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From The Desk Of Jessica Lea Mayfield: Guitar Pedals

Jessica Lea Mayfield joined her parents’ bluegrass band when she was eight. In her teens, she did some recording with her brother, privately releasing an album under the alias Chittlin’ in 2007. That led to recording with Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys and her official debut, With Blasphemy So Heartfelt, which came out in 2008, when she was 19. That well-received album presented Mayfield as a moody, rootsy singer/songwriter of precocious talent, confirmed by its follow-up, 2010’s Tell Me, also produced by Auerbach. The new Make My Head Sing…(ATO) will surprise listeners who expect a third set of Americana-style folk rock. It’s a grungy power-trio album that places Mayfield’s calm voice in a squall of her electric guitar. Mayfield will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our brand new feature on her.

Pedals

Mayfield: Excess and obsession are two phases I go through with everything I like in my life. Two years ago, I bought my first guitar pedal. It was an Electro Harmonix Memory Boy. Now I’m always swapping out pedals in my pedal board and changing things. I like to get stoned to the bone and mix and match different sounds. Buying them can become addicting. Like my Beanie Baby collection, except those don’t make cool noises when I step on them. I’ve gotten a few of the newer Electro Harmonix ones, some boss dudes, but I’m really into old, harder-to-find shit: original non-digital sounding guitar pedals. Guitar center tone can be a pet peeve of mine. I guess I’ve turned into a purist that way.