Artist: Jess and the Bandits
Release: Hey Girl
Release Date: 8th March
For Fans Of: Carly Pearce, Lauren Alaina
“I related to it so much and knew others would too. I was barely two lines in when I said yes to it!”
Jess & the Bandits hit the right notes with their brand-new release, telling the story of single women across the World – perfectly timed to coincide with International Women’s Day.
Lead singer, Jessica Clemmons, was barely two lines into the demo of Hey Girl when she knew this was a song she had to record. Passed to her by co-writer and producer Femke Weidema, the track documents perfectly the journey Jess herself had taken throughout her younger adulthood, with friends, family members and acquaintances questioning her position as a single woman without any children.
“As far as we’ve come as a society, there is still this pressure for women to get married and have children by a certain age. Men don’t seem to have this same expectation. With events such as International Women’s Day becoming a permanent date in the yearly calendar, it’s great to be able to celebrate this, but also to acknowledge the journey taken by so many young women, many of whom I am sure will relate to this song as I did.”
A top songwriting team of Femke and Phillip Lamonds (Lee Brice, Blake Shelton, Darius Rucker & more) have created a tale that is relatable to so many women. The vulnerability lent to the song by the vocals and the delicate production leave the lyrics prominent, reaching the heart of audiences across genres. The chorus “maybe even God can’t turn a woman into something that she’s not” struck a chord with Jessica who, whilst she knew God ultimately had it under control, sometimes found it hard to see, whilst living through that pressure.
Recorded in Jess’s native Texas, production was done remotely by Femke Weidema, based in Nashville.
Hey Girl is the second single in a new era of Jess & the Bandits, following on from Emotional Baggage released in November ‘22. With children now old enough to travel, the band wowed the UK on a candlelit Christmas tour in December last year, and, having previously played festivals such as Country 2 Country, Cornbury, Isle of Wight, is thrilled to be returning imminently, with more tour plans in the making for late 2023 and an EP in the works as well. Smoke & Mirrors (2017) marked the last Jess & the Bandits (non-Christmas) album release and with a much larger UK country scene awaiting them now, they are well up for the challenge!
Previous success in the UK has seen support from BBC Radio 2, ITV, Channel 5 and The Independent, as well as playlist positions on CountryLine Radio and Absolute Radio Country.
Catch Jess and The Bandits at Country to Country this March!