Jessica Martindale has been singing since she could talk. “I remember watching Bodyguard with Whitney Houston, when I was like six or seven, and that was a game changer. I absorbed it all. I could sing to THAT many people!? YES! Boom. Found my northern star,” she says.

Following that star saw her moving from Southern California to Nashville to pursue songwriting, but somewhere along the way, she got waylaid and worked as a behavioral therapist and HR employee. It took a big leap of faith for her to go back to music full time and develop her soulful, folky jazz sound.

In August, she’s set to release her full-length, but until then, we have to be happy with her track “Walk The World,” which premieres on Myspace today. Having sung the track in refugee camps in Kurdistan, Iraq, safe houses in India and to audiences all over the United States, Martindale knows it transcends language barriers and cultural differences. Ultimately, she says, it’s a song about “the love that would travel to you no matter the distance. No matter how long it would take to get to you or you to them. … And, in my opinion, love and music are two things that make sense no matter where you are.”

Hometown: My family moved around a lot, but Marion, NC and San Clemente, CA feel most like my hometowns.

Homebase: Nashville, TN

When did you know you were going to be a singer-songwriter?

Apparently I told people when I was three years old I was going to be a singer when I grew up. Any chance to sing in front of a crowd—I was there. As I grew up though, fear started settling into my bones and I would have moments of courage to go all in, then would have a bad experience and all too quickly would take it as a sign I should do something else.

I graduated from UC Irvine with a degree in cognitive sciences but still performed. I was playing in Tulsa, OK and some country songwriters, Dean Dillon and Scotty Emerick, were playing downstairs. They came up after their set and listened to all of my jazzy little tunes and told me about the indie scene in Nashville. If it weren't for them, I wouldn't be where I am today.

I lived with my parents for a year pinching pennies and moved to Nashville in 2010, knowing one person. Knowing nothing about country music. Had an awesome six months run. My car broke. Then suddenly I was broke. I got a job in sales, then recruiting, then HR, and found myself three years away from music, living in a town full of it. The moment I got real with myself was when I started going to counseling and realized how strong the fear of failure held onto me. It made me mad. So I changed. I quit my safe job. We downsized into a much smaller home. And I've been pursuing music for three years now. I'm all in.

Did you learn anything from being in HR that you put in your music?

What I learned from being in HR is work ethic. I was surprised at how many people don't know how to work and then realized—what if that's true in the music industry too. What I've found is more people in music are so driven by passion I am in good company that pushes me beyond my limits. What I also learned is, if you don't take things too personally, it's amazing how much more can get done. My music is not me. It is a piece of me. An extension. It is honest and real. But it is simply an extension. It's easy as a musician to get your pride so mixed up in it all you lose sight of what you're actually doing.

Why is your song called "Walk The World"?

My friend Anelda Spence and I co-wrote this song. We tend to be drawn to writing dark songs together, so she brought her guitar-ukulele to our writing session in order to inspire a different flavor, and I can honestly say this song just came to us. We wrote it in less than an hour.

We have both lived abroad and are drawn to global images and thought, so our hook is, “I'll walk the world with you, 'til there are holes in my shoes.” It's a happy, summer, love-each-other song.

Do you remember the first song you ever wrote?

I wrote a real winner called "Love Me Like I'm Yours" when I was eight. I think one of the most genius lines was "Let's be together now. To have and to hold." Rich.

Who are your musical heroes and why do they inspire you?

Man, there are so many. I grew up listening to everything from Boston to Mariah Carey. Red Hot Chili Peppers and Incubus were my jam for at least a decade. I am drawn to everything from Jack White (genius musician) to Carla Bruni (soothes and delights my soul in a real way). Brandi Carlile (um, yes, to everything she does) to Jill Andrews (so easy to listen to). Lone Bellow (have you seen their live show?! Igniting.) to Adele (who doesn't dream of singing like that?). The common thread: real music. I love when people use real instrumentation to create sound.

How did you end up in Nashville from North Carolina and Southern California? How did your travels influence your songwriting?

My dad's job took us from North Carolina, to Vienna, Austria, to Oak Park, CA. Though I had lots of friends in California, I felt pretty alone. My family life was all out of sorts, so I processed life at the piano. I figured out how I felt about things in the solitude of that season. Then...Nashville. Everything about Nashville is community-oriented, including writing songs. In Nashville I have learned how to focus my songs. California was an explosion of emotion. Nashville helped me funnel it.

What's the craziest thing a fan has ever done for you?

Showed up to a show three hours from her hometown and sang me one of my own songs. It was actually pretty awesome.

What's your songwriting process?

Every song is different. Sometimes it's a scheduled writing session that I prepare for in the car on the way to the write (thank you voice memo). But my favorites are written late at night when the house is quiet and I can just get lost in it. I'm a morning person by nature, so something about writing at night silences the inner-editor.

If you were a hashtag, what would you be?

#givemejuice ...I really like fresh juice.