Kate Jacobs
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Kate Jacobs | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 11, 1959 Alexandria, Virginia, United States |
| Origin | New York, New York, United States |
| Genre(s) | Folk, Americana |
| Instrument(s) | Guitar, Singing |
| Years active | 1980s–present |
| Label(s) | Bar/None |
| Website | www.katejacobsmusic.com |
Kate Jacobs (born January 11, 1959) is an American Singer/songwriter.
Contents |
[edit] Biography
Jacobs was born in Alexandria, Virginia, and initially wanted to be a ballet dancer. Her father was in the United States Foreign Service, and she moved to Austria when she was eleven[1].
Her family was a musical one. Her father sang old Tin Pan Alley songs at home, and her mother, drawing from her Russian heritage, sang ballads. At church she heard civil rights songs and saw performances by folk singers like Woody Guthrie, Elizabeth Cotton and Pete Seeger[2]. She was a fan of Fred Astaire, and her disparate musical tastes included standards written by Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, and Johnny Mercer[3], as well as country music by artists like Loretta Lynn[4].
She decided to go to college rather than pursue a dancing career. She continued to dance, but her artistic output slowly shifted toward that of music. During the early 1980s Jacobs moved to New York City. At first she continued to work in modern dance, but by 1987 she had started to write down the songs she was composing in her head. Jacobs worked with another female singer for a short time, specializing in close harmony on country songs, and for two years she played a steady afternoon gig at the "Nightingale" in East Greenwich Village, sharing the stage with artists such as Blues Traveler, Joan Osborne, and the Spin Doctors. She also formed a band to play her songs, and they were invited to perform at the Carnival in Venice for two weeks[1]. During that time, she was joined by Dave Schramm, who would become a frequent partner.[2]
After returning from Italy, she and her band entered the studio to cut her first album, The Calm Comes After. When she finishing the recording, she was approached by Bar/None Records, who offered to distribute the album. Eventually she signed with Bar/None, and the label reissued the album with three more tracks. She followed in 1995 with What About Regret.[1]
In 1996 Jacobs was contacted by Andrea Cascardi, an editor at Hyperion Books, regarding "A Sister," one of the songs on her latest album. Cascardi felt that the song would make a good children's book. Jacobs agreed, and began working with illustrator Nancy Carpenter to turn "A Sister's Wish" into a book format.[1]
In 1999 she released her third album, Hydrangea, to which guests Peter Holsapple, Vicki Peterson and Susan Cowsill added their musical contributions, as did long-time cohorts Dave Schramm and James MacMillan. The key songs on the album are taken from her family's history "Never Be Afraid" is based on a phrase of her Aunt Katia's in 1938 when the family was emigrating to the US; "A Snowy Street" is based on a journal entry of her doctor grandfather in post-revolutionary Russia; "Eddy Went To Spain" is about a left-leaning uncle who went to help fight in the Abraham Lincoln Brigade for the republican side in the Spanish Civil War and never came back, and "Good Doctor" was based on a journal of Elena, a fourteen year old Tuberculosis patient of her great grandfather's, who fell in love with her physician.[2]
After Hydrangea, she became busy with her family life, and did not release another album for six years. In 2004 she released her fourth album, You Call That Dark. recorded near her home in Hoboken, New Jersey, and in Brooklyn at producer Schramm's studio, the album centered on the rural theme of farmers struggling with the changing world around them.[1]
[edit] Discography
- The Calm Comes After (Bar/None, 1993)
- What About Regret (Bar/None, 1995)
- Hydrangea (Bar/None, 1998)
- You Call That Dark (Bar/None, 2004)
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e Lankford, Ronnie D. "Jacobs, Kate Biography". eNotes. Retrieved on 2008-02-06.
- ^ a b c Wilcock, Steve. "Kate Jacobs", Triste. Retrieved on 2008-02-06.
- ^ "Kate Jacobs interview", Triste. Retrieved on 2008-02-06.
- ^ Muir Wallner, Courtney. "INTERVIEW Kate Jacobs", WestNet. Retrieved on 2008-02-07.
