“Plumbline” by Jamie Drake is one of those songs that I was swept away with upon the first listen. I love songs that remind me of Emily Dickinson poems: a beautiful idea that is instantly transferred to the listener upon the first hearing, but that over time unravels itself to reveal something deeper. That’s what this song is like – simple, soothing, and sweet – and then as it unfolds itself listen after listen (and you begin to understand what a plumbline actually is) – the song becomes deep, substantive and classic.
The song is weighted with the foundation of the low-end finger picking, which is perfectly balanced out by Drake’s vocals and dreamscape of a slide guitar. Besides the way it sounds though, I think one of my favorite things about this song is the way it is sung. Drake sings the song like she would speak it; it’s a conversation with the listener.
Here is Drake’s description of the song: “I’m not sure where I heard the term – probably back in my youth group days – but when I was writing this song I had just come out of a very long and seemingly permanent relationship and was experiencing a new one for the first time in what felt like ages. It was an exciting and horrific time, so what else did it do but breath some much needed inspiration into my writing? A plumbline is defined as ‘a line from which a weight is suspended to determine verticality or depth’ before building the foundation of a house – making sure that everything is ‘plumb’ or balanced. I used this as an analogy for building a balanced relationship – not exactly like but similar to a story that Jesus tells about ‘one man building his house upon the sand, and another man building his house upon the rock,’ and which one do you think stood when the rains came?”
Plumbline | Jamie Drake
Drake’s next LA show is at the Ventura Folk Festival being held at Mission Park in Downtown Ventura on August 20th and 21st. Her set will be on Sunday, August 21st around noon.
For more information on Jamie Drake:
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