"I saw a man at the crossroads of some Mojave desert town in southern California a few years ago. And he was dancing with a sign in his hand that read John 3:16 in great big black and neon green letters. He was wearing no shirt, some tattered blue jeans, and a pair of beaten up sunglasses. He had a smile on his face as wide as the horizon, and I kept on driving. I wondered if he was doing it cause God told him to, or if he had done some real bad things and was just trying to save a few souls to redeem his own. Maybe he had just given up, and he was going to dance with that sign until God decided it was time to take him. I really couldn’t say......these are the things that stay with me, and these are the things that most people would chose to ignore, or at least forget about. Some people say my music is a cross between this and this and that. But when it all boils over, I was born to sing that dancing man's song, to commemorate the ignored, the down, the lost, the weak, the lonely, the depressed, the loved, the unloved and everything in between. Because that's what folk music is, realities of life unfiltered. - Jacob Augustine (quoted in 2008)
Jacob released his debut album Harmonia to rave critical reviews early in 2009. A musician most of his short adult life, he had toured the country with his previous band (Red Cloud Revival) showcasing for the likes of today’s biggest music industry movers and shakers (Rick Rubin, as well as various top major label scouts), but a few years ago decided to step out on his own and cement his status as a forceful singer/songwriter and made an enormous splash in the ever-developing Portland, Maine music scene.
• “Augustine is storyteller and wordsmith, both, with lyrics that spiral back on themselves with moments of surreality and absurdity, but retain an ability to shape a scene. "High Water" is a Katrina (Hurricane Katrina) tune, but can function independently of that historic disaster.” – Sam Pfeifle - THE PORTLAND PHOENIX
• “When you listen to the first track, ‘American Mazy’, on Jacob Augustine’s new album ‘Harmonia’ you instantly fall in love. Then, as you listen to track two, ‘Change’, you want to sit down with him and pick his brain. Finally, by the time you finish the third song, ‘High Water’, Jacob Augustine becomes an instant celebrity.” - LOVESOUND MAGAZINE
• “If there is one trait that can describe Harmonia, the 2009 folk/ indie release by Jacob Augustine, it is that the album is melodically beautiful. The eeriness and intensity of the vocals and the creative layering and arranging of interesting instruments fill out the music to become complex and rich, full of warm tone and emotionality.” – MICCONTROL.COM Blog
Jacob has been nominated for ‘Album of the Year’ by Love Sound Magazine, named The Portland Press Herald’s ‘Artist to Watch in 2009’, and nominated by The Portland Phoenix for ‘Best New Artist of 2009’. He has shared the stage with many international and national touring artists including Youth Group (from Australia), Findlay Brown (from England). David Dondero (Team Love Records) and Needtobreathe (Atlantic Records), as well as having over 60 radio stations nationwide play his first single “High Water” in some level of rotation for well over 9 months, while WCLZ (Portland) has spun this song in heavy rotation for over 5 months.
Jacob and his band are currently writing and recording a new album slated for an early-Spring release. His current band consists of six musicians that when they are on stage together release an orchestral energy that is uniquely attained, allowing Jacob's folk-enthused ballads to shine deep inside the listeners soul. Watch for Jacob and his band on the road this winter to hear some of the new material!
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