Music

As I slip the CD into the slot with one hand while negotiating a turn with the other, I wonder if I’m becoming a dangerous driver. It’s not just the careless use of cell phones, is it? The road straightens out and I sit back, waiting for the first notes of Paul Jacobsen’s long awaited debut CD, You Might Regret You Ever Cared. He’s been working on this one for a long time, and I wonder with some anticipation whether his last few details of production and his trip to L.A. for  mastering will have made the CD noticeably better.

A recent BYU graduate, Paul took a few songwriting classes along the way from me while finishing his degree in Public Relations. To me he seemed the quintessential singer-songwriter, sitting in the back of the class between chances to showcase original songs that sometimes echoed with the timeless insight and genius of the troubled and late Townes Van Zandt, and at other times seemed to share the innovative newness of an Aimee Mann, a John Mayer, or an Elliott Smith.

Paul’s baseball caps, exquisitely faded and worn, and pulled down tight, were the envy of everyone who ever wanted to be hip, and his guitars, Gibson and Martin acoustic gems of the recent and not-so-recent past, made me seriously consider stealing. (One of them, a sweet-voiced, small-box  mahogany Martin 00-17, was just like the one my uncle Jack West used to play when the family gathered at his Lazy W ranch in California as I was a kid first learning to chord and strum. The Martin 00-17 was a better-than-basic guitar in its own time, the 40s and early 50s. The most recent example I’ve seen in the collector market, which happened to be in a guitar shop in the trendy Shibuya district of Tokyo, was tagged at an astonishing USD $13,000. I passed.)

The CD starts playing and I’m immediately drawn in. You see, I’ve heard all these songs, either in concert or in demo form. I’ve even heard a pre-master workup of the whole album, but Paul had wisely saved up for a trip to the coast for mastering by an engineer he admired at the Doug Sax Mastering Lab in L.A., and the increased gain and power-even to the ears of someone who is used to the process-is surprising, setting this project apart from most of the other demo, or debut, CDs I get to hear.

Perfect production? Well, the band tracks sound unbelievable: punchy, and spontaneous. Not like a studio project. On the other hand, I’m not sure I’d have done the background vocals the same way-sidekick Eric Peterson is a great addition live, but I might have opted, at least on some of the tunes, to double track Paul himself singing the harmony vocals for a tighter, more intimate vocal sound. Small point-matter of taste.

A favorite tune? There’s something for everyone here, but for me, the one I can’t get out of my head and which seems like a big-time song is “Pen to Paper.” Check it out. Do you agree?

So why would I be talking about a singer-songwriter in his first year away from college?

Many reasons. First there’s that old and interesting debate: as educated readers who are Mormons and music fans, do we seek out Mormon music makers, or do we throw all our support behind music makers who make Mormon music? Paul Jacobsen is the former, and I hope the funnel of our interest is that wide.

Second, Paul Jacobsen descends from a couple of Utah dynasty families. He wouldn’t have wanted me to tell you this-he didn’t tell me this-I guess because a proper singer-songwriter is born under a tumbleweed. His car, if he owns one, is a rusty ’76 Pinto. He carries all his belongings in a backpack. So even though it may not fit the stereotype Paul seeks to project, his paternal name comes from Jacobsen Construction (Utah) and Wheatley-Jacobsen ventures (California). They build highways and huge commercial buildings. On his mother’s side are Garffs (i.e. U of U professor and Salt Lake car dealer Garffs.) His Aunt Laura Garff is someone I’ve heard in concert with the Tabernacle Choir and the Utah Symphony.

So those are just a couple of the reasons you might be interested in this guy. Third (should have been first) is that his talent is huge, and his personality seems right for a career.

Paul Jacobsen is just a good, unassuming guy. When his album was being created as a labor of love at June Audio in Provo, being fit in between the cracks of other better-paying projects by owner/producer Scott Wiley, it seemed like every musician or singer who came into the studio wanted to be part of this project. So you hear members of standout Provo band Sunfall Festival on the rhythm tracks, and even James Stevens, lead singer of BYU a cappella vocal group Vocal Point, picking up a headset to join in with ahastily assembled background chorus, etc.

As a genre, the singer-songwriters had their major-label heyday in the late 60s and 70s. You know the big names just like I do: James Taylor, Carol King, Bob Dylan, Simon and Garfunkel, Neil Diamond, John Denver, etc., etc. Since that time their heirs are still around, but more often found on small, independent labels and involved in heavy touring of small-to-midsize venues in order to build and maintain a career. As often as the label “singer-songwriter” is used to describe these creative folks, the moniker “contemporary folk” is also applied.

One of the surviving kings of these troubadours, known primarily to insiders, is the Canadian, Bruce Cockburn (“Co-burn”), whose fan base is large enough that he can afford to lease a bus and carry an excellent band with him these days as he tours the U.S. and Canada.

So if this is your music, today’s article is your LDS hot tip, your way to be a step ahead, because this talented new Utah guy has found his way to New York, where he’s doing an internship by day and pursuing the music in the evenings. He also has ties to Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area (Palo Alto), so who knows where he may show up. And if you hear the name, consider making the effort to see him.

Failing that, how can you get your hands around the CD?

Well, consistent with Paul’s public relations training at BYU, he’s taken care of the marketing pretty admirably. The CD is available at cdbaby.com, amazon.com and directly from Paul (email:[email protected]). He says, “It’ll be $10 at shows and around $15 at the online stores (shipping is the mother of all evil surcharges).”  For booking, try email again: [email protected].

Paul’s a social guy. If you’re interested in him, shoot off an email. I’ll bet he’ll answer, especially if you like the CD. Fans are doubly important to an artist at the beginning. Here’s a rare chance in Mormondom. He’s good enough to be in it for the long haul.