Songwriter
“He doesn’t sound like he’s trying to be good. He just IS.”
Jamie Purnell’s award-winning musical storytelling takes his audiences on an emotional journey. For almost 30 years, Jamie has honed his musical vocabulary to infuse his character-driven narratives with just the right evocative finger style guitar groove and warm tenor vocal tones to suit whatever story is at hand.
Kate Campbell has labeled Jamie’s songwriting voice “authentic”, adding “He doesn’t sound like he’s trying to be good. He just is”.
After two acclaimed albums, Two Different Towns, & Whippoorwill, Jamie yearned to stretch his artistic muscles. The vivid nature of Jamie’s style lends itself well to collaborative multi-media projects. Animator/Illustrator Nicole Taylor, who directed his video the 2011 single, “Boy Next Door”, has now collaborated with Jamie on his first full-color children’s book, Proud Penguin.
Based on one of Jamie’s most popular tunes, Proud Penguin is the story of a penguin, who wishes he could fly, who meets a seagull and learns a secret that changes...EVERYTHING!
With each chapter in his musical journey, Jamie has played festivals, clubs, parades, music stores, and radio and TV programs from Carolina to California, and he has shared stages with such singer-songwriter luminaries as Brendan James, Kristen Hall, Jonathan Byrd, Jim Bruno, Maurice Tani, Aireene Espiritu, and Wes Collins.
Based in the Los Angeles Area, Jamie eagerly looks for new stories to write and seeks new musical adventures waiting around the bend.
ACOMPLISHMENTS
- Song "Proud Penguin" named Semi-finalist, International Songwriting Contest, 2017
- Appeared on "My Carolina Today", WNCN-TV
- Featured Participant, Anthem Singer, Raleigh St. Patrick's Day Parade, 2009-11
- Song "The Right Time" chosen 'Honorable Mention' in American Songwriter Magazine's Lyric Contest for Nov./Dec. 2011 issue
- Finalist, 13th Annual NC Songwriter’s Co-op Song Contest
- Co-wrote with well-known Nashville songwriter, L. Aschmann
- Co-wrote song “A New Day” and performed it with the UNC Loreleis, an all-female a capella group, for a marriage proposal, Valentine’s Day, 2011
- Opened for nationally-touring artists such as Brendan James, Kristen Hall, and Martha’s Trouble
- Song “Anybody’s Guess” licensed for Uwharrie Vineyards website 2006-08
