Y & T Music’s Jamie Granger’s
True Hearted Kind CD Release Party
By: Debbie Brautman | Photos: Wendie Whitton
There was a special CD release party on October 18 at North Miami’s Luna Star Cafe to celebrate Miami’s Y&T Music’s debut of singer-songwriter Jamie Granger. This superb Folk/Americana storyteller’s release is titled True Hearted Kind and it’s top notch. Y & T Music’s partners, Rich Ulloa, Jim Wurster and Don Sarley (aka The Business Guy), keep adding special artists to their label, which is a labor of love and passion. This one is no exception. They love their artists and treat them like family. Their support is tremendous and South Florida is lucky to have their efforts. Jamie was brought up on the Caribbean island of Montserrat, and later, in a tiny cowtown in western Montana. He has been collecting stories since his youth and as Jamie puts it, “I have
something to say, and I can say it better through music than I can in a poem or a short story.” To sum up Jamie Granger, he has clever lyrics like John Prine, sung with the smooth and soothing voice reminiscent of Paul Simon.
In Jamie’s punchy and catchy song, “French Canadian Girl,” he sings, “Drove cross country to LA / Ate a cheeseburger on the way / Lost a few fries / Under the seat of my truck // They’re still there but I don’t care / Because I’m so lonesome / My girl’s still in Rio with her man.” “Hands of Ladies” stands out for the exquisite strings and beauty of the music. It is a song about the hands of ladies in Renaissance paintings. Interesting concept only an inquisitive mind could come up with. On “Ilona,” he pleads, “Hey Ilona, will you bring out your guitar tonight, Ilona won’t you come outside and play… Ilona let me know if I should stay.” Each song tells a story. It is Jamie’s heartfelt stories that are endearing and poetic. They grow on you after only a few listens. Quite an impressive folk/Americana debut album with perfect production by the very talented Nashville team of Jack Shawde and Jack’s long-time musical partner Diane Ward. In addition to producing it, Jack also plays guitars, lap steel, mandolin, bango, dobro, keyboards, fiddle and percussion and more. Diane handles background vocals, drums, percussion, piano, pads, trumpet and French horn. Shawde is a famous producer and instrumentalist who has performed, recorded or toured with legends including Bob Dylan, Stan Lynch, Al Kooper, Bo Diddley, Dr. John, Enrique Iglesias, to name just a few. Ward has been a successful local
musician in Florida for years before relocating to the music city – Nashville. Shawde and Ward’s Americana excellence enhanced Jamie’s knack for humorous lyrics that create stories with characters that grab your imagination. Shawde stated, “For us, bringing Jamie’s vision of his songs to life was a rare opportunity.”
Opening Jamie’s CD release party was Darrel Arnold, whose “Portraits of The Blues” cd was also produced by Jack Shawde. That release has a companion book which highlights the music of Robert Johnson, Bessie Smith, Mississippi John Hurt and others. His performance was excellent and a real treat. He is a folk-rock artist with a twist of country blues, and his original songs are great. His “Portrait of The Blues” cd is on Don Sarley’s Arco Records label, and the companion book is from Sisyphus Publishing. Sarley joked to me, “I told Darrell if he wrote a blues book, I’d put out his cd. And he did!” Darrell had lived in Germany in the 1990’s and was in two bands, The Dead Buffaloes and the Buffalo Fish. Since 2010, Darrell has
lived in the Miami area. After Darrell’s super set, Diane Ward did a set with her voice, which is as powerful as Melissa Etheridge. She’s always good. One of the highlights was her song, “You’re a Ghost,” from her outstanding 2019 album SIX.
Between acts, there was a heartfelt speech by Alexis Sanfield, Luna Star Cafe’s founder/owner as she announced her retirement. She is passing the torch to long-time employee Bri and her husband Eric to carry on this ultra-cool music cafe. Tears were flowing. Alexis founded and opened Luna Star Cafe in 1996. For almost 30 years, she has been a strong force in promoting local and national music, especially Folk, Americana and Blues. There are not many cool places like this in South Florida, so it is great news that Luna Star Cafe will live on.
