On The Row: Jesse Labelle Talks Opening For Garth Brooks, New Single “Hey Rachel”
Jesse Labelle. Photo: Haley Crow/MusicRow
Canada native and now Nashville resident Jesse Labelle has performed at popular venues around Music City including Ole Red, Listening Room, and the Bluebird Cafe, but he got the gig of a lifetime in August, opening for Garth Brooks in front of 41,000 fans at Regina, SK, Canada’s Mosaic Stadium.
“One thing I took away from it is how amazing his team is,” LaBelle said during a recent visit to the MusicRow Magazine offices. “We were getting ready to play, and we were going to go on at 7 p.m. and we had rehearsed a 28-minute set, because we had been told it was a 30-minute set and we wanted to be so respectful of that and not go a minute over.
“At 7 p.m., we were ready to go and someone from his team came and said, ‘Just wait.’ We want you to play maybe 40 minutes from now. We want the stadium to be full when you start to play, and there are still people going to their seats. We want you to have a full stadium to play to.’ When does that ever happen? It was an experience of a lifetime.”
During the visit to the MusicRow offices, Labelle offered acoustic versions of his own songs, including “Mystery” and the intensely personal “Hey Rachel,” a song inspired by a low point in his life, which happened to coincide with his move to Nashville.
“I never thought the song would be released as a single,” he said. “I was just out of a relationship when I moved to Nashville and I was single for the first time in like five years. I thought, ‘I’m never going to find love.’ I was going to Broadway and drinking a lot. I went out a lot and I thought, ‘I’ll have to find somebody that will just be half of what I want.’ Then I met a girl named Rachel, and I fell in love with her but she didn’t fall in love with me. But I’ve moved on and she’s found her way and I’ve found mine and there have been some good people that have come into my life.”
Jesse Labelle with MusicRow owner/publisher Sherod Robertson. Photo: Haley Crow/MusicRow
The song will be featured on his EP, which he has been producing with Sam Ellis and will release later this year. Labelle is managed by TBA Networks’ Teri Brown.
He finished with “Somebody’s Listening,” a track he co-wrote with Rob Crosby.
“It’s a song about moving forward and prayer. I didn’t pray until about six months ago. It’s a brand new thing in my life. There have been some people that have come into my life and changed it. Prayer is a big part of that, whether it’s doing a devotional, or just taking a few minutes to feel connected. I started praying and my life started changing for the better.”
Labelle will play Whiskey Jam on Oct. 17.
Jesse Labelle with MusicRow Magazine staffers.
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