Hello reader,
How are you today?
Today we’re excited to introduce another artist making amazing music – Lavendine, the Nashville, TN-based duo of twin sisters Jacy and Jana Ayers. The band’s sound has an inviting and dynamic pop-rock sound we think you’ll enjoy. For Jana, the band has a “universal sound.”
“It seems to transcend different genres of music,” she tells SWT. “It has an ethereal vintage rock feel. We both sing lead and harmonies, so you will hear a lot of blending in our voices. It’s a sound that crosses age barriers as well. It’s uplifting and serious at the same time. Most of our music rejuvenates hope.”
That includes the band’s latest single “Waterless Cloud,” a mid-tempo song which journeys lyrically from a place of sadness and pain to one of liberation and hope. According to the single’s press release, the lyrics for the song were “written from the perspective of someone breaking free from a narcissistic partner” and “captures the powerful moment when deception unravels, and the truth is revealed.”
“Our inspiration for the song came from years of narcissistic abuse we have both encountered,” Jana tells SWT. “We wanted to write a song that would help others break free from the abuse.”
“We also learned how painful it is to receive that abuse from someone who wears a mask around others. We wanted our listeners to know that the mask would eventually slip, and they would be vindicated. To get free and to be free is what we wanted for people who hear the song.”
Jana says the biggest surprise in writing the song was that they found inspiration from an old melody they had already written.
“We just had no idea it was actually meant for this song,” she says. “We know that this is when God stepped in and unveiled His plan in the midst of ours. Divine intervention is what we call it!”
For the sisters, the song marks an exciting new chapter for the band’s ability to create impactful sounds and lyrics. Jacy says it dawned on her how much they had grown as writers after they were finished recording the song.
“We let ourselves be extremely raw with the lyrics, and it felt liberating while not holding back our true feelings,” Jacy says. “I also noticed that while humming through and mapping out the melody transitions, we got braver in the delivery and style.”
“We had more fun on this song while creating the melody and lyrics because it’s a soulful rock vibe, and we got to shout out from our soul to the abusers and give a voice to the silenced and forgotten victims of narcissistic abuse,” she continues. “The studio time was exhilarating, watching this song come alive.”
The core of the track was recorded at the fabled Music Row in Nashville, TN with the help of producer Mark Needham, a longtime friend of the band who had produced some of the band’s past work. The duo also wrote lyrics in Ed Seay’s studio on Music Row.
“We picked Mark Needham to produce this song because we needed a heavier rock sound to give the song the grit and attitude it needed, but still preserving the emotional movement in the track that our other top singles have expressed,” says Jana. “We are extremely happy and satisfied with how Mark interpreted and magically packaged this unique creation.”
The song will appear on their new EP Deep Blue, which is slated for release this fall. The EP was recorded at Los Angeles’ East West Studios and mixed at Nashville’s Lala Mansion, and features session musicians such as Matt Chamberlain (Pearl Jam, David Bowie), David Levita (Tim McGraw, Alanis Morissette), and Jamie Muhoberac (Madonna, Seal). In addition to getting produced and mixed by Needham, the EP was also co-produced by Brian Pruitt and Ed Seay.
They hope the single and “City Lights” (which came out about a month ago) leaves an impact with listeners, in a similar fashion past songs have. Previous singles, including “Rapture” and “Open Up a Window,” have earned spots in the Top 25 on Mediabase and Billboard AC charts. They released their debut album Feel My Way in 2013.
The sisters, who were born in Liberal, Kansas and grew up in Oklahoma, strive to get better with each song and have come a long way in their collective musical growth since getting into music at an early age. They started performing in church when they were four years old and sought out the chance to sing whenever they could.
Later on, after two years of college, they convinced their parents to let them move to Nashville to see how they could fare as working musicians. They didn’t feel their talent was getting recognized and that people focused more on marketing, so they returned to Oklahoma. In the midst of running a day spa and hosting a popular radio show, they ultimately decided to give Nashville another try.
Despite health challenges (Jana was diagnosed with a tumor near her brainstem, resulting in 80% hearing loss in one ear; Jacy endured multiple surgeries, including one for an ectopic pregnancy), their hard work soon started paying off. They credit producer Danny Duncan, who has worked with acts such as Bruce Springsteen, Usher, and Amy Grant, for giving them renewed confidence and focus.
Today, that confidence and focus have never been higher, as evidenced by “Waterless Cloud.”
You can follow the band on Facebook and Instagram and listen to their music on YouTube and Spotify.
Joshua is co-founder of Scummy Water Tower. He’s freelanced for a variety of newspapers, magazines, and websites, including: Rolling Stone, The Boston Globe, Chicago Sun-Times, Guitar World, MTV News, Grammy.com, Chicago Magazine, Milwaukee Magazine, MKE Lifestyle, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, A.V. Club, SPIN, Alternative Press, Under the Radar, Paste, PopMatters, American Songwriter, and Relix. You can email him at josh@scummywatertower.com.
