Reya Jayne – ‘Homeless’ Out Now!

Yesterday saw the release of ‘Homeless’, the debut single from Reya Jayne. It’s an excellent, autobiographical debut track, where Reya sings honestly about making the move to a big city (London), her emotive vocals made for the genre. I caught up with Reya ahead of the release last week, where she told us about the inspiration behind the song, her musical journey so far and plans for the rest of the year.

Hi Reya, you’re on the verge of releasing your debut single ‘Homeless’, a simply wonderful track. Can you give us an insight into how the song came about?

Hey! Thank you so much, I’m glad you like it! I actually was lucky enough to visit Nashville last spring for the Tin Pan South songwriters festival, and I started writing ‘homeless’ while I was over there. I felt so at home in the city that it got me thinking about where I consider home to be. I live in London but my hometown is Sheffield, and adding Nashville into the mix, I was honestly quite confused. That’s the headspace this song came from and I knew as soon as I had written it that it had to be my first single! 

How do you feel ahead of the release? I’m guessing your excitement levels are high right now?

Excited, nervous, emotional, it’s a real mixed bag! I can’t wait for fans of country music to hear it and see what they think. The industry reaction so far has been amazing, so I’m hoping the fans will like it just as much!

If you had to describe your sound to someone who had never heard you before, what would you say?

I get a lot of comparisons to old school, first album Taylor Swift – which of course is a massive compliment! But I would say what really makes me, me, is the stories I tell and the solid country sound. If it doesn’t have a banjo on it, I don’t want it!

Tell us a little about your journey into music? Have you always wanted to sing? And have you got a particular highlight in your career so far?

I started out as a musical theatre kid, competing as a dancer from the age of three! In that sense, performing is in my blood. However, I discovered music into my teenage years and the rest is history! After finding Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood, I ordered a £30 guitar from eBay and taught myself via YouTube, performing at any given opportunity – including most nights to my mum in our front room. My highlight so far has to be getting into the studio and recording my first two singles. It feels like magic hearing something you created alone in your bedroom become something real, like an actual song.

To finish, tell us about your plans for the early part of 2020!

At the moment, my focus is on releasing singles. There’s currently at least two more in the pipeline for the first half of the year so Homeless is just the beginning! I also will be graduating with a degree in Songwriting from the Institute of Contemporary Music Performance, London, this summer so it’s on to life in the real world! To keep up with my ventures into real life and more music, make sure to follow me online @reyajaynemusic! Thanks so much for having me!