BluesWax Sittin' In With
David Jacobs-Strain
Photos and Interview
by Beardo
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David Jacobs-Strain
After hearing the new David Jacobs-Strain CD, Ocean
or a Teardrop, and having my jaw hit the floor, BluesWax considered
it necessary to touch base with this still-young (turning 21 recently) artist.
Insight was needed regarding the quantum leap of musical maturity he'd taken
since our last conversation at The Philadelphia Folk Festival in 2001.
Beardo for BluesWax: Sooooo ... 21, eh ... how'd
ya' celebrate?
David Jacobs-Strain: Yeah, I can finally get into the
clubs I've been playing at. I went backpacking in the Cascade Mountains with
friends for a week. Getting away from the media and relieving the pressure in
my head ... all kinda things came out. It was great to come home with new
ideas! Coming home and playing your guitar sounds so good even if your chops
are suffering a little.
BW: Fill me in on the last two years. You've been a busy
boy, no?
DJS: I've been playing the festival circuit, adding
more fests every year. I've also added what clubs I could play; it's a slow
process. As you know I have a new record out ... a result of playing these
festival dates and meeting so many players at workshops and collaborative stage
appearances that I decided I wanted to get some of these new friends to play on
my record.
BW: Are you peeking at my list of questions? Yes, your new
CD knocked me out! Let's talk about some of the players. Did you meet Joe
Craven [former member of the uber-progressive string-driven Bluegrass band,
Psychograss] at a festival?
DJS: I ran into him at one of the very first
festivals I played, in fact Joe had the flu the week we made the record and
drummer, Kendrick Freeman had just flown in from Scotland, was totally
jet-lagged and under the weather, Anne Weiss just terminated a long-term
relationship, Robert Lugo's grandmother died, I lost my voice before we
started the record ...
BW: Perhaps that contributed to the frenzied playing. What
was Danny Glick's story? How did he get involved?
DJS: I met him through Jimmy LaFave, another
singer-songwriter out of Austin. Danny has a straight up Rock 'n' Roll band,
too. He might have long hair, but he ain't no hippie.
BW: When we last talked you were going to Stanford, have
you picked a major yet?
DJS: I think it will be Anthropology simply because
everything else on the list got crossed off! It contains musicology and will
provide a playground for exploring the interaction of music and its
relationship to people through time. Although I'm just starting out with it as
a major, I think it will be really interesting.
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David Jacobs-Strain's Ocean
Or A Teardrop
Click Cover For More Info
BW: How do you fit everything in, time-wise?
DJS: I don't fit it in very well ... [Laughter]
something inevitably gets sidelined and it's usually school. Last winter when
we made the record I took off three months. Stanford is really accommodating in
that regard. A case in point, Tiger Woods is still a student there.
[More Laughter]
We continued talking about what David has been listening
to lately (West African music; a San Francisco-based band, The Waybacks;
early Rod Stewart, a mixed bag of Folky-Rock records) and their respective
production values. Speaking of production values, this is where I gushed about
the soundscape of David's new CD, Ocean or a Teardrop. He lavished praise on
the work of Kenny Passarelli and Tim Stroh, who was given a
co-production credit for his visionary engineering, mixing, and mastering. He
mentioned the extra money well spent on a great studio and loving the overall
sound that went above and beyond even his vision of the project. Let's not
forget sound engineers Andrew Glick and Michael Chavez for their sonic
contributions. David spoke of his emerging studio recording style:
DJS: This CD was recorded in a festival jam
atmosphere. I didn't rehearse the musicians. I didn't teach them the songs
beforehand. I didn't tell people what to play, for the most part. We laid down
bass, drum, and guitar, all live with the vocal occasionally recorded live too.
We then invited the musicians in to jam. We could have made a tighter record if
we had rehearsed, but all the musicians are world class and I wanted to leave
it open and let it happen. It did!
BW: What is the nature of your commitment with
NorthernBlues? [NorthernBlues Music is the label that released Ocean Or A
Teardrop.]
DJS: It's a one off. I deliver a CD paid for by me,
which isn't easy and without any artistic input they use it or not. Although
Fred [Litwin, owner of NorthernBlues] asked if there could be a picture on it
.. this time. [Laughter aplenty here]
BW: I need to ask you this: I love you to death, solo, but
.. when do you tour? And would it be with this or another band?
DJS: Oh, I'm working on it. They are all great
players with multiple band commitments too. They would love to tour with this
record. I just have to come up with the money. I could make the sound of this
record with not as many musicians, but I need to rehearse! These guys could
just jump in. Not accustomed to playing in a band, I need to rehearse. I also
need to have a buzz around the record to encourage promoters on the
profitability of a tour. The money really wouldn't be there for a club tour,
which is unfortunate as that is the best setting to get tight. Festival
appearances would provide the money for us to be able to afford to rehearse.
BW: I'm just happy you said you'd love to do it! I'm a
live band kinda guy, as you know.
DJS: I think that live would be considerably better
than the record 'cause these guys would get to totally let loose. Danny Glickcan be a wild man, Joe Craven only played two instruments on the
record and he can play everything, Joe Filisko did those harmonica solos
with one take, without even really knowing the material, at about five in the
morning with me begging the engineer to stick around for just a few more
minutes.
BW: Without the time constraints of a recording session,
imagine the possible interplay. By the way, I've been hearing about Joe for
years. Not about his playing the harmonica, but modifying it into a superharp
that some guys will not perform without. How did you run into him?
DJS: Joe is an incredibly gracious, humble, and
generous person. I met him at a Blues workshop in Virginia and we jammed.
Afterward I asked him if he would play on the record, if I ever got it
together. Now, I wish I'd have used him more. I have a much better idea of what
I want to do next time.
BW: You got your feet wet, Mister Producer.
DJS: I did! And I'm really excited because I got to
do stuff that isn't just Chicago Blues. I don't want to be limited to just
that. Career-wise, I'm really inspired by people from Richard Thompson to
Tom Petty; people who are known for their unmistakable songwriting
style, Gillian Welch is Gillian Welch, Richard Thompson is Richard
Thompson ...
BW: They are known for their distinctive style, almost
icons, like Johnny Cash or Dylan ...
DJS: I'm trying to move slowly in that direction, not
being confined to a genre.
BW: Would [Kenny] Passarelli's wife let him back out on
the road again?
DJS: She would, she would. There is a huge background
story about Kenny not being with Otis [Taylor] anymore. He [Otis]
doesn't even talk to me anymore, which is a story for another time, but
continues to be an inspiration. Kenny would love to be on the road, but like
the other players can't do 300 nights due to other projects and commitments.
BW: Kenny is an old road dog himself and understands the
need to keep it to a manageable number.
DJS: Kenny isn't like the new crop of Jaco
Pastorious million-notes-a-minute players out there. Kenny has a lot of
energy on stage and just exudes groove and plays exactly what is needed.
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BW: No extra notes just for the sake of extra notes.
DJS: Out of all the people on the record, Kenny is
the guy I need to have on stage; he knows the material better than anyone.
BW: He's been the steadying influence in every band he's
ever been in ... and there have been plenty! Next time you get east of the
Mighty Mississippi, get in touch!
DJS: Will do, and thanks for the support.
To sum things up, I think our boy is ready to jam. Jump
on the bandwagon folks, I wanna see him with a live band and so do you! See the
review of Ocean
or a Teardrop in the BluesWax Archives by clicking on ALBUMS.
To read more about David
Jacobs-Strain, click through to his BluesWax page by clicking on ARTISTS.
Watch for David Jacobs-Strain appearing on Public
Television in Liz Witham's Film, Blues Variations from Film-Truth
Productions.
Beardo is a senior contributing editor at BluesWax. He
finally sold his last motorcycle and is awaiting winter and the Blues Cruise in
southern Pennsylvania. Beardo would love to hear your comments about this and
his other work at [EMAIL PROTECTED].
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This Week in BluesWax:
David Jacobs-Strain
- In the E-zine:
BluesWax is Sittin' In With David Jacobs-Strain. Join senior
contributing editor as he catches up with the talented, young Bluesman after a couple
of years on the road and a new CD, Ocean or a Teardrop.
- On the News
Page: Just Plain Folk Award Winners; Cream To Reunite; Delta Moon Gets
New Singer; New Star-Studded Hubert Sumlin Album; Beverly Watson Tribute; Live
Aid DVD; Tyrone Davis Benefit; 2004 Muddy Awards; Clapton Gets New Title;
Lamont Cranston To Open New House Of Blues; Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards;
Connecticut Acoustic Blues Challenge; Dylan Exhibit; Chris Smither Birthday
Celebration; Severn Signs Spady; and Much More News That's Blues!
- On the Photo
Page: Los Lobos and Del Castillo Live!
- On the Blues
Bytes page: FolkWax is Sittin' In With Sue Foley. Join Vincent
Abbate and Sue Foley in Germany for Part One of their conversation about the
past year and her new album, Change.
- On the Blues
Beat page: Join BluesWax's T-Bone at a recent show that
showcased the skills of Del Castillo and the main act, Los Lobos!
- Under BluesWax
Picks: Mark Hummel reviews John Kay's Heretics & Privateers;
P. Kellach Waddle reviews Louise Hoffsten's Kn�ckebr�d Blues; Eric
Wrisley reviews When I Get Religion by Delta Boy; plus reviews of Must
Be Jelly by the Jelly Roll All-Stars, Sue Foley's Change, and African
Wind by Dan Treanor and Frankie Lee.
- One
Year Ago Today In BluesWax: BluesWax was at the 2003 San Francisco
Blues Festival and what a time our contributors had. Check out this festival
review of one of the largest Blues festivals on the West Coast.
- Don't forget to play the Blues Trivia
Game: Remember, everyone who plays is in the drawing for the prize!
This week's prize: the CD Neo-Classic Blues by Gaye Adegbalola with
Rodney Barnes, courtesy of our friends at Hot Toddy Music. Play Today!
