Jillian Jacqueline Creates Anthemic Closure in ‘God Bless This Mess’

“That song was the catalyst for me when we were in the studio to realize that the record kind of felt like it was shaping me as an artist versus me as the artist shaping the record," she shares with SLN.

Written by Kelly Brickey
Jillian Jacqueline Creates Anthemic Closure in ‘God Bless This Mess’
Jillian Jacqueline; Photo Credit: Patrick Tracy

Jillian Jacqueline found beauty within the chaos of life and faithfully used her voice to portray that revelation in her latest single, “God Bless This Mess.”

Writing with producer Tofer Brown created a starting point for Jacqueline. But it wasn’t until Lori McKenna came to the song’s rescue and lifted the group up to where the lyric needed to go. Using her intuitive ability to trigger the standout line of, “Here’s to the broken, the misfits, the wannabes,” Jacqueline sensed an emotional pull and the words flooded out from there on.

The personally inspired track fell into their laps, and Jacqueline realized “God Bless This Mess” would drive her forthcoming record into full gear with all the vulnerability laid out on the table to create.

“That song was the catalyst for me when we were in the studio to realize that the record kind of felt like it was shaping me as an artist versus me as the artist shaping the record. That song was so honest and so universal that it really took ego out of it and it became so much more about just relaying a message. I think it’s so important as an artist to be able to step back and be like, this isn’t really about me. It’s about a story that I’m telling that hopefully will reach someone else. That song feels like that to me. We put it on the record and now it’s one of my favorite things to play,” Jacqueline told Sounds Like Nashville exclusively during a recent phone interview.

While Jacqueline started to end her sets with the poignant track, fans reacted positively as if they could relate exactly to the rawness ensued throughout the lyric. But it was the nods from her colleagues and friends that made Jacqueline realize “God Bless This Mess” was on a deeper level that she’d ever creatively reached before.

“A lot of my friends, like other artists – obviously from your peers, that’s the highest compliment,” she explained. “I’ve had a lot of artist friends text me or call me like, ‘This song. I cannot stop singing it.’ It actually feels very personal with them. When your friends like songs for a living and they tell you they like something you’ve written, that’s a huge deal. I really take that very seriously, and it’s a huge compliment when other artists respect what I’ve done.”

“God Bless This Mess” serves as a follow-up to other Jacqueline releases, such as the foot-stomping “Bleachers” and the heartbreaking “Hate Me.”

Fans can listen to “God Bless This Mess” and other songs from Jillian Jacqueline on streaming services now.