Category Archives: Jimmy Wayne

By all Nash Vegas accounts, North Carolina singer/songwriter Jimmy Wayne comes from the wrong side of the tracks. Born in 1972, he was abandoned by his father at a young age and raised by a troubled mother and in a series of foster homes when she was in prison. On his 15th birthday he saw his stepfather shoot his stepsister three times, paralyzing her, and survived a murder attempt by the same man. He entered, and then ran from, a county home and became a homeless youth who did what he had to to survive on the street. His encounter with a neighborhood couple led them to give him a job and a place to live, and conspired the pillars of his final foster family. With Beatrice and Russell Costner, Wayne was able for the first time to indulge his love of music, which included Hall & Oates, Alan Jackson, Lionel Richie, Ronnie Milsap, Iron Maiden, Queensrÿche, and Judas Priest. He formed his first band, called Fantasyche, and began taking material seriously.

When Beatrice died, Wayne finished high school and became a prison guard at the Gaston Correctional Facility. An inmate who made an anti-drug presentation using a guitar during a school assembly had influenced him greatly. Wayne visited the inmate for songwriting advice and went to work at the prison while studying criminal justice at a local community college. After finishing his associate’s degree, he exited North Carolina for Nashville.

For three years, he worked at Acuff-Rose writing music alongside Dean Dillon and Whitey Shafer, at a time of polishing his playing and singing skills. during this time he co-wrote Tracy Byrd’s Top Ten smash “Put Your Hand in Mine,” with Skip Ewing. Wayne signed his own deal with DreamWorks Nashville in 2001, after being courted by producer Chris Lindsey and James Stroud. His debut was put forth in June of 2003 and placed a single in the Top Ten before release. “Stay Gone” was a Billboard country hit. It was came by “Paper Angels,” a narrative of Wayne’s own life in the street and those he encountered there, “Blue and Brown,” about an encounter with a foster brother who became an inmate at the prison where Wayne worked, and a devastatingly honest revenge fantasy entitled “The Rabbit.” Given the timing of its release, Wayne’s album turned a small industry buzz into a wildfire of publicity and speculation about the new directions he was using in country songs and pop, which the industry glommed onto with desperate hope. Nashville’s identity dilemmas in the early part of the millennium created a crisis at radio and on CMT, leading the industry into a tailspin due to cookie-cutter performers singing mediocre music. Wayne may be pretty, but he is substantive and presents an entirely new twist on the entire country tradition. Billboard, country music, and even the Country music Foundation took an early and large interest in his career.

Jimmy Wayne Talks Paper Angels

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Jimmy Wayne Interview About His Book, Paper Angels. Thanksgiving is just around the corner and Christmas is close behind! This time of the year is one of my favorites for many reasons. It is a time filled with family, friends and love. I find that many, not all but many, have a spark in their hearts around this time. People get the bug of thinking of others and not just themselves. I recently read a book that embodies that sentiment in more ways than one. Paper Angels by Jimmy Wayne and Travis Thrasher is a book that has the Salvation Army’s Angel Tree program at its’ epicenter. I had the opportunity to talk to Jimmy about the book and I learned a lot! Many of Jimmy’s beliefs and the things he stands for come from his personal life experiences. You might call Paper Angels partly-fictional, in that it’s a made up story, but the characters have been influenced by real life people. “I never wanted to right a fiction, I’ve always been a nonfiction kind of guy,” Jimmy said. “I wanted it to be real things I experienced. I couldn’t steer far from the truth, that’s just the way I am.” Thomas, one of the main characters in the book is strongly based upon Jimmy’s sister. Thomas looked out for his younger sister, Sara, just like Patricia looked out for Jimmy. “She was a kid going on grown,” Jimmy said of Patricia who still looks out for him while be a mother to children of her own. There are bullies in this story (Vic) and there are kind people (Carlos), both of whom Jimmy dealt with growing up. This book takes you on an emotional, year-long journey with two families dealing with struggles that happen every day. As soon as you think you know what will happen next, you are thrown by an unexpected act of kindness. The ending might throw some people, but Jimmy is fine with that because that’s how life is. So the question is, will there be a second part to Paper Angels? Jimmy said that there is a possibility! I’m sure many are happy to know, Jimmy has not given up on his music career. With the help of Pat Alger, the two have wrote an entire album and are planning and shopping the record around to people in the industry. “I want to put it out, but it has to be done with the right people,” Jimmy said. We can all respect that! We will just have to wait patiently for Jimmy’s next release. Whether it is a new book or album, we’ll be ready! Until then, Jimmy is continuing to be an advocate for at risk youth and the foster care system. I suggest you pick up a copy of Paper Angels, it will be one you will want to re-read each holiday season! For more information on the Salvation Army and their services click HERE.