Meet our newest Center Stage artist, Jake Vance - An up and coming singer/songwriter with a background in piano, bass, guitar, mandolin, and vocals.
Growing up in a musical family in Southern Alberta, Jake is a burgeoning artist in the Canadian music scene.
Recently, Jake completed the Artist Entrepreneur Program at CMI in Toronto, and played the TD Green Room at the 2016 Juno Awards. He was a top 10 regional finalist in the 2016 CBC Searchlight competition.
Jake has spent two summers in London UK, taking music programs in Songwriting, Vocals and Recording. He has been lucky to have instructors that have also worked with the likes of Adele and Amy Winehouse.
Jake's first EP "White Elephant" (2015) charted on several Canadian college stations reaching as high as #4 in both Alberta and Ontario.
In May 27th 2016 EP, Jake released his second EP “Eden”produced by Russell Broom.
The first single “The Poet” has been receiving airplay in Canada, the U.S. and Europe, and was selected as a top 10 winner in Radio Airplay's 2016 Summer Song Contest. The track is also a semi-finalist in the Unsigned Only Songwriting Competition.
The Poet has resonated among Jango listeners with acosutic folk pop bliss, chugging fingerpickin guitars, and a pristine vocal by Jack Vance.
Get to know more about this promising young artist in the Q&A below and make sure to check out the video for "The Poet" at the end of the feature.
Describe your sound in one ramble-on sentence
Cinematic-Alternative-Folk n' stuff
What's your earliest music-related memory growing up?
I remember my dad (who is a musician) bringing me to a songwriting contest he was in at the local bar. I was about 6.
What was the first tune(s) you learned?
The first tune I learned was Sharp dressed man by ZZ top.
Do you write/compose your own songs? Briefly describe your songwriting process
The way I compose songs is like putting a puzzle together, I piece together different phrases and ideas I’ve written down and collected, under a unifying theme or a title. Writing the music is the easy part.
If you were to cover another artist's album, which would you pick and why?
I would cover A Rush Of Blood To The Head by Coldplay, because it is one of my favourite albums of all time, I first heard it when I was about 12, and starting to get into music. It was the first time I knew I wanted to be a songwriter.
What was the highlight of 2015, either for you personally or for the band? What was the low point?
The highlight of 2015 for me was releasing my first E.P. White Elephant, as well as recording my second E.P. Eden. 2015 was a great year and I really didn't have a low point, I can't complain!
What is 2016 looking like for you? Upcoming projects? Can you give us a little hint, on what we can expect for this year?
I just released my second E.P. Eden so I’ll be promoting that as well as writing some new material for a full length album.
Any embarrassing on stage moments you'd like to share? C’mon, don’t be shy.
-I have many, but my favourite story is when I played a fair out in a town called Millarville. I was slated for a 7am slot on the “stampede stage”. I showed up and the stampede stage hadn’t arrived, instead, a farmer had parked his trailer attached to his truck in front of the bleachers. I started my set, with only my grandma in attendance, halfway through my first song, while playing through speakers borrowed (stolen) from a church (I’m not religious but that’s probably some bad karma). A man started measuring the stage with the oldest loudest tape measurer ever, then proceeded to unhook the truck with no muffler and drive away. While behind me a group of Irish dancers started stomping around on some plywood, making it very hard to concentrate. I finished my set and people started flooding the stands, I was wondering what the hell was going on, then I found out that there was a rooster crowing competition right after me and everyone went nuts for it, especially my grandma.
I also got hit by a car on my way to play the TD Juno’s green room, and I got electrocuted setting up to play at my friends restaurant.
What do you enjoy doing outside of music? Does your hobby rejuvenate their creativity?
-Outside of music, I do almost nothing. But when I’m especially poor I work in the movies. Last year I worked on a movie called the Revenant as a carpenter. It’s great to get away from music and let the inspiration rejuvenate.
What do you like the most about Radio Airplay?
-The ability to bring my music to a large audience.
The Poet