by Marie Choguet
Photographer & Creative Director: Colette Slater Barrass // Lighting: Olly Dundas // Hair: Davide Barbieri // Makeup: Sophia Sinot // Stylist: Leah Abbott
Jessie Murph is on a fast train to superstardom and she does it on her own terms.
When we spoke with her ahead of tmrw #50, the 20-year-old singer-songwriter from Alabama was on a sold-out North American tour with prominent festival performances at Boston Calling, Bottlerock, Governor’s ball and more.
The singer-songwriter quietly emerged as a country phenomenon through her raw emotion and sincere lyricism. The young star channeled painful home, school and societal situations into her music, and is open and honest about issues such as depression, mental health, and addiction.
Jessie Murph has been an avid music lover from a young age. “I think for as long as I can remember, I just always loved it," she said. "I grew up in a musical household, so music was always around. Ever since I was really little, music was always my passion. It’s always been something I have loved doing and it always lifts me up.”
Her home state of Alabama had an impact on the music she makes today – something she’s quite proud of.
<div>“I grew up listening to a myriad of things, but definitely being from Alabama, there was always country music around which kind of infiltrated itself into my music a little bit," she said.</div>
Still, she finds inspiration from her favorite artists. "More similarly to the type of music I make now would be the artists I grew up listening to like Adele, Rihanna, Drake, Amy Winehouse – they’re all legends. My biggest inspirations have to be Adele and Drake! They’re not necessarily two people you would put together but in a lot of ways, they make sense.”
Rising to stardom, Jessie considers herself lucky to have had the chance to collaborate with so many different artists. She always has a hard time choosing a favorite one. “I like all of them so much – all for different reasons, too. If I had to choose a favorite, it would have to be 'Wild Ones' with Jelly Roll because of how incredible of a human he is. Getting to see him in action, seeing how grateful he is about everything, in general, is so inspiring to me. He’s a great man.”
Jessie still dreams big and loves to think of who she’d have on her dream collaboration. “My dream collab’ has always been Lil Baby or Drake! I am manifesting that.”
Named one of Amazon Music’s Breakthrough Artists to Watch and Pandora’s Artists to Watch in 2023, she released her song "Cold" shortly thereafter. A year out from its release, we chatted about its message.
<div>"The song stems from a place of having your sh*t robbed. Being heartbroken – at least one time – and then having this sort of feeling inside of you, where something flips and you go 'I’m not doing this anymore.' That’s what the song means to me. It’s a song about empowerment. About not talking to a guy anymore and writing about it.”</div>
Full of excitement, Jessie hopes her fans are sharing the feeling as she talks about her future projects. “My fans should definitely keep an eye out for new stuff. There’s a lot of new music coming out, more collaborations too – maybe an album. All I can say is that I have some exciting stuff coming out – collaborations with some of my favourite artists. Nothing’s official yet but I am really looking forward to it. I’d love to go on an arena tour eventually as well. I want to headline an arena tour. That’s on my bucket list.”
Touring has generated a lot of great memories for Jessie Murph. “I had a show in Cincinnati, Ohio and there was like 4,500 people," she remembered. "It was the biggest show I’ve ever played and it was just so so cool. I felt so happy to be alive and I felt so whole. My favorite thing about touring is getting to know all these different people every night. When I am home, I am usually kind of an introvert. I like to stay home, keep to myself and work, so getting to meet people every night – see how people live differently in different cities – is something so cool and special to me.”
Jessie Murph said getting over your fear of doing things can be the key to great success.
<div>“I always look back and think about how different life was back then. It was really daunting at first to post covers – not even because of the internet, but mainly because I was in high school and I am from a small town and people in high school can be brutal. I do think it’s one of those things where it’s kind of like a band-aid and you just have to rip it. Looking back, I’m glad I did it.”</div>
Grateful for the life she has, the singer has to pinch herself to make sure her life is real. “I definitely have massive imposter syndrome where most of the time I don’t necessarily feel like what’s happening is happening, so I still feel really normal through it all," she said. "When I am on stage and all of the people are singing my songs back at me and I am standing there, listening to them, those are the moments where I am most in awe. Music is such a big form of therapy to me and I just hope people can also use it as a way of getting things out. Everybody can take it and make it their own story.”
One message she wants to give to younger artists and creatives out in the world is to be bold. “I think, if you want to get exposure, posting on TikTok is really good for this. There’s definitely a thing at the minute with people looking down on the app but I have always found it such a good tool. There are so many stupidly talented people on the app as well.”
I asked if there is anything she would tell her younger self. “Probably not, as I am quite superstitious," she laughed. "I wouldn’t want to change the timeline, you know? But if I could say one thing and it wouldn’t change anything, it’s just to hustle for what you truly want.”
On her debut album, That Ain't No Man That's The Devil, Jessie Murph tells stories everyone can relate to even when too uncomfortable to admit. Thankfully for the world, she isn’t shy. That vigor and enthusiasm has carried over into her latest single, "Sip," which dropped last November. Keep your eye on Jessie Murph.
You can read an extended Q&A with Jessie Murph in tmrw #50. Get your copy here.
