Jessy Schram – Country at Heart

By starrymag | October 3, 2020

By:  Lisa Steinberg

 

 

Q) Quite often with Hallmark movies the setting and scenery can really be a character in itself. This one in particular, it sort of seems the same can be said with regards to music as well, especially since Nashville is such a music centric city. How does music play a larger part as a character in itself besides being a little bit of a backdrop and how it helps balance the themes we see?

 

A) I think that’s what I love about this. It’s not just this singer/songwriter that’s been struggling and then you see her struggle or find herself. Really, it’s music which is her heart is what she kind of has to renew almost and kind of reignite that love for what it is. So, music as opposed to being the backdrop really is almost the voice of this story.  In this story Niall Matter’s character…He plays Grady Connor and I am Shayna Dudson and our characters meet and through the process of songwriting and going deeper and teaching each other different ways of learning new music and just kind of remembering why they fell in love with music to start. Through writing a song they find their way, so the music really is the voice of the movie which is what I loved about it.

 

Q) It’s great that you touched on that because there are so many different definitions of love. Romantic love, or the love of a good song, or the love for music that you have really also plays so well. It’s not necessarily falling in love with someone, but it can be falling in love with a song and the way those emotions make you feel.

 

A) Yes! And to be honest, this script was kind of hard to figure out where those moments come in because the story really is about a woman who doesn’t have faith in herself anymore and has kind of lost her way and is reassessing her career and her life path and she meets a songwriter who is successful in music and they get together and it really is about kind of finding her voice and her way and connecting. The first part of love in this movie really is for music and about your path in life then because they are going so well on their path love also happens. It was really a fine line of figuring out where in the story the romance played when it comes to a couple as opposed to the love of music.

 

Q) We see with Hallmark of course there is a good deal of romantic type of love, where there are these meet cutes and you find the quirks of romantic comedies within them, it shows a love and passion for something rather than someone. I really am glad to see Hallmark stepping outside that circle.

 

A) We do! We still have meet cutes and everything like that, but it was really funny because we had to make sure to remember those parts while filming this because it really is so much about rediscovering yourself and reigniting that passion. It was funny while filming, we were like, “Wait, this is a scene about us meeting. Why do I like you? Why does my character like yours? Wait, that’s right, we need to remember to put that in there.”  Niall and Lucas Bryant, who plays Duke Sterling who is a massive part of this movie as well and the whole journey of music…And we loved doing this so much because we got to play and sing the music as well. The whole time we were just sitting there practicing on set really finding the musician part of us and then we completely forgot that when it came to acting we needed to act.  We would just be sitting there minding each other and be like, “Oh, that’s right. We recorded the song, but now we need to do the scene.”

 

Q) I know you are a musician in your own right and there are original songs that are a part of this film as well, but as an artist yourself in the sense of music, what really guides you on your path and fuels your love for that creativity and outlet that is music.

 

A) To be honest, this movie actually similar to the character was something that kind of refreshed me in the sense that music was really fun and it was such a flow to get into once we started this project. For me, a lot of the time it is very hard to do that typical Nashville singer/songwriter session of you go, “This is what I want the song about. These are the lines that get us there.” For me, with music it really comes from when I am inspired and that sometimes can be everyday or it can be a couple of years from now.  For me, music is really about that feeling and where it is coming from.  So, when I get to be more creative in other areas of my life, which I realize music becomes a lot more of free flow and way more fun for me.  I do get to song write and create and because of this movie it just kind of inspired me to keep continuing that path.  I think with music it’s something that is so close to my heart and I love doing and I love performing.  But acting is always a door that keeps opening so you get busy and you forget to go back to that thing that kind of makes your heart happy.

 

Q) Country music always has this way in telling a story in itself as well. It really can take you on a journey either warming your heart strings or tugging them to pieces much like a movie. How does that also mirror this movie as well?

 

A) Well, I guess when you look at a country song and you see that story being almost like a Reba song like, “We walk in the door. This is what happens. The chorus comes.” It has that formula of telling you the whole story. So, I feel like a country song is a movie within itself.  Through this movie we keep coming back to that chorus.

 

Q) That’s what is so great with country music you get that reminder within its messages of strength or perseverance or resilience and that’s a really big part of it. As much as you are hurting now, it doesn’t last forever and things like that.

 

A) Country music always has lessons. I think that’s what’s so great about it. It can be so peaceful at times, too.  It always has a lesson to be learned in country music.

 

Q) What do we see with Shayna in regards to the lessons she learns through the movie?

 

A) It starts with somebody that loses faith in herself and I think that she is trying to find her voice and there is a theme in the film that also plays out in the romantic aspect where she is trying to be what she thinks people want her to be. So, she’s trying to be the Dolly Parton. She’s trying to dress the part. She’s trying to sing the part. In the process of that it’s part of her, but it’s not her heart.  During this we are kind of stripping away all of those things of how you feel you’re supposed to be and then when you get back down to the root and your heart. That’s when people actually start to listen and get to see how you shine.  I think that for her, that’s the biggest lesson in the film.  Also, to follow your heart. That you can balance things. That you can follow your dreams and it doesn’t need to be one thing.  You can have a relationship, you can have your family and you can still follow your dreams whatever they may be.  You can have it all.  You can figure out how to balance.

 

Q) This film really does set such a great tone that you can have what you want when you figure out that balance. Romance doesn’t have to be exclusive of one another. You can bridge them when you find balance.

 

A) Yes. You think about…I was a child actor and so much of your life you go, “Well, you’re working so you can’t do cheerleading. You don’t want anything to distract you.”  Then, it’s like I responded so much to this character like I feel like so many women and men do.  So much of your early life you’re chasing that thing and you forget that life passes you by while you’re so focused ahead.

 

Q) So much as a child we really don’t have much control of where our path leads us, and we forget to stop and just enjoy where we are and what we are doing.

 

A) Or even if it’s what you want to do when you get there. I think there is so much of you always building to where you want to be and then you are there and it’s like, okay, what’s next? So being present more is a lesson that I’ve learned in life and I think that through this story that’s definitely there, too.  Don’t look so far away from just what’s right in front of you.

 

Q) There is some original music we see throughout the movie from The James Barker Band and wanted to talk about where you used your spring board from?

 

A) James Barker Band took the storyline and our characters and what we were going through in the movie and wrote more along the storyline of it. So, they were like we actually have a song right in front of you. When I said it I was like, “Oh yeah, don’t look so far past right in front of you. I am standing right here. You want everything that I am, but you are looking so far passed everywhere. You think it’s so hard when really it’s so easy. I am standing right in front of you.” When he developed the concept for these songs, I believe it came from this storyline and where the characters were going throughout the movie.  I know when I sit down and I will write a song towards a movie, that’s usually the same thing.  You take these characters and you think about what they are feeling and where they are at, and you try to think of that larger storyline in mind.

 

Q) I wasn’t sure if you had cowritten the songs with them or the songs were picked for the movie ahead of filming.

 

A) When I signed on, they already had the songs picked out I think from a week before they were still writing them. When I signed on, they literally just crossed their t’s and dotted their i’s and sent it along. From there we all sat down and were like, “Does this make sense? Does this actually feel right to the story?” The collaboration on my part was more just bringing my voice to it and who I thought Shayna was from the storyline and bringing that.

 

Q) You also are going to be releasing some of your own original music and kicking off with a new single called “Do I Dare.” As a music artist what really pushes your boundaries, and what is it really about a dare that just lets our walls and guards down and allows us to give in to what we normally wouldn’t give ourselves permission to do?

 

A) Oh gosh, that is a great question! I feel like when somebody says “I dare you,” instead of it being such a freefall there is almost this path and this tunnel and these couple of walls and it’s like, “Okay, now that I have a dare, I have permission to go do this thing in the world that I was scared to do.” I feel like when you’re dared it’s scary, but it’s still a certain bit of permission for you to kind of leap almost when someone dares you.

 

When it comes to pushing the limits or widening the boundaries, I think in all artistry, or at least for myself, I think it’s all very scary when it’s one thing to be writing it down or spit-firing from your head or really feeling yourself on whatever you are doing then to bringing it to other people and really seeing if it vibes with them or if they can relate to it.  I feel like whenever it comes to music or acting or art of any sort, for myself at least, everything is pushing the boundaries because whenever you share you’re putting yourself out there in a different way.  I think it’s hard for me too when you put something out there it marks a period of time of who you are in that moment. For me it’s been more kind of expanding my mind of kind of going, “Yes, that’s me in the moment, but it’s also this, this and this.”  So, it’s become more fun to kind of share and solidify art in a different way.

 

Q) Will there be more songs than “Do I Dare?” Will there be an EP eventually?

 

I am really hoping for an EP soon. Right now it’s just the single “Do I Dare” and that was something that I cowrote with my friend Willow Stephens.  We are just excited to put that out and play around with each other in that way in songwriting.  I just need to find the right partners in crime to help me produce my EP, so I am hoping in the next year there will be some more coming out.

 

Q) They say that music heals and we certainly could use a great deal of healing right now in the time we are in. What do you hope that viewers take away from watching this movie?

 

A) I hope that people can feel inspired and that they have got a soft place to land and that their hearts feel full and a little more reignited after watching the movie. I hope that there can be a general feeling of taking a breath and finding some creativity within themselves whatever that may look like.