Artist Interview: Jamie Kearney
- Aug 14, 2025
- 3 min read
Jamie Kearney is a musician, singer-songwriter, and co-founder of the Iowa City group Pigs and Clover. With a strong background in poetry, she plays guitar, bass, and drums, and self-produced her first solo EP featuring the song Good Graces. Her work blends indie rock, folk, and alt-country, delivering songs with powerful lyrics and emotional depth. We got the chance to catch up with Jamie and ask these questions:
Was there something or someone who was the "catalyst" for you to go into music?
To be honest, I had a less than idyllic childhood and I lacked a creative outlet to express myself and heal. When I found music, it fulfilled that function and then evolved into a passion. One of my earliest love interests was a songwriter/musician who inspired me to learn to play guitar. Participating in the University of Iowa Undergraduate Poetry Workshop for several semesters naturally fueled my lyric writing. After college, I joined my first serious band -- an all-female, alt-rock group where I played bass guitar, sang background vocals, and co-wrote songs. After that ended, I continued to write, learn and grow musically.
Let's get this out of the way. What is the craziest thing that has ever happened in your music career?
I haven't had much crazy happening with music, thankfully, but my partner and I have been involved in various kinds of activism over the years and have written several social justice songs, so we’ve been invited to play at events under unusual conditions. We’ve played outdoors in the middle of winter on ice and snow, and we’ve played in the woods at night on generator power for an encampment involved in protesting a fossil fuel pipeline in our state.
What has been the highlight of your music path? The highlight of my music path has been collaborating with my husband, Matt, in our band, Pigs and Clover. We both sing and write songs, but we’re very different kinds of writers, which keeps the music diverse and interesting. I love that our band features more than one primary writer and one primary voice. We complement each other well, and people often comment that our voices sound good together. We also have two very talented musicians backing us on bass (Sam Price) and drums (Eric Madison). Eric also writes songs and has started bringing them to the project, which is exciting. How do you approach songwriting or what is your creative process like? It varies. I’ve started with a catchy guitar hook or chord progression first and then added lyrics and melody later. More often I start with words first--thoughts or ideas I want to express--then craft the music around the lyrics.
Do you have a new release? My band, Pigs and Clover, is working on a new album now that we plan to press to vinyl and that will likely be released early next year. We completed the live tracking in studio and are finishing up overdubs now. The record will feature two of my newest songs.
If you could share the stage or a song session with an artist, who would it be? Tough decision. Among the living now, Neko Case or Ani DiFranco – I’m a superfan of their songs, styles and personalities. Among the dearly departed, John Prine.
For fans who have never heard your music, how would you describe your sound?
A blend of indie rock, folk and alt-country, with strong lyrics that take listeners on intimate journeys through time and space, seamlessly transitioning between personal stories and universal truths.
What is your favorite part about being an artist? Is it songwriting, performing, producing...something else? Songwriting and producing. After learning to use a digital audio workstation (Reaper), I got hooked on doing my own recording and production, and I produced my first solo EP this way. I appreciate the element of control it provides. If I want to spend days perfecting a guitar or vocal track, or reworking a song entirely, I can do that without the strict time/money constraints of studio recording. The production of “Good Graces” began with me at home with a computer, guitar and a few good mics. Thereafter, other musicians added overdubs and the tracks were professionally mixed/mastered along with three other songs on my EP.
When you are not doing music, what else do you enjoy doing? I love going out to see other live music in my community, reading (mostly nonfiction), gardening, kayaking, walking our dog, watching hummingbirds at the feeder.
What is coming up in the future for you? The new album my band, Pigs and Clover, is working on now. In addition, we’re about to spend a day in the studio recording one of Matt's songs that will be featured in an upcoming documentary film based in Iowa.
