David Jacobs-Strain slides into Cozmic
The roots of slide guitar roll deep. Dating back to the blues of the ’20s with Blind Willie Johnson and the like, it’s a technique that’s still being used today, by the psuedo-guitar-gods of this generation: Jack White, Dan Auerbach have used the technique to great effect, though it might be worth adding one young Eugenie by the name of David Jacobs-Strain to the list.
“I remember hearing Taj Mahal and Walker-T Ryan play at WOW Hall when I was 12,” says Jacobs-Strain, a local guitarist that’s been fascinated by guitar playing from a young age, “They knocked me out, man, I don’t think I even knew what kind of music it was back then, but it knocked me out.”
Jacobs-Strain’s music is uncommon—a blend of haunting blues riffs, indie-psychedelia, and at times even unmistakable eastern influence winds its way into the unclassifiable mish-mash of eclecticism. It’s clear that he’s been doing this for a long time, but you’d be hard pressed to find somebody that’s as open and laid back about everything in life besides his art.
“I know that everyone wants to say ‘my music defies categorization,’” says Jacobs-Strain of being labeled a blues musician, “but I’m really not super interested in making genred music.” So what should we label Jacobs-Strain’s discography of six albums? What the fuck section do we file it under?
“I don’t know if it’s delta blues or gangsta-grass,” he says with a tone of infinite jest striking his voice, “the album I’m working on right now sound like an indie-rock record, for lack of a better term.”
David Jacobs-Strain’s new record sounds like it’s bound to be a winner — recorded in an old 1820s cathedral which was filled with a crap load of weird instruments. “My producer this record is in the same generation as me; it’s nice to not have someone telling me what I can and can’t do,” says Strain, “we’ve been combining my slide guitar with an orchestra of fucked up keyboards and banjos and instruments that aren’t supposed to go together, really.”
Some of his tracks are lively, some are so endlessly mellow that you could drown in them like sinking through honey, but at the end of the day it’s all badass music. David Jacobs-Strain is also Kickstarting his newest project, and supporting local music is always highly recommended, so hop on over to THIS SPOT and pledge away, Eugenies.
David Jacobs-Strain plays with Brooks Robertson 8:30 pm tonight, Friday, June 22, at Cozmic; $14
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