Chastina ThamOn the verge of his 40th birthday in 2015, Jamie Lawson went from a relative unknown to a chart-topping recording artiste, and he had Ed Sheeran, who’s 15 years his junior to thank for his meteoric rise.
The two British singer-songwriters met at a folk-circuit gig in London in 2010 before Ed scored his own big break with “The A Team” in 2011. In the next few years, Ed went on to open for Taylor Swift, sold more albums and clinched 2 Grammys while Jamie continued writing and performing his acoustic-based folk ballads. They lost touch – completely. But when Ed was going to start his own record label last year, he thought of Jamie – the guitar-wielding musician with a smooth, velvety voice.
“I got a text out of the blue one day to hear that Ed’s asked me to open his show. I was surprised he still remembered me,” Jamie told Ngee Ann Polytechnic’s Radio Heatwave when he was in Singapore to promote his self-titled album. He was then invited to meet Ed again.
“Meeting him for the second time, I just went to say hello and congratulated him. I never went for any other reason than that,” Jamie added. “So for it to lead to him telling me that he was starting a record label and he wanted me to be the one, it was crazy.”
With Ed’s endorsement, Jamie was instantly thrust into international limelight. The earnest musician’s self-titled album snagged the top spot in the UK Official Charts the week it’s released, knocking Ed’s bestselling album X to second place.
“That was a good week. I think he was pretty happy about it – it must be good for him as the label boss to have his artist go to No. 1 in the first week,” Jamie said, adding that his success wouldn’t do Ed any harm. “For some reason, Ed seems to take more enjoyment and delight in when I do well than when he does well.”
While the pair wishes the best for each other, they will still be going head to head for song writing accolades at the upcoming Ivor Novello Awards. What are Jamie’s odds of winning? Watch snippets of his live showcase here and gauge for yourself.
https://youtu.be/m_LEN3CDp-I
Jamie Lawson performed a new track and gave a tribute to Prince at his Singapore Concert at Hard Rock Cafe on April 27.
Photos courtesy of klix Photography