Search - jake armerding :: Her

Jake Armerding's fifth album of originals, Her, is a collection of love songs that may have to do with the fact that he got married last fall. Jake's live shows deliver the fusion of bluegrass, blues, folk, pop, classical and rock that has come to be known as Americana and showcase songs from his new album. An early reviewer states, 'Jake has become one of the most melodically and lyrically gifted songwriters on the circuit today. His songs continue a trend of defying easy characterization. His deft use of electric and acoustic instruments, keyboards and percussion never hides lyrical impact, leaving his tender tenor vocals out front.' 'This is organic music,' the Boston singer-songwriter-violinist offers about Her. 'It's a bunch of guys playing their instruments and singing, and getting taped while they're doing it. There's no pitch correction, no chemicals, nothing.' Armerding and his 'bunch of guys' -- Boston musical heavies Mark Erelli, Zack Hickman, Billy Beard and others -- holed up in a studio in North Reading, MA, just before Christmas, got completely snowed in, and made some beautiful, raucous, lasting music. Armerding confides, 'For years I've been trying to get away from love songs -- everybody writes them, they re the easiest to write, all that stuff. But then I fell in love and got married, so it wasn t really an option.' Erelli, a longtime friend and colleague who contributed guitar and vocal tracks to the project, commented, 'It's pretty amazing to listen to a whole record of love songs and not hear any of the usual love song clichés.' The Boston Globe offers, 'Jake Armerding is the most gifted and promising songwriter to emerge from the Boston folk scene in years.' It was the early 1980s when Boston bluegrasser Taylor Armerding, co-founder of the band Northern Lights, started his 5-year-old son, Jake, on Suzuki violin. Jake studied classical violin into high school and absorbed bluegrass just by being around the house. At 13, he joined Northern Lights on fiddle and recorded three albums with the band during his high school and college years. He soon turned his attention to songwriting, and recorded his first CD, Caged Bird, while at Wheaton College (IL). In 2003, Nashville independent label Compass released Jake Armerding, a collection of folk-pop songs written over a year living in Music City. The Washington Post called Armerding's instrumental skills 'remarkable,' while the Globe raved, 'a master at bending boundaries ... his real achievement has been to break the conventions that define country music.' Armerding recently logged his thousandth performance. He has shared the stage with Bela Fleck, Nickel Creek, Josh Ritter, David Wilcox and Toad the Wet Sprocket.