Grand Ole Opry Member, Musician Jamie Dailey Shares His Passion for Music

Backroads and Backstories with Paul Bailey

Some of the highlights of the show include:

• Jamie Dailey is from Gainesboro, Tennessee. He grew up around music because his father was a local singer and a musician.
• “I think that's very important to not forget where you came from...I love the people in Jackson County and the Upper Cumberland.” -Jamie Dailey
• COVID has forced musicians to be innovative with how they are holding concerts and performing. Jamie is hosting an outdoor socially distanced concert at his own property.
• Next year, Dailey & Vincent are hosting the first ever Cumberland Riverfest.
• Jamie is raising money to build a performing art center for the community in the Cumberlands.
• Dailey & Vincent have their own TV show on the Circle Network. The network just signed a deal with Dish.
• Soon, the Grand Ole Opry will start to ease audiences back into the country music venue.
• Jamie was the first to surprise musician Jake Hoot and invite him to play at the Grand Ole Opry.
• The Upper Cumberland has a long history of musicians. Jamie says that music is in their blood.
• “My point is, you have to do, and play, and sing music first because you love it. If you truly have a passion for it, and you truly love it, the rest will come.” -Jamie Dailey
• Jamie played music with Doyle Lawson for 9 years. They won vocal group of the year for seven years and had six Grammy nominations together. They wrote 34 songs together total.
• Last June, Jamie had issues with his vocal chords and had to see a specialist. His voice came back after 4 months of working with specialists.
• In Dec. 2016, Dailey & Vincent got to celebrate their 100th show with a 30-minute music segment.
• Jamie says as Americans we just have to fight the good fight.

Links:

• Dailey & Vincent: https://www.daileyandvincent.com/
• Dailey & Vincent TV Show: https://www.circleallaccess.com/show/daily-and-vincent/

Transcript:
Announcer: For the politics of Nashville, to the history of the Upper Cumberland, this is the Backroads and Backstories podcast, with Senator Paul Bailey.

Sen. Bailey: Welcome back to the podcast. I'm your host, Senator Paul Bailey. In today's episode, we have Grand Ole Opry member Jamie Dailey, from the bluegrass and country music duo Dailey & Vincent. Welcome to the podcast.

Mr. Dailey: Thank you, Senator, good to see you again.

Sen. Bailey: Well, we're so happy that you joined us today. And you and I became friends a few years ago through, really some legislative processes, as well as my assistant, Miss Brandy. And so, became very good friends, especially knowing that you came from Jackson County. So, I'd like for our listeners to learn a little bit more about you and about you growing up in the Upper Cumberland in Jackson County and just kind of introduce yourself to our audience.

Mr. Dailey: Well, I'm Jamie Dailey from Gainesboro, Tennessee. And Gainesboro is a beautiful little town nestled in the hills, north of Cookeville, about 20 minutes south of Celina, if you will, near Dale Hollow Lake and on the Cordell Hull Lake. I grew up above the Cumberland River and the Roaring River Park, right there is where I grew up. And my dad is a musician and a singer, locally of course. He's 74 now, but when I was growing up, I was around music a lot.

And I remember standing above the river up there, singing to the top of my lungs, working “9 to 5,” Dolly Parton’s song. And a few years ago, Dolly had us come to her office, she was singing on our Christmas record and we were singing on three or four of her records, to, and I told her that story about growing up in Gainesboro and singing “9 to 5” and she says, “Well, what did you use for a microphone?” And I said, “A stick.”

Sen. Bailey: Right.

Mr. Dailey: And that's how we grew up. And of course, she thought that was funny. But growing up in Gainesboro was a huge blessing for many reasons. The way we grew up there, we didn't have a whole lot. We didn't know that we didn't have a whole lot, but everyone knew everyone.

It was fun. When you were in town, sometimes you would hear the church bells ringing. I wrote a song about that called “Back to Jackson County.” We rode horses on the riverbanks and through the river bottoms, picnics on the riverside, we did that a lot. It was just a great American way of life. And when I go back there, I still have a great sense of that same life. It’s like you almost step back in time a little bit.

Sen. Bailey: Well, one thing that you alluded to was the song that you've written about Jackson County, and that's something that has really impressed me about you and about your success is that you've not forgotten your roots. You've not forgotten where you come from. And also, where you and I first connected was the fact that you have a heart for Jackson County, Gainesboro, as well as the Upper Cumberland, and you have been working very hard to try to bring economic relief, economic recovery, health care relief, to the Upper Cumberland and especially to Jackson County. And I just think that that speaks volume about who you are as a person in that, as someone that has become a member of the Grand Ole Opry, you still come home: I think you're spending your weekend in Jackson County this weekend, and I just think that's admirable, and I appreciate that very much and your hard work for the people in Jackson County.

Mr. Dailey: I appreciate that. And I appreciate how you've always been there every time we've called. And it doesn't matter if I call you—we have a good team of people in Gainesboro that's trying hard, from our county Mayor all the way down to the people working on the city. And a young man named Jordan Hunter down there that's helping very hard.

And every time we've called you, you've never not answered, and you've always called us back and you've taken time for us. So, I commend you for that, and Upper Cumberland is very lucky to have you in their corner and helping. And as you know, we are living in a most unprecedented time, as I said recently in a graduation commencement speech to socially distanced graduates in Jackson County. Two of the things that I talked about was we are living in an unprecedented time, and it is important for those students, I believe, to not forget where they came from, no matter how successful they are. We can all come back and try and help the community and give back when we can.

And I think that's very important to not forget where you came from. But I love the people in Jackson County and the Upper Cumberland. And you know, Senator, I played all over the Upper Cumberland. As a kid, I had a mattress in the back of my Blazer, my old Chevy Blazer that I bought bagging groceries. And, you know, you could get out of town in it, you couldn't get back in town with it [00:05:09 crosstalk]. [laughs].

But I played all over and stayed in the back of my blazer, and played contests and festivals, and Lester Flatt d...