Life & Work with Jade Hilton

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jade Hilton.

Jade, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I’ve been making music since I was a child.

As a child, I played piano, and violin, and sang in musicals. When I got to high school, I taught myself how to play guitar, and that’s when I started writing songs. Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran, Maren Morris, and Kacey Musgraves were some of my biggest inspirations growing up. I knew I wanted to make a career out of writing songs and performing.

I was also playing tennis competitively and ended up earning a full athletic scholarship to play tennis at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. I moved from my hometown of Toronto to Illinois for four years. It was an amazing opportunity, but I was always longing to take my music career more seriously.

I played music in college bands and would perform all over campus. After I graduated in 2018, I began releasing music consistently and building a following on social media. This year, I released my first full-length album to much success, especially in the country music market.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I don’t think pursuing music is ever a smooth road.

One of the biggest struggles as a musician is financing projects. After paying for studio time, session musicians, producers, visuals, and marketing, releasing music is very costly.

Also, during Covid-19 it was an extremely difficult time. I lost all of my performances and pretty much all of my income as a musician. However, I am grateful I made it out and am still releasing music!

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a singer/songwriter. I specialize in both areas as a singer/performer, and as a songwriter.

When it comes to songwriting, I think what sets me apart is my ability to put diverse yet catchy melodies together. I listen to a lot of different genres of music, and this definitely has an influence on my music.

Also, living in Toronto which is a city dedicated to pop, hip-hop, and R&B, and then living in Illinois and being surrounded by a lot of country music, definitely had an impact on my overall sound as an artist. I would describe my music as a fusion of a few different genres.

But ultimately, I see myself as a country/pop artist.

Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
If we’re talking about Nashville, it’s all about the music! It’s amazing how much music is rooted in the culture of this city. It’s amazing to have such a large network of so many talented musicians.

What’s not to love. I guess the downside of that is it is really competitive, and often there isn’t enough paid work for all of the musicians living in Nashville.

I would say living in Toronto is also a similar situation.

Contact Info:

• Website: jadehilton.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jadehiltonmusic/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jadehiltonmusic
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/jadehilton21
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNi5JhxynXEXsjtvXq5urVw
• SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/jadehilton/sets/unrequited-album-songs

Image Credits
Frank Lin and Jack Roy