Putting Feelings Into Words — Bree Jaxson’s “Make Me Hate You”
Bree Jaxson is an independent country music singer and songwriter from Baltimore, Maryland. Her music incorporates elements of rock, pop and jazz within the country genre. While music is her passion and lifelong dream, Jaxson has spent the last eleven years serving in the military. Her experiences throughout life have taught her that music can help you get through anything and that is what she is hoping her fans will get out of her newest music releases.
Musical artists from your home state of Maryland include Billie Holiday, Frank Zappa, Toni Braxton, Good Charlotte, and Brothers Osborne. Which local artists did you grow up listening to?
There are a lot of great artists that come from my home state. Aside from the famous icons you have listed above, I grew up listening to a variety of music from Dru Hill and even to Logic the Rapper.
United States Air Force Afghanistan Combat War Veteran. Deputy Commander for Cyber Space Operations for the TXANG. What drew you to join the military?
If I am being completely transparent, I was headed down the wrong path and needed some direction in my life. However, once I entered the military the camaraderie, the pride in serving my country, and the selfless acts of helping other people is what has kept me still serving eleven years later.
Getting back to your roots in music, which included watching live music and getting the inside recording experience at a young age. Your first single was “Kryptonite,” which you shared “was written from a point of daydreaming … (about a) woman being adventurous and finding her weakness.” What inspired you to write the song?
You hear on the radio all the time “risky” songs about men and I wanted to turn it around and give a female’s perspective of a fun, flirty, risky song that they could put on when they wanted to day dream about something other than their everyday life.
“This song still breaks my heart every time I hear it. I wrote this from a very vulnerable and confused place. My husband and I were separated at the time and couldn’t figure out whether to pull the trigger on divorce. We knew we loved each other, but it wasn’t working. Nothing major had happened between us we just couldn’t get on the same page and I remember after seeing him, feeling like I wish he would do something to make me hate him so this choice would be easier and that’s when I wrote a song about it.” How did writing “Make Me Hate You” help you work through your conflicted feelings?
It allowed me the space to sort out exactly what I was feeling and figured out how to put it into words. At the time there was so much chaos going through my mind I couldn’t see a clear path in either direction. After writing this song, it was easier to express my thoughts and feelings more clearly to my husband which allowed us to work through the hardships we were facing.
Realizing your musical dream to be played on the radio. Can you describe what it felt like to hear 95.9 KRFF This Side of Country spin your single on air?
It was the most magical and satisfying feeling in the world! That moment relished a sense of pride for me that I have never felt in my life. To work towards something for so long and to put so much hard work into this dream and hearing it come through my car speakers finally felt like some sort of validation, that everything I had done so far was worth it.
What can fans expect on your upcoming EP, This is Me, due out later this year?
This record will encompass all aspects of my life and who I am. My latest single “Make Me Hate You” will be featured, as well as four other songs that range from sadness, to happiness, to inspirational and everything you can feel in-between.