There are very few things as creatively satisfying and affirming as having your first artistic outpouring brought to completion and released to the world.
For Northern California native Drea Jeann, the release of her first two singles, Faithfully and Come Back to Me, are the fulfilment of a lifelong dream, but also the start of what will undoubtedly be a successful and rewarding career as a vocalist of unique charm and delivery and as a burgeoning soulful pop artist.
“Faithfully was my first ever song to drop and it was in September of 2019. It was the first thing I have ever put out and it didn’t feel real at the time. It’s not like anything crazy happened it was just that all of a sudden here’s my voice and my song out there for everyone to hear. It was super exciting and just crazy for me because I dreamed about doing this since I was three years old, since I could even open my mouth to sing, I have always wanted to do this. I just didn’t know how or what to do or how to go about it,” she said, the enthusiasm still reverberating through her voice.
‘Everyone in my life who knows me well knows that I sing and that I have been wanting to do this forever. So, it’s been really exciting in that respect too for other people to see that I am starting down this path and pursuing my dream. It was incredible to hear my song and now consider myself an artist – it was very surreal.”
A connection through a family friend led Jeann to work with Emmy-winning producer/songwriter/mixing engineer Eddie Wohl, with the relationship not only bearing creative fruit almost immediately, but also helping Jeann get a first-hand experience of what the music industry is like from the inside.
“Eddie has worked with a lot of really big heavy metal bands [Anthrax, Fuel] and rock bands, and a lot of different artists. I think I am one of the first pop artists that he has been working with full time lately. He was interested in my voice. He produces a ton of different stuff and music is music at the end of the day and he appreciated the sound that I had and wanted to work with me and see where I went with it,” she explained.
“So, I came down to Los Angeles and met him and I stayed at an Air BnB near his place and we just wrote and bunch of songs in that first week. We both realized it was working well and that I ended up being pretty good at writing, even though I haven’t really written anything before. Our working relationship progressed naturally from there. And I like being in L.A. It’s where the magic happens really. I went to Pepperdine University, so I already knew this place and what it had to offer.”
As a kid, Jeann was immersed in vocal lessons, and theatre from an early age, becoming a proficient musical theatre and jazz combo performer and has brought the technique, experience and discipline of that training into the pop world, which is why her voice sounds so polished, poised and powerful on Faithfully and Come Back to Me.
“I always did talent shows when I was in elementary school and middle school. I was raised in a non-denominational Christian family and was really involved in the worship choir and the more I sang, the more I loved it. I just loved to sing, and people seemed to enjoy my voice and that’s when I realized I might be able to make my life doing this,” she said.
“Then I was really involved in performing stuff in high school as well. I would watch American Idol all the time as a kid and would dream of going on that show and releasing my own music and performing for a bunch of people who show up to hear me and hear what I have to share. Every time I would go to a concert in those days, I was so determined to be up on that stage someday.
“From American Idol I became a really big fan of Carrie Underwood and she was my first concert ever. I always loved her voice and her performing, and the fact that she also came from a small town background and was able to achieve what she wanted to. Another early inspiration that was really big for me was Ariana Grande. I used to watch her in the show Victoria and there was once an episode where all the characters were singing and she had literally 15 seconds of singing on her own, and I just paused it and went back and forth over and over again replaying it. I showed it to my mom and said, ‘this girl is going to be insanely famous; her vocals are crazy.’ And that was like 10 years ago and now she is one of the biggest pop stars. I followed her ever since then, all of her YouTube videos – I listened to all her songs and memorized them. I guess another one is Tori Kelly: her runs and the way she sings is just phenomenal. Those are my top influences.”
Singing other people’s songs is one form of expression, as it allows the vocalist to interpret the melodies and meanings in their own way, something which Jeann has already proved herself quite adept. Expressing your own thoughts, experiences and feelings through your own compositions is a challenge that she has taken on with gusto, ever since hooking up with Wohl and becoming more enmeshed in the L.A. music scene.
“When I first came down here and started working with Eddie was the first time, I hadn’t really written full songs. I always had melodies in my head, and I would write them out and I would play piano and try to make something out of them, but it was never a full song and never went anywhere. But I have always been into poetry and writing in different ways, so the desire has always been there,” she said explaining why its important for her two write or at least co-write her own material.
“I am such a firm believer in communicating and being self aware and processing and understanding how I feel about life in my day to day actions. There is nothing more rewarding than putting exactly how you feel and what you mean and what you want to say out there, in perfect phrases that all go together. It’s just a great feeling to be able to communicate exactly what you mean to others, and songwriting is a great format to do that. And it’s difficult to do. It’s hard to write something super original these days. It all comes down to the core of how you think and who you are and how you’re able to express that through your words and through your songwriting abilities. It’s definitely a skill that I will always been working on.”
Jeann’s expressive vocals and newfound songwriting chops are at their best on her first two singles, especially the plaintive and exceptionally lovely composition, Faithfully.
“It’s about a long distance relationship. I have been in numerous long distance relationship – it’s almost comical how I am always ending up in long distance relationships. I am in one right now, my boyfriend lives in Ireland, which is a bit far. We’re figuring it out, but it’s a lot of work. I have been in long distance relationships before, with someone in Switzerland for a while, and someone in San Jose when I was down here going to Pepperdine,” she explained.
“So, it’s about that feeling that you have when you can’t be with someone and you really want to, and remaining faithful to them, because it’s hard.”
Come Back to Me is also about relationships, but on the darker side.
“It’s not about anyone specifically, it’s just about toxic relationships in general. I have had a few toxic relationships, but the song isn’t about anyone specifically that I was writing about. In the song I am saying ‘come back to me to them because when you’re in a toxic relationship. It’s this back and forth of ‘I want to, but I don’t want to,’ and ‘I know you’re bad for me, but I still want you to come back to me.’ I think that’s what a lot of people can deal with.”
As she continues to work hard at honing her craft, Jeann said she and Wohl will continue to produce new singles fairly regularly for the rest of 2020, hopefully culminating with an EP or full album. As well, once her repertoire of original songs grows, she will start to perform live and allow music loves to hear her delightfully jazzy interpretation of modern pop music.
For more information visit https://dreajeann.com.
- Jim Barber is a veteran award-winning journalist and author based in Napanee, ON, who has been writing about music and musicians for a quarter of a century. Besides his journalistic endeavours, he now works as a communications and marketing specialist. Contact him at jimbarberwritingservices@gmail.com.
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