MUSIC

Every Sunday night, Lightning 100 brings you our critically acclaimed live concert series featuring national, regional and local artists. The show broadcasts live from 3rd & Lindsley on Sundays from 8-10pm.

Siblings and best friends Jessica Lea Mayfield and David Mayfield will tour together this winter, playing 13 shows in the eastern United States.

Growing up in Kent, Ohio, the Mayfields were surrounded by bluegrass and folk music. Both David and Jessica first performed with their family band One Way Rider, traveling across the country in a 1956 tour bus once belonging to Bill Monroe, Kitty Wells, and Ernest Tubb. David began performing at age 12, while Jessica joined a few years later at age 8. Most of their time growing up was spent singing and absorbing the stories and lessons taught by veteran musicians.

By the time he was a teenager, David had won several national awards for his guitar and mandolin playing. He showed Jessica how to play a few guitar chords, and then she began writing her own songs at age 11. The two played open mic nights together, usually playing for tips. Then David got his first big break when he successfully auditioned for country artist Andy Griggs, which led to David’s first appearance on the legendary Grand Ole Opry stage.

When David was 21 and Jessica was 15, they recorded Jessica’s first EP White Lies in David’s bedroom, printing only 100 copies. One of those copies fell into the hands of Dan Auerbach (The Black Keys). After an introduction, Jessica and Auerbach hit the studio, laying the foundation for her debut album With Blasphemy So Heartfelt, on which David played bass.

Over the next two years, David continued to play bass with Jessica, as she toured incessantly in support of With Blasphemy, playing major festivals like Bonnaroo, and opening for bands like The Avett Brothers, with whom they forged a strong friendship.

During this time, David also toured as a vocalist, songwriter, and lead guitarist for the folk rock band Cadillac Sky, but it was while on the road with Jessica that the Avetts encouraged David to make a record of his own, and so he did. David released his solo debut The David Mayfield Parade in 2011, which features songs co-written with Jessica, and vocals from Scott and Seth Avett.

Also in 2011, Nonesuch Records signed Jessica and released her second album Tell Me, also produced by Dan Auerbach. The album received rave reviews from The New York Times, Rolling Stone, SPIN, and Pitchfork, among others, and led to Jessica’s network television debut on The Late Show with David Letterman. Later that year, the Americana Music Association nominated Jessica as “Best New Artist.”

Now, with new albums on the horizon from both David and Jessica, the two siblings hit the road together again.

Also performing: T. Hardy Morris