Few artists who’ve left town left as big of a hole in the Knoxville music scene as Jake Winstrom. The lead vocalist of Tenderhooks, Jake’s songs, and vocal style were distinctive. The group seemed just on the edge of a national break out at just about the time they broke up in 2009. Not long afterward, Jake moved north, eventually settling in Brooklyn, NY.
Nearly a decade passed since the demise of Tenderhooks and release of Jake Winstrom’s first solo album, ‘Scared Away the Song’ – released on this year on May 25th. The new album, mostly recorded in Knoxville with producer Jeff Bills and a cast of Knoxville music greats, is gorgeous.
In New York, Jake found a different scene than he’d enjoyed in Knoxville.
“There’s not the camaraderie of places like The Pilot Light,” he says. “There are cool clubs and there’s great music to hear here, but I feel like you have to be an archeologist to find it.”
A little discouraged, he concentrated on his job at a New York television station and put writing and music aside for a while. The writing bug started coming back in 2017, though. The song “Whippoorwill,” a breezy highlight on the new album, broke the ice.
“Subconsciously, it was really about writer’s block and getting out of it in your own way,” he says. “You don’t over think it. It doesn’t have to be like pushing a huge boulder up a hill every time. I came up with the melody and had blank verses. Then I’d be on the subway with my notebook and a 30- to 40-minute commute to work and started sketching out lyrics. I didn’t even know what a whippoorwill was when I first came up with it. I had to look it up to make sure it wasn’t a silent bird!”
Initially, Jake thought he’d release a simple vocal/guitar EP. However, talks with friend, drummer, producer and general Knoxville music enthusiast Jeff Bills changed his mind. Bills, a longtime fan of Jake’s work, envisioned a full album with a stellar group of musicians and that’s exactly what was created.
Jake says recording in Knoxville was one of the joys of making the album.”
Jake has a group for playing New York gigs that includes Sarah E. Smith, Leo Smith, and Alyssa Martin. He’ll perform in Knoxville on July 12, on the WDVX “6 O’Clock Swerve” with some of the Knoxville musicians who played on the disc.
There is always the question of whether Jake will return to live in Knoxville.
“You never say never,” he says. “That’s the power of Knoxville. Anything is possible.”
Links
https://jakewinstrom.bandcamp.com/album/scared-away-the-song
https://soundcloud.com/jake-winstrom
