Country singer Jimmy Wayne stays true to blue-collar roots

By John Benson

There’s a certain authenticity to country singer Jimmy Wayne’s music that the North Carolina native said can’t be feigned.

“It’s the lyrical content of my songs,” said Wayne, calling from a Nashville recording studio. “Because I grew up very poor, my mother was a single mom and we were on welfare, I write songs about living that lifestyle with perseverance being a theme. My music speaks directly to the blue-collar country music listener out there.”

Though early on Wayne’s straight-talking style appeared to be finding new audiences — his self-titled 2003 effort produced top 10 hits “I Love You This Much” and “Stay Gone” — the singer-songwriter found himself in a recording label purgatory when Dreamworks shut its doors.

It would be five long years before Wayne was able to release his follow-up effort, 2008’s “Do You Believe Me Now.”

Even though the title track was No. 1 at the end of last year, it was still a tough time for the artist who began to wonder if he’d forever be considered a one-album wonder.

“I was very nervous in that my next album had to count,” Wayne said. “This had to count. I’ve been in Nashville almost 11 years and been off the radar for three-and-a-half years between records. It was tough being off the radar and making a comeback like that. It’s extremely hard, and I knew it had to be an incredibly great song to make a comeback.

“By the time I listened to ‘Do You Hear Me Now,’ and I listened to hundreds of songs up to that point, it was something about the melody of this song that really killed me.”

More so, the song title appears apt considering everything Wayne has been through in recent years.

“What’s funny, for the first time in my career I really didn’t think about the lyrical content, although that’s the most important part of the song,” Wayne said. “It was just the melody, and the production of the song was so good. That’s what really did it for me. And the title kind of has a double entendre there. Do you believe me now? If you really believe in yourself, it’s persevering and continuing to believe in yourself.”

“Do You Hear Me Now” the album has proven to be a dovetail experience for Wayne.

Not only did it return him to the charts, but it also included a guest vocal appearance by Hall and Oates’ John Oates on the song “Where You’re Going.” You see, it was Wayne’s cover of Hall and Oates’ SSRq70s hit “Sara Smile” back in 2003 that directly led to his recording contract with Dreamworks.

Now that his career appears back on track, Wayne said he’s concentrating on touring the country. This includes a return trip to the Youngstown area for a Friday show at the Dirty Boot Saloon.

“It’s just a great show,” Wayne said. “Come out, escape the reality of what’s going on and just have a great time. It’s just a show you’ll never forget it. Every show we do is an original. There’s really no set. It’s just we go out, we feed off the audience and we give it 100 percent.”