MacKenzie Porter and Jake Etheridge speak with Atwood Magazine about their new band Thelma & James, how writing together saved their creativity, and why making their upcoming debut EP feels like it’s meant to be.
“Happy Ever After You” – Thelma & James
MacKenzie Porter (Thelma) and Jake Etheridge (James) have been making music separately for a decade in Nashville.
Porter released her debut record Nobody’s Born With A Broken Heart in 2022, and Etheridge has been releasing EPs independently while also writing for the band The Common Linnets.
Their debut single as duo Thelma & James, “Happy Ever After You” (released in January via Big Loud Records), came from a night last December when Porter was feeling lost with her own music and career and asked Etheridge if they could write something together because she needed to “feel creative.” They hadn’t written together for 10 years, but as soon as they did, this is the song that tumbled out from the muse.
“I got a hole in my heart damn near the size of Texas and I think you left it,” the duo sing on their heart-wrenching, rip-you-apart break-up song “Happy Ever After You” – a part folk, part country, part-Americana eruption of raw emotion. The pair trade verses detailing the memories each carry of a relationship that disintegrated in their hands, even as they were clutching the pieces. “I got them words you said still ringin’ out, ‘I love you babe, but it’s too late now.’” The verses are so hyper-specific that you can see each like a photograph laying on a dusty coffee table. It’s no coincidence that the song’s artwork is a photograph of someone holding a photograph.
I got an old half pack of black Pall Malls
I can smoke em’ now won’t get no shit at all
I got half a mind to give you a call
But I ain’t chasin’ after you
I got a new blue Chevy in my front yard
Under the dogwood where our names are carved
And my pride’s parked in that same spot
Guess it’ll be there ’til I move
There is a resignation to the whole thing, which makes it even sadder to listen to. The harmonization between Porter and Etheridge in the chorus is where this resignation turns into longing. You can hear the ache in Etheridge’s voice as he sings the hook, and then the resignation between the two of them as they quietly sing the title, “but I got no happy ever after you.” The song is just so sad.
I got a hole in my heart damn
near the size of Texas
and I think you left it
I got a picture of you and me circa 2019
Don’t know why I kept it
I got a story I tell myself
until my face is in the blue
But I got no happy ever after you
This is the song that catapulted the duo into the spotlight, with praise coming from directions they didn’t expect. Artists such as John Mayer, Brandi Carlisle and Luke Combs have all complimented their raw and honest performance. The music video garnered millions of views on TikTok overnight. An impromptu clip turned into a viral moment, which turned into a record deal with Nashville-based Big Loud.
Following on from this magic, Thelma & James released “First Love,” which could easily be listened to as the before to “Happy Ever After You” when everything was right and good, and they were in love. The verses are just as specific but this time it’s about things you do when you’re in love.
There’s creamer on the counter
and there’s coffee on the stove
You take a real short shower
so the water don’t run cold
You crank up the car and
scrape the windshield when it snows
I outkicked my coverage
and it’s weird you don’t think so
I hear you singing in the kitchen,
watch you dancing in bare feet
You call to say “I miss you”
soon as I pull off our street
I couldn’t paint you better
even if I was Van Gogh
Punching way out of my weight class
and it’s weird you don’t think so
It may not have the gravitas of “Happy Ever After You,” but it has a sweetness and innocence that only a new love can have.
The group’s current single moves away from the gentle instrumentation and into swampy Americana and bluegrass.
“Chainsmokin Memories,” released in early May, has a red hot sensual energy to it. The instrumentation is tough, Porter and Etheridge’s vocals wrap around each other, going from husky softness to a rawness. The tempo and rhythm of the track is close to another duo: The Civil Wars’ and their hit song, “Barton Hollow.”
Good God, it’s bittersweet
It’s like cinnamon and nicotine
And I don’t care if it’s killing me
Can’t stop chainsmokin’ memories
Atwood Magazine had the opportunity to speak to MacKenzie Porter and Jake Etheridge of Thelma & James in-between them recording their new EP and looking after their young daughter. We spoke about the band’s incarnation, their songwriting process, and what fans can expect from them in 2025.
With heartbreak in their harmonies and fire in their veins, Thelma & James are just getting started – and if these first songs are anything to go by, their story is only going to get richer from here!
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:: stream/purchase Chainsmokin Memories here ::
:: connect with Thelma & James here ::
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“Chainsmokin Memories” – Thelma & James
A CONVERSATION WITH THELMA & JAMES
Atwood Magazine: Where does the name Thelma & James come from?
MacKenzie Porter: Thelma is my middle name, and James is Jake’s real legal name. Both are family names as well so when picking a band name, we were like let’s just use our actual legal names.
You both have different tastes in music, and have both released your own music, would you say Thelma & James is an amalgamation of those sounds? Or is the duo’s sound something completely new?
Porter: The Thelma & James sound is a perfect blend of both of our styles. We didn’t really set out trying to be anything we just started writing songs together and they naturally all had a sound. Jake definitely brings the indie vibes, and I always bring the country elements.
What made you start writing songs together again?
Porter: We hadn’t written a song together in over 10 years and one night in December I was having a rough night (just feeling really lost with my career and my solo music) and I asked Jake if he would write with me again because I just needed to feel creative.
I love writing songs as therapy and in that moment, I needed some therapy. We posted that song online and sorta landed a record deal that same week.
Where did “Happy Ever After You” come from? It has some really clever lyricism, and I also love how the writing is very cinematic. You can almost see it all unfolding like a film.
Jake Etheridge: “Happy Ever After You” came from that night in December. We had been kicking that title around for a while. It poured out in about 30 minutes.
When I first heard the opening bars to “Chainsmokin Memories,” it made me think of “Barton Hollow” by The Civil Wars. Where did that sound come from?
Porter: We have heard that comparison before and love The Civil Wars so take that as a huge compliment. We actually were writing a completely different song and one of our cowriters said, “man, it’s like chain smoking memories” and both Jake and I looked at each other like, “THAT’S IT!” The sound again just kinda happened. I wish we could say we were so intentional about it but really, it’s just what we started singing on the guitar.
What instruments do you usually pull out to write with?
Etheridge We usually write on the guitar and banjo! Sometimes MacKenzie pulls out the fiddle from time to time.
How has becoming parents impacted your songwriting?
Porter: Becoming parents has changed every aspect of our life, songwriting included. I think it brings such a depth to you as a person. You feel so much more when you have a kid and it’s very beneficial to feel more when songwriting.
I understand you’re in the studio working on new music, can you talk about that? Can we expect an EP or album in the near future?
Etheridge: Yes, we are in the studio working on an EP as we speak. We are working with one of our best friends. It’s been so organic and just us hanging over at his house making art. It feels so meant to be making this record.
And finally, what is a favourite lyric from one of your songs, released or unreleased?
Porter: “Loser… I knew you’d lose her.”
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:: stream/purchase Chainsmokin Memories here ::
:: connect with Thelma & James here ::
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“Chainsmokin Memories” – Thelma & James
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