Think Anne Lamott meets Emmylou Harris, except Stacy Jagger complains far less about her hair or the Bush administration than Lamott, and has not yet sung a duet with Bruce Springsteen, like Harris. But besides that, you get the kind of wry and sometimes overly honest humor one might expect of a woman who was breastfeeding her first child when she found out one of her songs won first prize for her category in the 2006 John Lennon Songwriting Contest. With a life of these kinds of paradoxes, Jagger is far too grounded in reality to let fleeting accolades go to her head.

Actually, it is exactly the seeming contradictions of her life that make the messages from this singer, songwriter, and women’s ministry speaker easy for audiences to relate to.  Why should a woman with an alcoholic father write a poem for him called “The Things He Did Right” – and mean it? According to many, she shouldn’t. What right does a woman who has gone through difficult times in her marriage have to talk to other people about the topic of forgiveness? Some might say, “None.” And maybe the critics are right. But maybe not. Since Stacy Jagger believes there is no one who came from a perfect family of origin or who now has a perfect family of their own, she is confident that it must mean God intends to work in and through the imperfect. So she raised her hand and said, “Here I am.”

Because of the effortless way in which Stacy sprinkles humor into stories that might otherwise break your heart, her listeners sometimes don’t know whether to laugh or cry. They usually compromise and do both. Telling stories in a frank, no-nonsense manner, wielding a guitar, and singing with a voice that is as original as the songs themselves, Stacy Jagger artfully helps women navigate the often murky waters of their hearts, and tap into a fresh well of Christ’s hope, healing, and restoration.

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Growing up in Nashville, Stacy Jagger saw many music-star hopefuls come to her hometown with big dreams – and leave with dashed ones. But Stacy Jagger had no intention of even remaining in Nashville, let alone of becoming a professional singer-songwriter. If you had told her at age 16 that she would one day make a record that included the likes of musicians Byron House (Johnny Cash, Nickel Creek), Eric Darken (Faith Hill, Amy Grant), and John Catchings (Bob Seger, Dixie Chicks), and her husband, sound engineer/producer, Ron Jagger (Michael W. Smith, Sonic Flood), she would have laughed out loud. Luckily for us, despite her youthful ambitions elsewhere, that is exactly what she has done.

Jagger’s debut album, “Faded Memories,” was quietly released in January 2006, but since then it has generated industry-wide buzz and created fans in countries everywhere from Japan to Belgium. CDBaby describes her record as a delicate and exquisite mix of country folk, bluegrass and Americana….Reminiscent of Emmylou Harris, Patti Griffin and Alison Krauss, she has a shimmering quality to her breathy, candy sweet voice….” Five songs from the album are featured in the award-winning film documentary, “A Journey Home,” and Jagger has begun to co-write with Grammy award-winning hit songwriters.

But the opportunity Jagger is most excited about at present is a recent collaboration with the Ad Deum and Revolve Dance Company in Houston, Texas. Both companies choreographed to Stacy’s music, alongside choreographic works by Hope Boykin of the Alvin Ailey Dance Company, and Steve Rooks of the Martha Graham Dance Company. “I cannot explain the feeling I got by singing my songs on stage with these incredibly gifted dancers interpreting my music. I absolutely love working with the dance community, and I am so honored to have the opportunity to collaborate with such excellent artists.” Jagger explains her enthusiasm, “I guess when I write I always see choreography in my head. I think, too, that the emotion in my singing has something to do with learning to use my whole body with emotion as a dancer, growing up.” In fact, much of Jagger’s love of music originated in the songs she heard first at the dance studio, which may also explain the range of musical styles on her album. “The dance studio was my safe haven from a crazy alcoholic home life,” she recalls, without a trace of bitterness in her voice. “I escaped into music and the arts, mostly dance at an early age, probably starting around age three – tapping to Duke Ellington, ballet classes with Mozart and Tchaikovsky, and jazz classes with Lionel Ritchie and Chaka Kahn. Then I went home and sang old hillbilly and western and trucker songs with my dad who loved The Sons of the Pioneers and Jim Reeves.”

After graduating with a degree in Music from Belmont University, Jagger began teaching dance and voice lessons, finding a deep love for mentoring young artists, with some of her students landing major record deals and performance opportunities. Ironically, during this same time, Stacy and her husband came to a point where they were seeking a simpler, downwardly-mobile life than the frenetic striving they saw all around them. Thus, they embarked on a year and a half of being “commuter pioneers” – working their regular jobs in town during the weekdays, but living a frontier home life in an 1860’s cabin out in the Tennessee countryside. “I wasn’t poor,” Jagger says, “I was just living in a non-electric cabin, taking showers in a converted milk trough, pumping well water for cooking, and stoking fires in the middle the night to keep warm.” She pauses before she adds with a laugh, “And leaving during the day to teach ballroom.” One of her favorite memories is of the night she attended a formal ball in Nashville, and then drove the long, winding way back to the cabin, arriving at the stroke of midnight, just in time to make it to her outhouse, Cinderella ball gown and all!

A down-home girl at heart, Jagger was excited to find, tucked away in her grandmother’s old trunk, a faded black and white photograph of her own family ancestors. It’s the photograph featured on the cover of “Faded Memories,” and it shows her great-grandfather holding a mandolin, her great-grandmother holding Jagger’s grandmother as an infant, and other family and friends gathered around. Captured in one long-ago moment, this is the legacy that this artist and new mother, Jagger, lives in and carries on. Music. Family. And oh yes… Memories

QUOTES

"Stacy Jagger and her Faded Memories - I must say she had me from the first 8 bars of the first song on this fabulous release. First song is "Faded Memories" and on the very first chord change I reached over for volume control. There have been less than one handful of albums I have joked that I could put in a playlist loop and call it radioioACOUSTIC... This is one of them. If you have loved, if you have lost, if you have lived, hoped, dreamed, breathed... this album is for you"
    -Zoe Montana/RadioioAcoustic

"She's got the songwriting sensibilities of the country greats; she's able to express heartfelt emotion through compelling, sincere and cliche-free stories. Stacy blends her multi-angled worldview to create an original musical language: precise lyrics, an exciting and unpredictable rhythmic landscape, honest storytelling, and an overall sound that is simultaneously innovative and accessible. With producer-husband Ron Jagger, this talented newcomer has created a real fine Americana sounding disc with an eclectic approach. It's an album well worth hearing."
    -Maverick Magazine

"My faded memories are haunting me tonight" and this debut album from Nashville singer/songwriter Stacy Jagger contains some haunting music. Stacy's voice is a fine instrument in itself, as these are songs of love and loss, yearning and seeking. A couple of up-tempo belters let Stacy show the power in her voice, but it's in the haunting beauty of the ballads that she is most effective.” -Cross Rhythms/UK

“The lyrics and the production are out of this world…” –Eugene Foley, Foley Entertainment, Inc.

"This is the best CD I've listened to all year..." -Five Stars from The Phantom Tollbooth

"The voice of Stacy Jagger just completely takes one's breath away. Matched with a light, delicate and exquisite mix of country folk, bluegrass and americana, her voice is absolutely the highlight of the music. Reminiscent of Emmylou Harris, Patti Griffin and Alison Krauss, she has a shimmering quality to her breathy, candy sweet voice and the earthy simplicity she exudes. And with an ability to slide into the blusier side and touch on the ache of bluegrass, there's nothing left to desire from her release, "Faded Memories." Absolutely gorgeous."
-CD Baby
http://cdbaby.com/cd/stacyjagger

"With a voice angelic as Margo Timmons and Jane Siberry...Stacy Jagger's latest music project skillfully mesmerizes the listener with a spirit for eternal hope and passion. Much can be said about about a style that merges Gospel, Roots and Americana with a vibrant hint of Soul. With simple lyrics and songs that harkens to the days gone by, she manages to convey a contemporary sense of belonging, security and comfort that skillfully embrace the inner warmth that we all seek within ourselves. This is music that moves and possesses an endearing quality that we should be so lucky to listen to."
-Frank Wing, Concert Agent/Agency for the Performing Arts

"The broad musical and emotional range that Stacy Jagger shows in her debut project Faded Memories definitely shows that a singer-songwriter is in the house. There’s plenty of room for her on stage to tell her stories in song.…it’s all good."
-Mark Collie, singer-songwriter ("Carry On" and "Forget About Us" for Tim McGraw)

"Simply beautiful... beautiful melodies and stellar singing."
-Margaret Becker
http://www.maggieb.com

“Part Americana, part country, part folk with a dash of bluegrass and a hefty dose of come-hither torchy R&B, “Faded Memories” combines traditional American storytelling with heart-on-her-sleeve, honest emotion. The result sounds something like Sophie B. Hawkins singing lead for Creedence Clearwater Revival; or maybe Alison Krauss fronting the Soggy Bottom Boys. Aw, forget the comparisons – if there is any justice in the world, before long reviewers will be saying, 'That new up-and-comer sounds a lot like Stacy Jagger.'”
-Mike Parker, www.buddyhollywood.com

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