Zoee: Double E Delight

I have heard of the Double E before. Warren Zevon introduced me to this type of train. I have never tried to track down the Double E until today, which might refer to the New York subway or it might refer to a very fast express train, or it might refer to an extra large type of locomotive. Anyway, Dylan also sang about the Double E. It might not be any of these things.

I lay my head on the railroad tracks
And wait for the Double E
The railroad don't run no more
Poor, poor pitiful me
(Warren Zevon)

None of this is all that relevant except to say that Zoee most definitely always ends in a Double E. Zoee is incredibly talented and so unique she might actually be the only person on earth like her. [Isn't that what unique means? Ed.]

So this a profile of an old soul called Zoee from Tasmania. She grew up there and began racing dirt bikes. She was riding in an endurance motocross race when she had a terrible accident. I watch a lot of motor racing and I always watch the bikes through clasped fingers. Especially the Isle of Man TT. Once you have seen grown men flying through the air like rag dolls, coming to rest in a pile of broken bones, it does something to your nerves. I find it appalling that something like that must have happened to Zoee. She looks like butter wouldn't melt. But I know a lot about Australia and I know a lot of Australians. They have that knack of looking innocuous (or even friendly) just as they beat seven shades of shit out of you, wrestle you to the ground, stand on your throat and then buy you a beer. And no, that has not happened to me. Not yet.

So after she slipped into my DMs, Zoee sent me her next single which I will write about when it is released on June 13th. Her full album is coming out on Independence Day, which for UK readers will be July 4th, just a normal Friday. Although, are we allowed to mention in passing that perhaps America would have turned out better as part of Britain? For now, we have several older tunes and a couple of singles from the new album to listen to. Get going. We'll wait for you.

I can say after listening to quite a few of these, quite a few times, that Zoee defies categorisation. I called my Substack Tennessee Vibes because I did not want to nail it to any particular genre mast. So many of the artists I have profiled bend and jump the genres anyway. Music is music at the end of the day, but all of the acts I profile engage my ears in the same way.

This applies to Zoee too. She's not yet thirty and has only been in Nashville a couple of years. But I think that something in the sunshine or in the water of Australia breeds a similar approach to life. If you have crossed continents to follow your music, lived in your car, worried about money, worried about starvation perhaps, then you're something other than normal; something very exciting actually. This is not a normal experience, such self-inflicted poverty, and it is unusual to find people willing to voluntarily put themselves through these circumstances.

So when you find someone who has done all of this, and nearly died on a bike track, you start to realise that these experiences forge a steel core in the mind. Once you have hit rock bottom and bounced back, as so many of these musicians sing about doing, you know you can bounce back again. I have done this myself two or three times now. Hit a deep low, recognised and accepted the situation, stood up, dusted off, and gone again. It feels hard at the time but you know that once you're out the other side you will have new strength. There is nothing in this world more powerful than flashing your vulnerability in public. It keeps you humble, keeps you grounded, and even better, other people see it and admire it. It's not an easy thing to do that first time. It does get easier. But it is never easy. And the vast majority of people, the non-artists, those sweet muggles, run a mile from this exposure. Zoee is someone who will always run towards danger and damn the torpedoes.

I think I am ready for Wendy now. This song seems to be talking about Wendy in Peter Pan, but of course it is not. Zoee is obviously Wendy. Neverland almost looks like New Zealand on the page but in this case is Tasmania, Australia. You might know that Tasmania is a small island situated close to Melbourne, which when you look at the globe is the arse end of nowhere. What Wendy / Zoee is saying is that she should not have left Neverland, but what she really means is there are some days when she wishes she really had stayed in Australia aged 16. What a life she seems to have. Nobody else would agree that leaving Australia was a mistake. I am also writing about the Memphis singer Savannah Brister and her song Limbo Land has an identical sentiment: when she was 12 she wanted nothing more badly than to be 24. Now she is 24, well, 12 looks great!

Tasmania has English town names in the same way that America does. Launceston, Devonport. There is a Manchester in Tennessee. In fact you can see Zoee there on June 28th! Australia and America are both the products of English colonialism. Perhaps not today, so long after the fact, but the deep history still connects us all. There is a reason we all speak versions of English and there is a reason that some of the Sydney subway looks like the Bakerloo line in London. The tiles on the wall were made in the same factory. Even their tube map and its fonts look like London's Underground. All of this put together means that Zoee would have felt just as at home in London or Edinburgh as in Nashville. She didn't settle in Paris, did she?

Zoee knows she was not destined to stay in Tasmania. All of my Australian friends are people I worked with in London. The best Australians, like the best Americans, suffer the wanderlust. They are not willing to travel merely with their minds. Like Caroline Cotto did at 22, Zoee up-rooted to Europe. But Zoee brought her whole family. I cannot imagine my family doing that for my ambitions, however much talent I showed.

Zoee Q&A

I had such a blast getting to know Zoee recently and she kindly offered to do an email Q&A. She gave such brilliant answers that I will hold half of them back to coincide with her single release on 13th June. Here are the first five.

Which song on the new album means the most to you and why?
Right now, it’s my next single I Could Complain — it comes out June 13th! It’s such a fun one, and I find myself dancing to it around the house. But beyond that, I really believe in the message… The world feels chaotic sometimes, but there’s still so much to be grateful for. I needed that right now, and maybe some other people will need that reminder too.

Favourite shoot for one of your videos?
Oooh, it’s my next one actually… Stay tuned 😉

Favourite thing about London?
London has this beautiful tension — it’s chaotic and magical at the same time. I love the way everyone has their own style, their own story. And there’s always a hidden garden or café or vintage shop to discover. It feels alive with possibility. And so much history! I love history.

Favourite restaurant / bar / gig venue in London?
Bush Hall! I’ve always wanted to play there — it’s one of those venues that just has soul in the walls.

Wow I love Bush Hall so much, in Little Australia of course, Shepherd's Bush. I think you lived in Scotland when you were in the UK? What do you love most about Scotland?
Yes! I lived all over Scotland — Edinburgh, Glasgow, Lanark, Carnwath, and Campbeltown. I really loved Campbeltown… the pace of life, the sea air, the charm. And the Scottish sense of humour is everything — so honest and dry, kind of like Londoners in that no-messing-around way. I’ve always appreciated that. I lived in London for a while too and loved it there as well. 

All I can say at this point is that Zoee and I love Bush Hall and Kate Miller Heidke in equal amounts. We also agree about her next single, which I have been listening to all weekend and cannot wait to write about in a couple more weeks.

Zoee had an enormous career in the UK, and I regret not spotting her when she was so close by. Her video below gives a sense of the large festival crowds that welcomed her in Britain. I cannot wait to bring you her next single on June 13th and her fabulous album on July 4th. All I can tell you about Zoee is that she is exactly how you would imagine from the videos. She's almost too good to be true!

You can pre-save all of Zoee's music here.