In The Blood
Jade MacRae
Feature Interview
At the end of Jade MacRae’s “Out of Sight” video – the swampfunk, southern soul-slanted first single from her recently released album In My Veins – she appears in a flowing tropical dress, walking barefoot along the tarmac of a flyover, disappearing into the sunset. An evocative ending that, in both title and concept, reflects the struggle of a self-released, independent artist trying to be seen and connect with the music-buying public – without a label behind her.
“I’m just really trying to keep my artist career alive at this point,” says Jade via video call, the serene backdrop of her Crooked River Ranch home in Oregon behind her, as she takes a break from packing her suitcase for the next leg of bluesman Joe Bonamassa’s tour – her full-time gig (between albums) as one of his long-standing backing vocalists. “It’s not easy. I’m completely independent. There are elements I love – making my own decisions creatively and all that… but, y’know, it’s tough.”
Released in autumn 2024, In My Veins is Jade’s fourth solo album – and second self-released. It initially slipped under the radar but is now receiving its due: Soul Album of the Month in Echoes Magazine and a nearly sold-out three-date UK tour, put on by promoter Mark Ede. And the reason for the overdue attention is that In My Veins is a two-steps-from-the-blues, rich, contemporary soul classic – the kind that sounds like it was recorded in America’s Deep South, not New South Wales, Australia, where it was actually made. It builds on the sound she carved out with her previous indie release, the ‘50s rhythm & blues-infused – yet deeply soulful – Handle Me With Care, a natural progression given her ties to Bonamassa’s blues-iverse.
Before that, her career began under the glare of Australia’s pop spotlight, signed to Sony BMG with the R&B single “So Hot Right Now” – a Top 20 hit that earned her urban music awards and a stint on the primetime TV show It Takes Two. “I guess I was a celebrity of sorts,” Jade says, wryly. “When the label signed me, their thinking was like, ‘How can we commercialise you?’ It was the early 2000s – Destiny’s Child, club bangers, you know the vibe – and while I like that stuff, it wasn’t really me. That’s what the label thought they could sell, but I’ve always been a soul singer. Even before the R&B stuff, I was writing and singing soul music.”
“I’ve always been a soul singer.”
While performing in the States, some US-based friends stumbled across her early catalogue online. “They got very excited about it,” she laughs. “So, I ended up throwing in a little ‘So Hot Right Now’ for a bit of fun. But, um, no, that old stuff is sort of in the past.”
Jade still works with keys player Clayton Doley and singer/friend Mahalia Barnes, who co-wrote the standout R&B track “Feel” from her eponymous debut – both part of the crack team of Oz’s finest players on In My Veins, recorded at Freight Train Studios in Sydney. Alongside co-producer and bassist/guitarist Ben Rodgers – “he was the anchor point,” says Jade – are Clayton’s funk-brother Lachy Doley on keys, James Haslewood and David Dimes on bass, Kirk Fletcher on guitar (who is credited with a guest feature on “Out of Sight”), Hamish Stuart on drums, a brass section of saxophonist Matt Keegan, trumpeter Nick Garbett and trombonist James Greening, plus vocal support from Mahalia, Karen Lee Andrews, Bek Jensen, Prinnie Stevens, and Ben and Mahalia’s kids, Ruby and Rosie Rodgers. Jade also brought in her own family: mum Joy Yates, a revered jazz singer; dad David MacRae, a jazz-rock pianist (and former MD for The Goodies); and her brother, drummer/DJ Moses MacRae aka Scruffs.
“I probably didn’t realise it when I was a kid, but my parents were world-class musicians,” says Jade, wearing a white roll-neck and pale dove-grey cardigan, looking relaxed – her usually buoyant, frizzy hair tied back – as she bites into a slice of toast. Born in London, she was at primary school when the family moved to Sydney to be closer to their New Zealand homeland, while still able to find work. “Jazz was huge in [my parents'] lives, but I guess I was always exposed to a lot of sophisticated music from a young age.”
She vividly remembers the moment soul music took hold.
“My parents had friends over for dinner and there was music playing,” Jade recalls. “I must’ve been ten or something, and my dad said, ‘Can you guess who this is?’ and I said, ‘Is it Stevie Wonder?’” She starts laughing. The answer was Donny Hathaway – they were listening to “Someday We’ll All Be Free”. An educated guess if ever there was one, with Donny’s vocal stylings so influential to Stevie, post-’60s.
“Hearing that song was such a clear memory for me,” Jade adds. “The classic soul singers of the ‘60s and ‘70s are really where my heart lies. I remember hearing that song and just being in a trance.”
“The soul singers of the ‘60s and ‘70s are where my heart lies.”
Music was in the blood. Jade learned piano at three; she also has a violin. “Not a Stradivarius or anything,” she laughs, admitting that while she loves making string arrangements, she doesn’t hone her chops as much as she should. Her 18th-century French-made violin – not a mutton-shanker by any means – lives at her parents’ house in Sydney.
At five, she had to adapt to new surroundings – a new country and school. “My mum said when we got to Sydney I basically didn’t speak for three months, but then came home one day and had an Australian accent.”
The accent wasn’t the only thing that made her stand out. “I was sort-of-brown in a very white school, y’know? That, along with the accent and being a musical, gifted child – all these things made me different. But I’ve come to embrace all of that, finally, in my 40s,” she laughs.
Through a high school friend, Jade got the chance to tour and sing with Hungarian piccolo bass player and singer Jackie Orszaczky. “He’s since passed away, but he was a really respected funk and soul musician in Sydney. He taught me how to use my voice properly. Harmonically and musically, that was a transformative phase for me.”
Touring with the band, she discovered Curtis Mayfield (especially There’s No Place Like America Today), James Brown, the JB’s, Marva Whitney and Lyn Collins – and started digging into rarer finds passed along by her bandmates.
“It was a massive learning curve, really understanding the fabric of this music we love.”
It was with the release of Handle Me With Care that Jade finally found herself on the path closest to her heart. Eight years had passed since her second major-label album – the more dance-oriented Get Me Home – had quietly disappeared, and life had grown chaotic.
“My pop career had failed, and then Dune – the experimental electronic project I’d been working on with my husband – ended when our marriage ended. It was not an easy break-up. At 37, I moved back in with my parents.”
“My pop career had failed… then our marriage ended.”
Salvation came in the form of Joe Bonamassa.
“I’d done one tour with Joe in 2015, but my ex didn’t want me to continue,” she says. “Then they called again in 2017, and this time I could say yes. I’ve been full-time with Joe ever since.”
While on tour, Jade’s bandmate Paulie Cerra lent her his keyboard – and the spark returned.
“I was in a hotel room and wrote Handle Me With Care in thirty minutes. It just came out. That was the start of me thinking, ‘OK, maybe I do have something.’”
(Watch the solo piano version Jade posted to YouTube and you’ll feel the soul pour out.)
All geared up for her new album, Jade released the single “I Choose Love” on Valentine’s Day 2020. But weeks later, COVID hit and Joe’s tour was cancelled. Everyone was sent home. With Australia’s borders closing and her US visa in limbo, Jade and her partner Alex – also in Bonamassa’s crew – found themselves stranded.
“My friend Mahalia joked, ‘Y’know, you guys should just get married!’ We laughed. Then we paused. Then we all said, ‘Oh…’”
The newlyweds lived in a trailer on a friend’s drive for over a year, with Jade unable to tour while her green card was processed.
“I had nothing to do and I was stuck in the US, so I thought, ‘Well, I’ve got this record – I can’t just sit on it.’ We had no idea how long the stay-at-home thing would last. So I decided to go ahead. It probably wasn’t the best decision, but it made me feel like I was being myself and gave me some purpose. It was such a weird time.”
It was in that trailer that In My Veins was born – beginning with the gospeldelic, Moog-laced, funky-soul title track, which pulls no punches in its assessment of lockdown:
“Will we make it through? We’re living through the darkest of the day.
See the blue through my window, but it’s out of my reach, darkness lives in my veins.”
“My high-school friend Dave Symes, who I used to play with in Jackie Orszaczky’s band, reached out,” says Jade, settling onto her stool. “He was checking in on people during COVID when it was all really dire. He sent me this little groove – just bass and drums. Pretty raw, but the end production wasn’t far from where it started.”
Much of In My Veins was written during that period of hardship and, like the best art, reflects the mood of the times – staying optimistic (“Eyes to the Sky”), facing the climate crisis and what we’re leaving behind for future generations (“The Reckoning”), and the emotional weight of Black Lives Matter (“How Can We Live”).
“It’s indicative of where, not just me, but everyone was at. There was a lot of uncertainty. It was very challenging.”
In the midst of it all, the brutal killing of George Floyd compelled Jade to write “How Can We Live” – a solemn, impassioned track that could’ve been lifted from Donny Hathaway’s 1971 self-titled album.
“It started with George Floyd, but honestly, it could be about Gaza, Ukraine, climate change. There’s so much pain – the song’s about all of it,” says Jade.
The vocal was recorded four times, including a session at Sunset Sound in California, before Jade settled on a take she’d done at home.
“I was like, ‘Oh, this is great – I’m going to have part of my record done at one of my favourite studios in the world.’ But nope – didn’t make the cut. The one we used, I recorded at home. It sounded the worst, but the feeling was right.”
By then, they were living in the home they’d built at Crooked River Ranch, near Bend, Oregon – a spot perfect for Alex’s love of fly-fishing.
Arguably the funkiest track is the furious, thick slop of “Shots Fired” – that beautiful thing where soul, rock guitars and horns all jam together on the one.
“I haven’t really talked about this yet,” says Jade, hesitating slightly. “Not publicly anyway. Somebody accused me of something that absolutely wasn’t true – about my intentions toward a friend’s husband, of which there were none. But it escalated and bled into my life. It had nothing to do with me – it came from issues already there between them. It just felt so unjust. The seed of the song was like, ‘This is fucked – this has nothing to do with me.’”
Still in the orbit of the couple, I ask if they know the song’s about them.
“I don’t think so…” she says, smiling somewhat impishly.
“It sounded the worst, but the feeling was right.”
The excellent, brooding “Early in the Morning” also feels like it hits close to home, with a scorched guitar solo from Bonamassa matched by Jade’s soul-stirring delivery.
It was bassist Calvin Turner – once compared to Motown genius James Jamerson by session legend Rob Bacon – who gently pointed out how heavy the material had become.
“I was in the final stages of the record when we connected. We share a lot philosophically – he encouraged me to take up Brazilian jiu-jitsu, which I love. Anyway, he goes, ‘I love your music, but you’re such an optimistic, positive person. I’d love to hear a little more of that. Allow yourself to shine.’”
So the album became a tale of two halves, says Jade.
“I think in times like that, we need a pick-me-up too. I think of Motown, of Marvin Gaye – in real turmoil, they rose above it and brought joy and hope.”
It makes sense that her mum, Joy, would inspire the upbeat “A Little Joy”. She also appears on the record.
“She really is a huge inspiration,” says Jade. “She became an in-demand singing teacher in Sydney – that teacher-slash-therapist-slash-guru to a lot of people. She’s just this force of positivity – someone who lifts everyone around her.”
“In times like that, we need a pick-me-up too.”
The album enjoyed a slow reveal, with “Out of Sight” landing a year before release, followed by the bluesy “Rose Coloured Glasses”. Versions of both appear on Jade’s new EP Live at The Carriage House LA (out June 6th), with the latter getting a particularly funky workout.
In the meantime, Jade keeps going, juggling the demands of touring while also playing in Australian super-funk band Mondo Freaks, whose album drops later this year.
“I just have to do things when I can – there’s no machine behind me,” says Jade, wearily. Like she has no choice in the matter. Her burden and her blessing - a calling: “It’s a labour of love.”
