in less than three minutes, six are blessed with strings arranged by multi-genre
violinist Isabella Baker, and all of them were crafted in Lawson’s music room in his family residence in Manchester and recorded by producer-collaborator Tim Ross at his home studio in Twickenham.
But, say it again: it’s four years since The Years In Between, which was his third record for Sheeran's Gingerbread Man imprint. What took him so long?
“Yeah, that's a good point!” Lawson answers with a rueful laugh. “In fairness, it wasn't four
years ago in normal years! But I would stick to that statement: I don't think it should take four years. The fact that it has taken me four years is another
matter. Obviously, we had a pandemic where things couldn't happen. But the main thing for me, as is quite obvious across the record, is that we had a boy in 2020. Originally, I had intended to take six
months off when he came along. And then the pandemic hit, and I had what felt like three years off.”
We don't think Jamie should beat himself up - after all - this podcast is all about how we cope trying to hold down a creative career with children. Throw in a pandemic and you have a perfect storm! We've had Little Weaknesses on repeat and if you're someone who maybe had a gap in your creative output (or are currently in one - hello Caffs!) this is a fascinating and honest account of the highs and lows of a creative career and how to adapt and change.
We recorded this episode a little while ago but Jamie is now on tour so catch him in your home town from April! https://linktr.ee/jamielawson
We loved chatting to Jamie and we hope you enjoy our latest episode. As always, if you want to tell us more about your creative projects, how your coping with the family juggle or to suggest a guest get in touch!
