Jessi Alexander

tears every time I hear it. She's written so many incredible songs and they all come from from such a real, truthful place, So get excited. She shares her heart, and her heart is so beautiful. And all of these songs that she's written, she has on her album of her singing. It's called down Home. So make sure you pick up a copy of down Home. It's a beautiful album of her versions of these hit songs. You will not want to miss that album. Okay, here's Jesse Alexander. Jesse Alexander,

so happy you're here. I'm so glad to be here, and I'm so happy We've been sing each other almost weekly for the past couple week, which is rare. Great. The last place I saw you was a symphony did this in nationale to this huge event with the Rose Garden, and you played your big hits with the symphony behind you, with the stars under the stars at the Rose Garden.

It was beautiful. That to me shows how cool songs are because you write these songs and their hit We're gonna get into all your hits in your whole story. But you write these songs and their hits on the radio in one form, but then you go hear them in a whole another form. That's the power of music, right, And it's just so funny to get to tell the stories behind the songs. And I mean, I love to be up on stage with you know, some of my

favorite songwriters just to hear them tell their stories. And here, you know, kind of the song at its core. So it's it's it was magical night. It really was. Have you noticed being a songwriter, like there's this whole other world when people hear songs on the radio and they hear someone like Lee Rice or Miley Cyrus singing these songs, you think that a regular listener might think that, oh, Miley just wrote that, or it just came out of the thin air, or where did that song come from?

No one really knows. But there's this whole songwriter world, and it's a very layered world because the songwriters, it's I feel like, are the truth tellers and you have to almost live your song sometimes to get them, which is it's kind of the Achilles heel because it's it's a blessing and the curse. Right, Yeah, you have to kind of go through hell to write a song. As certain songs, you know, you have to live them. Um. And it is kind of been my whole journey, you know.

It's like every song that I've had popular has been something that was a serious, you know, hurdle that an obstacle um, some kind of huge life lesson that I had to learn to then put it in a song, which is can be like you said, like frustrating, daunting. It's it's like I know that I'm that writer, Like it's not gonna just come to me, you know, I have to live them. And and so yeah, it has

been quite a journey with that. I have all your songs that have made it to the top of the charts that have they been a deep They've all been honest pretty much. I mean, you know, I got fortunate enough to have just a good drinking song, you know, with drink on it, which is fun too, because you know, I don't want to be taken just as the serious heavy songwriter. Right these let's just go there. We got the Climb by Miley Cyrus I Drive Your Truck, which was c M a Song of the Year for Lee Bryce.

That story is crazy. We're gonna get into that. Blake Shelton. Mine would be you Yeah, and drink on it. It's just kind of like drink on it. Yeah. So I write so many kinds of songs, you know. I write honkey TNK songs, drinking songs, cheating songs, grief songs. I mean, I try to be very well rounded writer. But for some reason that those are the songs that have been popular, and so it's it is a blessing. They had a

heart string on it. Yeah, And I tend to go for the jugular, you know, and I have an idea, like you know, that kind of idea comes along, you know, I try to go to its depth. And that's just always been my personality. So I want to talk a little bit about your journey. So you come to Nashville and you come here as a recording artist, you come when to be an artist? Actually, no, I, UM, I've left MPT issue. I was there for four years, and UM, I was a social work major, and I really didn't

know what I was gonna do. I was already playing in a lot of bands, and I was like everyone's backup singer, frontman. So when I moved to Nashville, I really had no other vision but just to make a living making music, because I really thought I'd either be a backup singer a demo singer. Um. I was never someone that wanted to be in the limelight. I could tell by being in the bands that I was in. Even though everybody try to get me to be the

front singer. Your voice needs needs to be the front singer, That's why. But I was always like, yeah, but can't you know, why don't you take the second half of you know, I'll sing the first half. I really tried to pass it off. Yeah, but because of my voice, I think people always tried to put me up up in the front. And you always know you had this talent of a voice. I knew that I had a

voice that evoked emotion at a very young age. I can remember singing in front of people and a me feeling something, you know, I felt um something come through me. But I also could tell that there was something in my voice that would emote emotions. We always felt that. Yeah, really, so you've never just dialed in a performance and like, I'm gonna give it my best, meriit cary impersonation. You've

always felt it. No. I can remember, like maybe ten age ten or eleven, like me closing my eyes and singing and then opening them and people have tears in their eyes. Just do you think that's God? Definitely? I mean I think it's God, and I think it's my purpose. There was that, even at that young age, there was something that needed to be said and come through me. But I didn't know what that was. I mean, I was just a red knick kid from West Tennessee. I

didn't know, you know, anything. I didn't know there could be a job singing, you know, or definitely not being a songwriter. But I can just really remember those early times singing me. I was very shy child, and I was the only child. I was kind of a lone her and so to be in the limelight was not comfortable comfortable for me. But when I moved here, the first thing I did was get a backup singing job,

which was so much fun. I mean, my third day literally living in Nashville, I had boxes all over my apartment. I got on a bus and headed to Beaumont for like a two week run with an artist named Matt King. So I had kind of that dream Nashville, got a job. I was a backup singer. I was on tour. You know, years old, You're like, this is great, it's crazy. Yeah, it did it feel easy? It did it kind of felt I mean, you know, looking back, I had like four years of hard work prep, so it was kind

of like I prepped myself. By the time I got here, I really was engaged in the business. But because of him. He was a Warner Chapel songwriter as well, and so he was like, the songs you're writing, you really should get a publishing deal and that would keep you home. And you're like, what's the publishing Exactly, what's the publishing? Someone will pay you to write songs, and sure enough, this's this whole world totally. And so that's how I got my first publishing deal through that back like a

Cinderella story. Did he help you get it? He did? He um introduced me to his song plugger Kurt Denny at the time, and I got my my publishing deal. The negative and kind of the story to my whole career. There's like a certain themes that just keep coming back up, and this is one of them. It was six months into my first deal I lost the guy that signed me. Oh so you're champion correct leaves correct, and so now you're just like orphaned literally and just kind of so

no one's really rooting for you. No one's your advocate. You know what's so crazy it is you think like you just get linked up with the company and it's just this company runs it. It is all about the personal relationships, isn't it. And it's moving parts all the time and like parts all the time of something that I mean, we could we could spend a whole segment just on that story. So your people leave you, you get them. And so I think that it's kind of

call as me to really um find strength within myself. Now. I mean, I definitely lean on others, but that dust yourself off, pick yourself up kind of mentality has just been because you just can't give everything to someone because they might well miss that whole thing of like sometimes you just gotta do it yourself, you know. And it's caused me to I think it's to endure and I've found persistence and that endurance within myself. So I don't, you know, regret any of that. But yeah, he he

left and then what happened that's left. That's when I just started to find my own people, find my own way, try to find people. I found some mentors um early on, an incredible songwriter, Gary Nicholson was one of the first people that said, why are you not an artist? You know? And then Al Anderson and a kind of a team of writers kind of surrounded me, and I got my first deal at m c A with Tony Brown and Mark Right and Legendary. It wasn't zing Can produced Elvis

played with Elvis. He produced Emmilu Harris, which you had been like you were like the reincarnation of Emmy Lou Harris. That's that was everyone was gonna say, you were going to be the new Emmy Lou. Did that feel like a lot of pressure. It did, um, but it also felt natural because I'd grown up on that kind of music. The negative at the time was there wasn't Americana yet really. Um. I can remember the early Americana fests, you know, festival that was kind of starting to brew, but like the

true Americana artist wasn't really established. You had two routes to go. You could either go down like Shannai Twain, Um Faith Hill, Martina McBride, or it was more like Lucinda Williams, Patty Griffin. There wasn't, you know, the Chris Stapledon Mini Brown or the Casey Musgraves. That just wasn't there. And for someone like myself, I really wasn't either, you know. And I tried to make a record that was a little bit of both, but I didn't put both feet

in either areas. You're kind of dancing both lines and so. And as the story you know, goes a year into my first record deal, the person that signed me leaves. Why do you think this is a common theme? I don't know. Do you think it's a lesson you needed to learn? I guess so, because I keep just learning it. What do they say the lesson repeats until learn. But I mean, that's a big lesson to have to keep learning on a big scale. And so with that and plus the culmination of that and me truly not as

I became this artist and they were developing me. The closer I got to that, the lesson that felt authentic to me. Okay, so you felt like maybe you were chasing someone else's dream a little bit. Kind of. Yeah, it was like I just started to realize that the radio touring and just touring in general playing music felt really natural, but talking about myself in terms of being an artist did not feel as natural. I really always wanted to hide behind someone else, you know, And and

at the time I didn't understand why. You know. I also had some extreme life things going on. My mom, who had been battling cancer form probably two years up to that point. She was diagnosed again, but we found out it was terminal. And so being an only child, I mean, here I am, I've got a record deal, this is kind of fizzling out, my mom is dying. It was just a very dramatic, dramatic time for me. So it made me put in perspective of this record deal. It was kind of like what what am I chasing?

You know, I had to re examine my life at three years old? How do you re examine your life? Because all of a sudden you have this record deal and now it seems like your ada, kids leaving. You know, it feels like it's not going exactly how it had been presented. Your mom's now dying, dying, and what are you thinking? Like? How do you process life at that point? How do you know? How do you handle it? I think that looking back, you don't process that yet, you know.

I mean it was just like plow through. You know, there was too much to do. There was just you know, whether it be planning her funeral or then it was you know what is that getting? It's just you just do it. There's no there's no one else to do it, you know. There You're just I've always had the kind of that survivor instinct, um, which I do feel like God gave me and that's like one of my tools and my tool belt felt But um, I just pushed through and I got lost in music. You know, I

leaned on music. I leaned on songs, you know, I leaned on songwriting. Um. My husband was also entering my life At the same time John Randall, who was a savior in so many ways, and just by you know, being that person that I could sit up and drink a bottle of wine with and cry to, or you know, saying let's go here's music tonight, or you know, we In the midst of all that, you know, I'm also recreating myself as a songwriter and kind of letting go of what I wasn't and becoming who I was. Do

you ever feel crazy in this evolution? During that period, I definitely felt crazy, And I think grief will make you do crazy things, but I didn't realize. You know, I'm sure we'll get to it with that drive your truck, but all those things I had to feel to write these songs, Because these songs you're writing are deeply feeling songs. Yes, they're like of my core, but at the time, I don't know that I'm going to need those feelings. You know,

you had to come out later in song. Yeah, you had to live through these things for a song of that caliber to have been born. Honestly, totally, and I think the hardest, like if I looked at the whole my whole career, the hardest obstacle was the one that I was just about to face, which was rebranding myself

as a songwriter. Because once you say you're an artist, people don't want to take you because there's a songwriter and there's an artists, and then there's those like Miranda Lambert and it is a divide, isn't it not a divide? But it's a difference. Yeah, And so I would walk into the co write and they'd be like, what are we writing for you? And I had to even as a female, is even harder to say, well, I'm not writing for you know, Faith Hill. Today I want to

I'm not writing for myself. I want to write for Faith Hill, or I want to write for Even more than that, I had to say things like I want to write for you know, Tracey Atkins, I want to write for Luke Brian And they're like, wait a minute, but you're an artist and people don't necessarily want to do that because they're like, oh, great, we have an artist, right, so we have a chance of getting a song a lot quicker on the album because if you're just writing

for someone else and you have to pitch it and has to go through a million different processes and finally has to get to the artist. So it's a lot harder when you're not writing with the artist as a songwriter. So that's why people kind of have you on a pedestals and artists are like, great, I could get in. Yeah, So I had to just abandon all of about I mean, it was a rebranding, if you will, I mean, I

do a proof that I am a real songwriter. You know that I had written all of my record and I had many cuts before this, but I think people didn't really understand, like how how are you going to add into the in this Because you're so beautiful and you're so talented, so it's easy to assume, oh, you're just writing your beauty and your voice, and yeah, you're an artist. So that's why really early on, I am decided I have to really show these guys what I

got and I'm gonna write men's songs. And that was, um really, that whole frustration, the frustration of being kicked around for ten years, having that Cinderella story high and then the loads of you know, the record deals, and um, that time in my life, I was starting to think about maybe I will get married, you know, maybe me

and Gera will have kids. One day, I was starting to go, you know what, maybe it's been ten years, like you know, I've kind of given this town all of maybe it's time to let go of all of this everything I writing. I mean, I knew I'd always sing and write songs, but just the chase, you know, the chasing exhausting. And me and j Are both had this year of like, let's just have the year of no, we don't want to do anything. We don't want to

do We're just okay, okay. I like that because I have always heard of the year like yes, yes, everything. But we were saying like, no, we don't want to sing on that demo, We're not right with that person. Where we kind of were like, well, let's just go all in and like who knows what happens, Just do what you want to do exactly, and that's risky. It was very especially in a time like this. Everyone's always worried, oh shoot, I gotta get that opportunity, like I don't

want to miss this one. If there's a new artist, I should jump on board and right. And then there's always a million things like that you should be chasing like you were saying earlier. So a year of we did, and we were like, we're going to write songs we like, we're gonna write with people we like. You're not gonna like,

yeah do, We're gonna do what we love. And that one of those during that period was the morning that I was driving into the office, Um, and I heard a melody coming to my head that felt the word that I kept thinking was classic so much that I kept thinking, am I on something? Is this love? Lift us up where we belong? I kept but which song is this? And um, I remember my phone ringing and Nope,

I'm not gonna do it. I'm not gonna remember and and remember you know a d D like we all do as creative as I'm wanting to turn the radio on, I was no. I remember God whispering in my ear. Just listen. And by the time I got to music Row, the melody was really loud in my head so much that I needed to get my hands on the guitar. And I was walking in the door to write with a new writer to me, John Maybe, and I just said, can I have your guitar? Roal fast? And I sang

this melody and it was the climb. Okay, wait, first off, I just have I want to cry because I I really do. I'm sorry. I can't believe how on tune you are with God. But also you're making me prime this. Also, you had to wait for ten years for the climb, and the climb to me is so crazy that that is your debut into the world because you were having to climb and like struggle and feel and why do you think you had to go through the climb yourself

in order to get the climb of the song? Because you had ten years of struggle for losing your mom, losing record deal A million dollar question. Girl, You know, I don't know what does it teach us? Do you think we all have to go through that? I feel like I've been around now on Nashville long enough to see there's usually a struggle. Like those people that came and got it all right away, what happens there's usually like at some point there's going to be a hard

spot for you. But for me, I felt like I had to just kind of live the hard part in the front half. And maybe that's what gives me the raw on this and that I'm in tune with so much more when I right now, hard part in the front, yeah, And I mean there will be hard parts stick, but really I had to live that to write a song like the cop you can't just create that on You

can't write that out of air. I mean I try every day to to write songs like that, but you know those are the ones that you know, I have to live. And it was so bizarre because I didn't think anything about that song. I was so sad and damaged and over the Nashville and is this your year of no? Right now? This is still the year no? And you're just like thinking I'm about to get married and maybe just like general, yeah, exactly. And so when we wrote the climb Um, I knew it was special

because of that melody driving in, but I didn't. I was so burned and like, Nashville kind of kick my ass so much that I didn't think anything would ever come of it. Yeah, did you think nothing's ever come before? Right? Why would this? The song is just as good as these others had ten years nothing? So why would this

be anything? Yes? Man, I thought that so many times, like I just keep you keep trying and keep trying, and you're like, well they've gotten real close had a ton of like close calls, but if nothing has ever panned out, so why would this be any different? But you keep freaking climbing anyway, and so we've we've you know, when we found out that it was going to be a part of the movie, I mean, all the way the Handam Montana movie sons, how does it get to my left? Okay, well, first of all, I'm at the

time of Disney Writer. We had a small office here, a Disney um and my amazing plugger at the time, Lisa Ramsey, found out that they were shooting the Handam Montana movie here in Nashville and was like, that's ridiculous. You you can't come to Nashville and scout and not listen to our Nashville songwriters. You need to have Nashville songs because at that time the Disney music really came

from the l A office. She's like, no, you're you're coming, and so she put together so she found this director who Peter Chisholm, who is straight it out of London, like he'd never seen a guitar pool or anything like that. We have him come to the office, we get beer, we get sit we're all seated around in a circle and we do what we do with the bluebird guitar style guitar pool and I played him a couple of songs and he just loved my voice. I didn't play

the Climb. The Climb. It was written for a guy, you know, because I was writing min songs. So you were like, you were like really proven doing girls. Yeah, So I was sang a couple of songs and we just kind of hit it off. And as he was walking out, he said, would you just make a comp of your music? I should love to hear your voice. And so I thought this in my moment, what do I have that's at all pop? Because I didn't write pop songs at all. I was writing traditional country songs

mainly at that time. And I said, oh, I have that song. It's the Climb. It was called that at the time, and I gave it to him and he called like a week later and said, if you'll rewrite this for a fifteen year old, I'm going to rewrite the script to to kind of revolve around this song. See, the Climb is so of warton to meet you that you're making me cry because the Climb is such an important song in my life. I don't never forget when it came out, I was in the middle, and I mean,

everyone's still struggling. I was in the middle of a huge like what the F is this life about? You know? And then you hear a song like that and you're like, Okay, we're not alone, yes, you know, Okay, We're all in this. Yeah. And really the song was written Me and John Maybe, the my co writer, were really underdogs, you know, he was a new songwriter to his in his first deal, and it kind of been kicked around. I've been kicked around, and we just wrote it from our own experiences. It

was kind of like self help therapy. And so I'm I'm so glad you acknowledge that as well, because to me, it was so funny that the song that I write about, you know, being kicked around, actually being becomes a song that actually helps me bust down the doors that I've been trying to kick out for so long. It was surreal. Meanwhile, I'm having like I'm pregnant with my first child, so there's all this other stuff going on with within me, like am I should I just be mom? You know?

And then I have a big struggle like as a mom, like, how am I going to do this? How do you decide that? Because that's such a struggle of like so many women, especially talented women who have something to share with the world. It's it's a big decision on how do you balance that and how do you How did you come into that struggle? How did you have a chance to think about it? I mean literally the Clime. When The Clime came out, it came out on five formats,

it was everywhere. I mean, Hannah wants Hand in a movie, like I'm seeing you know, Miley, I'm singing Hannah Montana. She's playing it on the inauguration Obama at the ball, at the inauguration, the inauguration, Barack Obama. Yeah, and so like are you literally holding a newborn? Um? You know these both both these things came out in January and your baby was born in January and you Climb was born.

Are you kind of like, what is that moment? Because you've not been waiting ten years, You've almost thrown in the towel, You're in a year of because you're so freaking frustrated, and now here comes your child and your song child's happening with that happen to be got in some ways it was frustrating because I couldn't throw my all into either. I felt like I really want to be so present with my baby, and yet I mean every door that I'd ever wanted to be open as

being just opened. Now, why do you think it takes to write with some of these writers that I'd always wanted write with? Now everyone right and so and then I would try to do that and I felt like I wasn't being a good mom. It was just really trying time. You know, why do you think you got both at the same time? That is a great question. Do you think there was a lesson behind the idea that one I don't know, um, just to make you realize right away that you're going to balance both of these,

not give you the choice to back. It was just surreal and it just I still can't believe in. I kind of went through it all the way. My mentor said. He said, it was like you, you know, had been swinging at the ball for so long and when you're bat you know, hit the ball, your arm was so strong that you just went over the just hit home run,

And it was weird. That was very, very surreal and it There's another thing that kind of happened where Disney l A Was like, oh my gosh, you could be our pop top line girl, which means pretty much a lyricist, and they you know, you should come out and write for our franchise. So I did, and I was writing for Tinkerbell and Princess and the Frog and all these motion pictures. And meanwhile, I'm getting further and further away from my roots, which is you know, traditional, mainly traditional

and soul kind of songwriting, Nashville songwriting. So I kind of got lost in that for a little while and had to then again re examine myself and say, who am I as a songwriter? And at the core, I'm sixt Avenue Music Row songwriter. Um, and that's when songs like I Drive Your Truck. Tell me about that, Tell me about how Drive your Truck came into existence, because that is one of them the powerful songs. Also well, um, I give so much of the credit to my amazing

co writer, Connie Harrington. She we have been writing songs for many years. At this point, we're writing a lot of female songs which weren't getting recorded, you know, because there weren't any females to record them. And she came in that day and she she had she was a little choked up. She there. I could tell something was

up with her, and we searched. She always comes out with all these titles, she has all her little posted notes, and she was like, well, I had an idea yesterday coming home from Dixon, where she's from, and she started to cry. And I was like, oh, because with Connie, like she's crying, then you know she's onto something amazing. But she's like, no, no, no no, I can't do that one today. I can't do that one. And she would read off some other titles and I was like, no,

no, no no, no, we're doing We're doing the tears. She just I don't care how long it takes, just cry away, but you're gonna so she um finally explained that she was driving home. She was listening to the middle of an NPR special and it was about fallen soldiers and it was basically a dad talking about his son who had lost in Afghanistan, and the interviewer just said, well, what are you gonna do a memorial day to on

your son? And he said, real simply, I think I'll just go drive his truck, and Connie's just you know, pulls over. She's writing down everything. We cry. It's really sad. Well, I mean, what a great everyone has to grieve in their own way, and to drive your son since truck who just passed away at war totally and meanwhile you

have to understand what's going on with me. So my mom had been um deceased for about ten years at this point, and so I'd always wanted to write a song about grief and never really had been able to um. And so I knew in that moment this was my chance, This was it, this was it, and I knew I had to pour everything I had about that into this song. So we started to just hammer on lyrics UM eight

nine in theaster half of bout you know all these things. Um, I was really kind of drawn from my granddaddy's truck, who my grandmother kept kind of parked in mint condition for many years after he passed and Jackson, Tennessee, and I can remember his truck and I could smell him and feel him there. He's like a shrine to him, you know. So she had her thoughts, I had mine, and we wrote a lot of the early lyric But at that time, like I said, I knew, like we

have to write men's songs. There's no females, you know that we need. This would be a great song for Jason al Dean or Kenney Jesney. So we brought in the incredible Jimmy Eery and he just brought it to life in having his perspective and literally when we were done with that song, we we need a cigarette. Literally, I mean we were crying. I mean we brought in rusty guests and our song plugger and he was like that song of the year, I mean, and at that

point we didn't know what it was. We just knew we wrote the hell out of it, you know, you didn't know we went for it. And that's really where our job's over. You know, we just write the songs and then it's in God's hands and do you give it all up to God? Totally? I mean, it was like that's it, and it's hard. I mean, we want want Jason Alteon to get it. You know, I sent it right away to Dirk's and right away to all these people, but you know it wasn't those weren't the

right fits. Um Lee Bryce, you know, was the voice for it. And you just have to love a lot of faith in my job. You have to a lot of faith and giving it up because these are your children, they really are your babies. You're like, I'm giving this to you to take care of. So he did an unbelievable job. He's saying it like a minute like he wrote it. And it did what we wanted to do. You know, it went to number one, UM Song of the Year for a C M. S N A CI And to tell about the number one party. Yes, so

UM at the number one party. You know, we have those pretty much for every number one and we just couldn't imagine having this party without finding the dad that said those words. If it wasn't for him, there would be no song. So Connie and we all spent so much time looking for this NPR special just to find a name, and Connie one day found it and it's his name was Paul monty Um. He lives in Massachusetts. He's a UM school teacher actually, and his son, Jared

monty Um, was ordered the Medal of Honor. So it's incredible soldier and story. But Um we called him. We're all on you know, conference call. We're crying. We're trying to explain to him, like, have you heard this song I Drive Your Truck, which was everywhere on the radio at this point, and he's like, well, I've been sent that song. A friend of mine said that that would really hit home for me. We're like, yeah, because we wrote it about you. And I mean it was hard

for him to fathom. I mean, I can imagine. But we said we're flying you to Nashville's, which we flew him here. He spoke at our Number one party where I sitting next to him at the palm that night and we were just winding and dining him and and he said, well, tell me what other songs have you written that I would know? And I said, well, I wrote this song called the Climb you might know. And he literally put his drink down and got tears in his eyes and he said, I played that at Jared's funeral.

He said, you were meant to be in his life. Your stories were meant. You were drawing from the greater sources, and it's all connected. It felt like my mom and Jared we're just surrounding me. And you know, I found out that we actually wrote it to date two years to the day that he passed. Jared Jared, Yeah, there was too many coincidences. You know. It was like this song was destined to be written. And I can't tell

you how. That's almost the ultimate gift that's beyond Grammys, and I mean, it's just to know that the song really had been served into the world and it's going to go out. There's so many people that helped that helps you know, that song helps them. And I have so many stories of people saying, you know, I drive my husband's truck and it is like a shrine, you know, and it's a place where you can feel somebody and because all their stuffs in there there smells Oh my god,

you make me cry because you do. You're so soulful, like you are such an intentional person with your life and your talent. And I feel like that is why you've had these massive impact songs, because you really go for it all the way. You have something to say and it's bigger than you. Yes, and I lean on that, you know. I try to really get out of the way to be honest, um, and every day that I write, I try to right, you know, the most emotion I can.

But like, like I said, there's days that I have a lot of fun writing to It's not all it's not all sad, but yeah, it was. That whole era of my life was just really um incredible because I've found out, you know, during that era that I was pregnant with twins. Oh my gosh. Yeah, so you know, here I am on the second wave of my songwriting and then I have twins coming. Twins don't run in

my family. That's not genetic or fertility. Like, I'm already having a hard time balancing my life, my work and and one daughter, and now I know I have two more coming at one time. Are you going to do this? Well? God provides, you know that the week that I found out that I was going to have the twins, um like Shelton went two weeks and the number one with a song that me and my husman wrote together. So

it's like, yeah, and that is drinking. And so it was really like every time you know, something like that happens, there's always this other it's it's there's always this duel. You're open to the faith, Oh, definitely, you're open to the magic. Okay, So I want ask a few fire questions about this kind of going. So for faith to you, faith is faith is um. Wow, that is such a big question. That's the first thing that comes to mind. Yeah, letting go. I love that. Yeah, and not knowing the answers,

love it yea. Love is deep, real, honest, tragic, beautiful. The point of this life is to love, to learn, to grow, and hopefully like have a good time. Music to me is music. To me is a refuge. It is my purpose, it's my healer, it's my strength. It's obviously it's everything. Yea. And how about motherhood has taught me? Wow, it has taught me so much about myself. It's taught me how to be selfless, how to find strength that I didn't know I had. Um. Motherhood really is a

journey that I'm figuring out every day. I Mean there's days that I feel like I'm the worst mom in the world, and there's days I feel like, Okay, I got it. Um. It's really the kind of thing you probably won't know how well you did until you're standing back looking at it and you're older and you're like, wow, I got it. But when you're in the thick of it, it's just a daily growth. You know, I never know

if I'm pulling it off. But then i'll hear, you know, my five year I will say yes, ma'am and I'll say okay, you know, or something like that. Okay, And I like to wrap up with leave your light, So leave some inspiration of how you've been inspired and how you want to inspire the world. Okay. Um, There's so many, so many things that I'd like to share, mainly to songwriters, UM, but I think the main thing is to just follow

your own light. You know, we've all gotten caught up in trying to compare ourselves to other you know, for me, songwriters, artists, um, mothers. I mean, I can compare myself to other mothers and how they're doing it. But what I've learned time and time again is if you just stay true to your own convictions and your own truth, usually that's there for a reason and that's guiding you in some ways. And so every time I've gotten off the path and chase something,

you know, it usually doesn't go anywhere. It's like a road that goes nowhere, it goes, and if it goes somewhere, it's usually dark. So for talking about light to me, UM, if you can just follow your own journey and if when it feels right, it is right. Typically for me, um, surround yourself with light, surround yourself with people that make you feel light. If you walk away and it's dark,

there's a dark feeling, then they're out. You know that's that's not no matter how flash, Yeah, that's not going to illuminate you and your truth. Um So I think that it if you can stay out of the comparison game, I think this journey of life is gonna be a little bit easier, or at least for me, it is love that. Yeah, Okay, you're gonna play some of these great songs. Yes, yes, yes, yes, Okay, here we are,

let's do it. Okay, so you're gonna play with some of the Climb, which is Miley Cyrus is huge hit. It's on your record down Home with Chris Stapleton singing with you and Morgan. It's amazing. He's so good. Oh, okay, you have to check it out. Okay, they made it very special. Heck yes, okay, taking away, Here we go, Here we go. I can almost see that dream I'm dream and there's a voice in sudden my head. Sand You'll never every step I'm takeing every move and make

feels lost with no direction. My faith is shaking, butter gotta keep trying, gotta keep my head high. It's always gonna be another mountain, always gonna wanna make it move, always gonna build uphill battle. Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose. Then about how fast I get and abounce winging on the other side. Yeah, it's the clos Yeah, only the most amazing song of all times. Thank you, except for this next one that you're gonna play. Okay, I'm gonna

cry now, now we're gonna cry. So now you're gonna play us some of I Drive Your Truck, which was c M a Song of the Year sung by Lee Bryce Is. This is also on your album down Home. Yes, okay, so we can hear you singing all of your hits on your album down Home. Everyone go get it. But this is what leeb Rice made song of the Year.

I Drive your Truck, Haiden nonsense, cilly estuy f empty bottle, gatory, it rolling on the floor, that duty breeze cap on the dash, dog tags hanging from the radio, old school can, a cattle boy boots and a gold army ship folded in the back. This thing burns gas like crazy. Oh but that's all right. People got the way ease of coping. Yeah, I got I drive you true. Roll Everyone loow down in the burner, every back road in this town, find a field, tear it up till all the pains cloud

up to us. Just sometimes I drive you true. Jesse Alexander, you are amazing. Thank you so much for joining me. Thank you for sharing your heart, your songs. You're incredible story and everyone get down home her album. You can hear her singing these hits. You're amazing. Thanks for having me. Thanks on my show. You're the best. See you all later a piece. How amazing was Jesse Alexander. She is so inspired, She's so soulful. I love her so much. Her story makes me tear up. Like listening to her,

I got emotional. I'm sure you did too, So moving Next week is the last interview of the year for Get Real, and I have Russell Dickerson joining me. He has exploded onto the music scene this year with his single Yours. His story is incredible. He's so connected to his purpose and his higher force. His wife is his best friend. She recorded his music video their story is amazing to hear how his music journey has unfolded is

really nothing short of remarkable and inspiring. So get excited for Russell Dickerson next week, the last get real interview of the year. We'll see you in thank h