NEW MUSIC: "VIRGINIA ROSE (Acoustic)" by JARED MINNIX

“Last summer, my fiancee Megan and I were talking about leaving Nashville for a little bit. We felt that we had drifted into a routine lifestyle and wanted to leave town for a change of scenery,” says Nashville-based singer/songwriter Jared Minnix, who released his new EP Virginia Rose earlier this month. Today, he unveils the new acoustic version of the title track, co-written with Nashville pop artist Brooke Alexx “We talked about fantasies of going abroad or backpacking across Europe for a few months but were quickly pulled back down by the gravity of reality and money. We started searching for temporary jobs that included travel and lodging. Megan and I came across a Camp for the arts in Northern California that sparked our interest. They had music and art teaching positions that looked like the perfect fit for us. We decided to give it a shot and started working on our application,” he recalls. “Towards the very bottom of the application, there was a final question that read, ‘If you were to make up a new name for yourself, what would it be?'”

After discussing the subject for a bit, Minnix and his fiancee bounced around the idea of “Virginia Rose” being her new secret name. Shortly thereafter, the pair hit a rough patch in their relationship, and heartbreak ensued”As cliche as it is, I honestly did not know how to get these feelings out of me. I didn’t have words for them,” he recalls. “Time wasn’t healing me and nothing seemed to heal the pain. So as any songwriter does, I tried to write about it. I wrote a lot, I mean a lot of really bad songs. With each song that was being written, I did actually start to feel a little bit better.”

MInnix decided to record the songs and in the process, realized that they were all about Megan. “I just knew inside of me, I was supposed to call this EP Virginia Rose,” he says. “Looking back on it now, the name almost represents this real, but ‘fictitious’ character. ‘Virginia Rose’ was this person Megan could have been but never got to be. We never went to California, we never got that job, and we never made it through that summer,” he continues. “Part of me felt fulfilled. It was like I just had this great awakening that I now knew where I was supposed to go. It was like God just told me, ‘Hey remember that name that you made up? That was me. There was a reason for that.'”

Lyrically, “Virginia Rose” focuses on the idea that storms will come, but sometimes they’re just what you need to wash things away; seasons change, but hope, and in this situation, love, prevail. “I hope this song is just as impactful to those who listen to it as it was for me personally,” Minnix says. “I love talking about the meaning behind it, and whenever I get the opportunity to write about this, I’m reminded of how much this means to me. I want people to fight for love. I really believe it is worth it and is what we are called to do. I hope to be an example of that in music, in life, and as a husband. Love is not easy, but it’s okay,” he adds. “It is still worth chasing after and giving your all.”

Wrap your ears around the indie-pop goodness of “Virginia Rose (Acoustic)” by Jared Minnix: