Jenna Paulette joins the latest episode of London To Nashville Radio With The Shires on Apple Music Country. During the chat, she tells Ben and Crissie about being mentored by legendary songwriter Ashley Gorley, being inspired by Kenny Chesney to apply her degree to her career in music, and more. Listen back on demand anytime with an Apple Music subscription here.
Jenna Paulette Tells Apple Music About Being Mentored By Ashley Gorley…
Honestly, he was brutal with me, and I say that in the best way, because I never wanted anybody to just be nice to me and say, “Oh, that song is good. That song is good.” He would dissect my songs with me and say why something could be better. There were just so many things that I didn’t know how to think critically about that he helped me think critically about, and it completely shifted my perspective on songwriting. It became more of, “Oh, yes, this is an artsy thing, and yes, we get to write cool stories, but how do we do this in a way that is the most effective on the listener’s heart and mind?” Their mind is important to keep engaged throughout the whole part of the song, and you want them to want to listen to that second verse. I think if he hadn’t been so critical with me over my own music, that a lot of my songs would probably lose people after the first chorus. You have to make them want to come back and listen again and again and again.
Jenna Paulette Tells Apple Music About Her Applying Her University Experience To Her Work In Music…
I was reading an article about Kenny Chesney, and Kenny had gotten his marketing degree. I just thought that was awesome, and just have seen how strategically he has pursued his career and how much he owns his slice of pie, his part of the market. Yeah, so I just thought maybe that would help me out there, and it really has. I went to all of my professors and just said, “Hey, I want to do country music for a living. Do you all mind if I just apply this class to doing that?” None of them said no. So I felt like I had a leg up going into country music because I was looking at it from a marketing and business standpoint as much as I was from an artistic standpoint. Yeah, so thanks, Kenny Chesney, for being my inspiration for that.
Jenna Paulette Tells Apple Music About Her Move To Nashville & Hopes For The Future…
For me, it was family. I love my family. We are all extremely close. And being far away from the ranch. It was both of those things for me. I always tell people I want to pull a George Strait on this place. I’ll be here as often as I need to be, and write songs here and do all of that; but the goal for me is to be able to tour and perform all over the United States and the world, and be able to go home to raise some cattle and kids too. Yeah, I want it all, and I want to do it all on a very high level. So the hardest thing for me was leaving all of that behind and not feeling like I was home home, like I do when I’m back in Texas.
