Jimmy Wayne Begins Work on Album Inspired by Meet Me Halfway Journey
Last week, Jimmy Wayne spent three days in the studio, where he worked on his highly-anticipated album which was inspired by his 1,700-mile Meet Me Halfway trek. The singer launched the campaign on Jan. 1, 2010, leaving on foot from Nashville, and arrived in Phoenix, Ariz. seven months later. The endless hours spent on foot walking through the snow, ice, heat, desert and mountains gave Wayne much to think about. When he returned home to Nashville in August, he laid low from the music scene to concentrate on writing for the project he holds close to his heart.
"I came to Nashville with certain things in mind," Wayne tells Taste of Country. "This record is what I've wanted to make since day one. It's a musical journey of what I experienced and it's music that I have 100 percent control over. It's about honesty. It's lyrics first. I think it's going to surprise a lot of people. This album is another step to the Meet Me Halfway campaign, but it's also what I love to do.”
For the album, Wayne teamed up with some of Nashville's A-list songwriters including Steve Wariner, Bob Regan, Pat Alger, Tony Martin and Mark Nesler, among others. The new project will contain tunes inspired by the sites, scenery and people Wayne met while walking along the backroads of America.
"This album and the songs are not necessarily talking about one thing in particular because my idea of writing this record is, first and foremost, it has to be the best thing," Wayne notes. "It’s inspired by this walk. It’s a record about my experience – why I walked, about the walk, the end of the walk and what I hope happens after the walk."
“I wrote songs about my experience – about walking these roads through the country,” he adds. “I learned a lot out there. I met a lot of people, I was exposed to new lifestyles, and stumbled across some stuff that you don’t learn but you are simply reminded of it.”
Much of the album’s inspiration came from the small town folks Wayne encountered along the way. “I listened to the people out there,” says Wayne. “I heard what kind of music they listen to and what their ringtones are on their cell phones. The real people out there want to hear real music with real lyrics. I shook their hands, I ate at their tables, I drank coffee with them, I laughed with them, I slept in their homes, I walked with them, and I even held one man's hand as he lay on his death bed."
"The family called me into their home as I was walking down the road in front of their home.," Wayne continues. "They didn't know me and I didn't know them. They only knew what I was doing and why I was doing it, and said, 'We'd like for you to visit our dad.' I said a prayer as we gathered around his bed. Then I left their house and continued on the walk. He passed shortly afterwards. So in my heart and in my soul, I know that this music I’m recording is what these people want to hear.”
Wayne anticipates the album being ready later this year. For all of the latest on Wayne and his new music, follow him on Twitter here.