Elaine Davis

Magnify

One dimensional journalists are old news. Longtime editor, writer, photographer, designer and web guru, Jamie works tirelessly to stay on top of an industry that is shifting beneath him –“combin[ing] creativity with a message that's compelling and coherent,” he says. While Jamie is a "crusader" for print, he is excited to learn how to merge old ideas with new digital technologies. "I don't have any problem with user-generated content,” says. "I want as many people as possible in on the conversation." Jamie's media philosophy transfers soundlessly to his role as Interim Music Director at Mountaintop Community Church in Vestavia Hills. Their "progressive" approach to worship lends itself to a nonexclusive creative freedom and a wide musical repertoire. Jamie calls it "communicating a message in a way that [doesn't] have any fences around it." Same message; different tune. "As long as the base is there, communicate by any means possible, by any means necessary," he says. What's your favorite thing about reading skirt!? It's just smart... too many gender-specific magazines bow to the gender stereotypes. skirt! doesn't do that. I feel like I'm learning something real about women when I read it. What's your favorite thing about wearing a skirt? Taking it off, and putting my jeans back on.

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Family: Jamie and his wife welcomed their first son, Sully, into their family almost a year and half ago. “I’d love if he’d start taking guitar lessons now,” Jamie says.

Magazines: While Jamie is not adverse to newer forms of digital communication, he says that “there is still something exciting about having something tactile.” What does he read? Vanity Fair and Esquire to name a couple. “I want to hold that. I want to take that to lunch with me,” he says.

Education: As a double major in Communications and English, Jamie started out with an intent towards Broadcast Journalism. “I had a very good teacher that was very honest with me,” he remembers “and finally told me that I had the face for newspapers. Brutal, but it was actually good advice.”

Music: Along with several others, Jamie is part of a band called “Wait Five,” based on the idea that if listeners don’t like the music they play, they can essentially wait five minutes and see if they’ll like the next selection. Jamie describes their style as a “schizophrenic’s iPod on shuffle.”

Movies: Jamie has varied taste in movies, with no small appreciation for cartoons. The Little Mermaid was among his favorites -- even before he had a child. “I think that as a writer,” he says, “if you can’t appreciate what Disney lyricists do, then you probably need to go back to J-school. It’s phenomenal the way they twist words.”

Church: He is a believer in using culture to communicate messages. For that reason, Jamie would refer to his church in Vestavia Hills as progressive. “I think the best way to describe it,” he says, “is it’s sort of a church without walls. It’s one of the most inclusive places I’ve ever attended. This was very new to me to be able to think of communicating a message in a way that really didn’t have any fences around it.”

Work: Jamie likes to have his hand in a little bit of everything-- and not just because he’s trying to make himself an indispensable employee. Even when in a management position, Jamie likes to know the ins and outs. “ I want to know what people who work for me do. If they drop the ball or if they have too little respect for me to actually do it, then I can pick up and show them how.”

Regrets: “One of my biggest regrets is not being able to play the guitar, because you can’t take a piano to the beach and play for the girls. I was always envious of that guy with the guitar on the beach.”