MUSIC & LYRICS INSPIRED BY CRITICS

Siblings unite #Cowboys (Taken with instagram)

Jim shreddin at Cowboys (Taken with instagram)

Studio sesh to photo shoot… Now I’m starved! (Taken with instagram)

Don’t Judge a Walter By His Cover

The April 12th show in New York City was simply unforgettable. Packing Stage 2 of the Rockwood Music Hall marked the largest NYC crowd ever garnered in Jacob Jeffries Band’s brief touring history. That night felt like a real milestone for us, and the fact that it was my BIRTHDAY made the after-party just as memorable. 

It felt like we had just begun to feel less like tourists and more like NYC natives - memorizing train lines, distinguishing the east side from the west, and eating too many falafels. After days of galavanting around the city, we had to pile in and embark on the rest of our tour. NEXT STOP: WASHINGTON D.C.

As we chugged down the highway and into America’s capital city, we found ourselves surrounded by all the historical monuments learned about in school. Everywhere I looked another awesome structure stood taller and prouder than the last. The kind of things I saw on stamps, magazines, the backs of coins was now right before my eyes. Pretty amazing. Interesting, to think that people live here and work here, everyday, and don’t think twice about the gorgeous monuments that greet them when they wake and guard them while they sleep.  Deep.  There was no escaping the flood of memories that consumed me, reminiscing a family vacation from years and years ago. That was the last time, I couldn’t believe it, but that was the last time I had stepped foot in D.C. All this touring and playing major cities up and down the eastern coast - Atlanta, Charleston, NYC, Boston… but the last time I had seen our nation’s capital in person was a friggin family field trip when I was 10 years old! About time huh?  I had good vibes about this D.C. show.

Although we had never played a show in the D.C. area before, you wouldn’t have guessed it from the energy.  My dear friends and fans of the music who waited long enough for us to come to town finally got what they wanted.  Madam’s Organ located in Adams Morgan (hilarious play on words that doesn’t lend itself to the recipe of a solid tongue twister AT ALL) is a small blues bar that played host to our crazy long night. 

My favorite part of the evening occurred early on, after our first song actually.  We had just hit the last chord of Believer (an awkward song choice to open our set with, but it worked well)  and the audience roared. Unexpectedly, the sound guy-  a 6 foot something, slender Snoop Dogg doppelganger - gingerly walked over to me and leaned down to whisper something in my ear. Things sounded good in our monitors, so what the heck was this guy coming over to tell me? Turn down and play softer? Weak signal from the delay pedal? I had no idea. He mumbled something quietly to me that sounded like,  “lay on the horn.”  Then, he disappeared out the front door of the venue. What the F? I was still perplexed. In fact, more confused than I was when I saw him approaching the stage in the first place.  ”Lay on the horn…”??? Eventually halfway through the next song, the sound guy, Walter, strolled back into Madam’s Organ with a saxaphone in hand. The rest of the night was JACOB JEFFRIES BAND featuring Walter Tates - hands down, undeniably,  the most talented sax player that I have ever met in my life.  He had never heard our songs prior, yet colored them perfectly with harmonies and solos.  Never in a million years would I have pegged Walter to be anything but the sound guy at a Washington DC blues bar.  Why would I have? That’s all I was given.  

Sometimes people take to the road, venturing out of their hometown to travel the country and share their songs with whoever will sing along. Sometimes leaving your hometown means winding up in someone else’s. Meeting new people with new stories to tell and unexpected talents to reveal is like hundreds watching you sing it out at your ‘Big Apple Birthday Show’, or as comforting as recollecting fond family memories from years ago. However you compare it, nothing beats the experience of experiencing. I love my job and all the endless possibilities that await us on the path yet worn. 

Heading back into the sunshine state for some good ole festival fun #waneefestival (Taken with instagram)

Boston, MA

Charleston was a blast and a half, but unfortunately the boys, girl, and I had to leave. We drove a whopping 8 hours to our nations capitol, Washington, DC. We went to all the monuments and saw the White House, even took a tour of the U.N. We did it ALL! *

*We did none of that. Actually, we got there at like 3 in the morning, slept, then left at 11am. Gotta spice up these blog posts, you know?

So after our amazing/unforgettable time in DC, we got into our tour van and drove up to Boston, MA. Our drummer Eric is a recent graduate of Berklee College of Music so he was glad to see all of his Boston pals. That area of Boston is great because everyone is a musician. Tons of people walking around with guitars on their backs and little over-the-shoulder bags filled with their dreams of becoming the next “Jimi Van Hendrix” or whoever the kids are listening to these days. 

We played a great venue in Boston called Church, which is a stone’s throw away from Fenway Park. I spent some time looking for a stone to throw but it took too much time and the guys told me we had to sound check - believe me, I would have thrown it. We had a great turn out there, especially since the show was on Easter Sunday and it was 21+ in a college town. I was very grateful to see so many people come out despite all that nonsense. 

The next day we spent napping. Touring is grueling, tiresome, and fun all at the same time, so as soon as I see a bed and a few hours to kill, you better believe I’ll be asleep. After that, we went to soundcheck at Northeatern’s after hours, played the show, and drove off into the sunset, never to return again… until our next show there. 

Church in Boston is fuuuuuuun! (Taken with instagram)

Charleston

It’s 4:42 on Friday afternoon LIVE on CofC Radio performing “Looking for Love” (Taken with instagram)