“Erin started singing when she started talking,” says her mother and manager, Lisa Jamieson. This might sound like the hyperbole of a doting parent, but when you listen to Erin Jamieson’s music, it’s easy to believe. The 17-year-old Maple Grove singer-songwriter has the pure tone and confident delivery that sounds ingrained from birth.
In 2011, Erin won both the talent and the songwriter awards at the Gideon Media Arts Conference and Film Festival. Her winning song, called “Hope for the Broken,” granted her a chance to record a CD at Lamon Records in Nashville; the CD Without the Dark was released in February 2012.
To call Jamieson a budding songwriter and performer isn’t quite accurate, since Erin wrote her first song when she was just nine years old. “I had always loved to sing and play piano,” she says, “and when my Mom shared a song that she had written when she was younger, I wanted to try it myself.” Erin didn’t know where to start, so she opened her bible and quickly wrote a song based on Psalm 22. Then she added chords and a melody. It worked. She was off and running.
Jamieson’s father had a part in her artistic awakening in his school days as well. A singer and former saxophone player, he played a wide range of music in the family home, from the Beatles to classic Christian bands such as Michael W. Smith. Erin still listens to a lot of music, and names Amy Grant as one of her particular inspirations.
Her two sisters are important pieces of Jamieson’s creative process. She grew up singing and co-writing songs with her older sister Alex, who is studying Music Business and Management at Augsburg College. Alex is one of Erin’s greatest champions and collaborators, as well as a frequent advisor regarding contracts and marketing.
Jamieson’s younger sister, Carly, has a rare chromosomal disorder called Angelman Syndrome. “Carly has taught me a lot about compassion and has shown me a new way of looking at people in need,” says Jamieson, “even when it is hard to have a sibling with disabilities, remember the blessing that your sibling is. You may sometimes think that it would be so much easier if they were just a "normal" kid, but do not forget that God made them exactly the way they are for His perfect purpose…God sees the big picture and knew exactly what He was doing when He put you in your sibling's life—and them in yours.”
Jamieson plans to follow a career as a professional singer/songwriter. She will attend Belmont University in Nashville TN, one of the few schools in the country that offers a songwriting major. “Writing songs feels so natural to me, I feel like I was meant to do this,” says Jamieson, “and though I’ve never kept a journal, my songs act as a sort of journal throughout my life.” Often, it is the struggles in life that prompt Jamieson to write a song, such as when her father was laid off from his job in 2010. But her main objective is always to offer a sense of encouragement to push through the hard times. “I want to give people hope and make sure they know there is somewhere to turn when they are stuck and lonely.”
One of the things that Jamieson marvels at is the generous encouragement that has always surrounded her. “Many people told me that the songwriting business is hard, but no one ever told me that I couldn’t do it.” Jamieson aims to bring hope to others in the way they have done so for her. “I want people to hear how much my songwriting means to me and I hope it will mean something to them, too.” It’s clear that music is embedded in Jamieson’s heart and soul for good—hers, ours, and the world at large.
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Musical Markers
2008
Self-recorded Something Good,” a song written at age 13.
2011
Recorded The Sister Project CD with sister Alex. The CD included one song they wrote together called “Mystery,” which was inspired by Alex and Erin's sister, Carly, who has Angelman Syndrome.
2011
Awarded talent and songwriter awards at the Gideon Media Arts Conference and Film Festival.
2012
Fundraiser for Joni and Friends Area Ministry in Minneapolis.
2012
CD release concert for Without the Dark, recorded at Lamon Records in Nashville, Tennessee.
More information and music available at erinjamieson.com; music available at iTunes or Amazon
