MY ED START
Singer Jamie was first to sign to pal Sheeran’s record label and says he’d be up for singing at star’s wedding bash
PRINCE Harry may want Ed Sheeran to sing at his wedding but the Galway Girl star has his own nuptials to arrange.
And he may not have to look far when sorting out the entertainment for his wedding to Cherry Seaborn.
Jamie Lawson, 42, from Plymouth was the first person signed to Ed’s Gingerbread Man Records and they are big pals.
He said: “I’m very happy for him. Ed can probably have any singer he wants at his wedding so I very much doubt I’ll be on the list. But if he asks…”
Ed, 27, is known for his loyalty and the pair have known each other since struggling on the London acoustic scene.
And while he is now a huge star, he has continued to help the Wasn’t Expecting That singer achieve his own dreams.
Jamie said: “We met on the circuit in London at The Bedford in Balham. We played a Christmas show together.
“It was one of the first times I’d played Wasn’t Expecting That. He told me he liked the song, I told him I thought his song The A Team was great and that was that. I didn’t hear from him again for five years.”
Jamie released his debut album Last Night Stars in 2006 and follow-up The Pull of the Moon in 2010 to little fanfare.
In 2011, he released Wasn’t Expecting That and it was picked up by an Irish radio station and hit No3 in the Irish charts. He released third album Wasn’t Expecting That but while it reached the Irish top 10, it didn’t dent anywhere else until Ed saw the video and got in touch.
He asked Jamie to support him on tour and signed him as the first artist on his Gingerbread label. Jamie said: “It felt good to know that Ed thought my songs were strong enough to hold up to the attention.
“When Wasn’t Expecting That won an Ivor Novello Award for best song he was kind of justified too.”
Wasn’t Expecting That was re-released in 2015 and reached No6 in the UK and the following year he picked up the Ivor Novello gong – beating Ed.
Gingerbread released Jamie’s self-titled album and it topped the chart.
But memories of the occasion are a bit hazy. He laughed: “I drank. I was in a pub in Belfast listening to a trad band.
“I was on tour with One Direction at the time, it was all pretty weird. I remember going into an HMV a few days later and seeing the record at No1 with Ed at No2.
“It was surreal. I tried to take a selfie with it on the shelf and got told off by the security guard.”
Jamie knows what being linked with Ed means to his career. He said: “I wouldn’t get to do shows like Jonathan Ross without the Ed connection. He’s pulling deals all over the place, but that’s what record labels are supposed to do and he’s not afraid to do it.
“He gives advice on the songs he likes or arrangement ideas but more often than not, he lets me get on with making the music I make. That’s why he signed me in the first place because he likes what I do.”
As well as Ed’s X tour in 2015, Jamie supported One Direction that year for their On the Road Again Tour.
He said: “I went on tour with Ed and slept badly for two months.
“It was my first time on a tour bus and I could not get used to it. I’m better now though, thankfully.
“I enjoy touring a lot and as an opener, it’s very interesting to see the levels of excitement in the room for an act from one town to the next.
“Ed’s always interesting to watch. One Direction fans were incredibly loud and very kind to me. I think a few have stuck around and followed me so that’s great.”
Last year, Jamie released his fifth album Happy Accidents. It includes Can’t See Straight, which he wrote with Ed, who also added some keys on A Little Mercy and backing vocals on Sing to the River.
Jamie got married at the end of 2016 and the title of Happy Accidents is about how he met his wife.
He said: “She was going to see a stand-up comedy show and walked into the wrong room and I was playing. She sent me a message saying I wasn’t very funny but I was pretty good so hooray for happy accidents.”
Jamie starts his own tour on Thursday at Saint Luke’s in Glasgow.
He said: “It’s good to be headlining. I’m really looking forward to it.
“The crowds are great. My fans seem to be incredibly kind and gentle and if we didn’t know each other through music, we’d probably be friends, which is lovely.
“I love Glasgow, there’s always a great crowd up for singing. It always seems to be freezing. I should try to get there in the summer but I doubt it’ll be much different.
“I think I have Scottish roots on my father’s side, but I’m not certain. I should probably look into it one of these days.” ● Jamie plays BBC Radio Scotland’s The Quay Sessions on Wednesday and Saint Lukes, Glasgow, on Thursday.