Featured review by Benjamin Popper (Rolling Stone, Vice, Men’s Vogue, the Daily Beast, New York Observer, and The Memphis Flyer.)

“The hard driving drums that open Jump Back Jake’s new EP, Call Me Your Man, don’t try to do too much. When the rest of the band jumps in a few bars later, the contours of a small recording studio emerge from the sound. It’s tight, focused, full of momentum. Jump Back starts singing, but the cadence is more relaxed then his older material. I think immediately of Kris Kristofferson when he gets to that line, “I’m sleeping in the next room doll / And all my shirts smell like you”. It’s understatement with an undercurrent, simmering on top of some rock and roll.

Where have all the horns gone? I remember Jake proudly rounding up aging Memphis brass, dragging them out of their retirement kicking and screaming, charming them with grand marnier and an unabashed love for the obscure records they played on decades ago. But the well curated soul sound that powered his first record, Brooklyn Hustle / Memphis Muscle, is over. And frankly I don’t miss it.

That Jake can still be found. The murderous metal riffs on Rose Colored Coffin (track 4) fall right into “I got a Loooovveee,” sung with the tone and melisma of a juke joint regular. But instead of trying to produce a modern soul record, Jump Back is putting those tools to work on compositions that defy easy categorization. There is something of Tom Waits in this track, a spooky gypsy, collecting the odds and ends of American music and stitching them up into an ill fitting suit that scares the women as much as it turns them on.” (continue reading at The Vinyl District…)

Here are the first officially released teasers for the upcoming feature film “Open Five” directed by Kentucker Audley and written by Kentucker and myself. The film stars Shannon Esper, Genevieve Angelson, Kentucker Audley, Amy Seimetz and myself, and was photographed by Joe Swanberg with additional help from David Lowery. The film contains performances by the band and will premiere in Spring 2010. If you have a blog, feel free to post one or all of them if it feels right. Email them to your friends. Share them with the world.

- Jake

January 8th Knoxville
January 9th Memphis
January 14th Nashville (JBJ only)
January 15th Jackson, MS
January 16th New Orleans
February 2nd Little Rock

We wanted to let you know about some free Jump Back Jake downloads that are currently available and that we’re having a sale on Jump Back Jake CD’s, Vinyl, T-Shirts and Combo Packages…

FREE JBJ Downloads…

- Download “X-Mas Time,” “The Flood,” and “Treasure” from JBJ’s debut album “Brooklyn Hustle / Memphis Muscle” FREE by clicking HERE

- Download “The World of Pity and Shame (live)” and “The Flood (live)” FREE by clicking HERE

- Download live JBJ covers of Dr. John, The Supremes, Lee Hazlewood, Eddie Floyd and 13^th Floor Elevators FREE by clicking HERE

Holiday Sale on JBJ CD’s, VINYL, T-Shirts and Combo Options (ALL PRICES INCLUDE US S/H!!!)…

- “Brooklyn Hustle / Memphis Muscle” CD – $10 (includes US s/h)

- “Brooklyn Hustle / Memphis Muscle” VINYL album – $13 (includes US s/h)

- JBJ Men’s Black Hanes Heavyweight 50/50 T-Shirts – $15 (includes US s/h)

- JBJ Women’s Blue Fitted 100% Organic Bella T-Shirts – $15 (includes US s/h)

- Combo: CD + Men’s or Women’s T-Shirts – $20 (includes US s/h)

- Combo: VINYL + Men’s or Women’s T-Shirts – $23 (includes US s/h)

- To view all options and product images, go to the store page

Or download “Brooklyn Hustle / Memphis Muscle” digitally in hi-res formats for just $3.99 by clicking HERE

Upcoming January and February  show dates…
Knoxville, TN – Barley’s Taproom – 01/08/10 – 9:00pm
Memphis, TN – Hi Tone Cafe – 01/09/10 – 9:00pm
Nashville, TN – The Basement – 01/14/10 – 8:00pm
Jackson, MS – Ole Tavern – 01/15/10 – 8:00pm
New Orleans, LA – Allways Lounge – 01/16/10 – 10:00pm
Little Rock, AR – White Water Tavern – 02/02/10 – 9:00pm

Happy Holidays!!!

“Memphis will get all over you If you’re sensitive it’s like you know certain people can walk into Memphis and it’s like a lightning rod…Bam!–hits ‘em. If you think about the history of Memphis music , it’s not people from Memphis it’s people who came to Memphis.”

and this video:

- Jake R.

Jack Oblivian

Not only did all the Memphis bands I wanted to see play in NY the same week (which was also the week of my birthday), former Oblivians/Compulsive Gamblers bandmates Greg Cartwright and Jack Oblivian played Southpaw in Park Slope within two nights of eachother. I was at the Reigning Sound Show on Friday as well as the Jack O show on Sunday.

The Reigning Sound show was a Rock and Roll show for the ages. Sold out crowd, sweaty fans singing along to every word, a 27 song setlist, and beer flying everywhere. Instead of leaving the stage and coming back for the encore, Greg just told the crowd “I don’t feel the need to leave the stage and come back so if you want more, we’ll play more. They closed the show with ‘Drowning’ from “Too Much Guitar” and the Glass Sun’s ‘Stick Up For Me’ and no one left disappointed.

The Jack Oblivian show on Sunday night had a completely different feel. It reminded me more than anything else of being at Juke Joints and Soul Clubs in Mississippi and Memphis, where everyone’s drunker than they ought to be and there’s a looseness to the music and the crowd, that makes the show feel like a house party. Besides knowing all the musicians personally, there were a lot of familiar Memphis faces in the crowd. The crowd was small during the first part of John Paul Keith’s set, but filled in nicely towards the end. By the middle of Jack’s set, it was a solid turn out for a Sunday. Jack called up a couple of folks to play tambourine and dance on stage during their “Disco number,” and called me up to sing back up on ‘Black boots.’ It was definitely dark enough that you might even think you were at the Hi-Tone. It takes a lot to give me that feeling in NYC.

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