By Danny R. Phillips

Anyone even slightly familiar with St. Joe’s growing music scene more than likely knows the name Jesse James. James has been a very active part of the city’s music community for several years and now, he is ready to take the next step in his musical evolution.

On May 31, James will unveil his latest side project Jerkface, on Magoon’s always welcoming stage. Following James’ normal acoustic set as well as a set by Tuning Fork TV sensation Brean Reiley, Brian Shanks, a drummer who recently moved here from Kentucky via New York, will be joining James for a set by their new project. The possibility of a bassist being added to the group is still there but as James told me, “I like the two-piece dynamic. With just Shanks and me, it’s very raw. I like it.” James describes the band as part instrumental, part punk and very different from anything he has done before. Jerkface is creature built upon all the styles in which James finds comfort. There is surf rock like that of Dick Dale, The Ventures and Los Straitjackets, the psychobilly of The Cramps and Reverend Horton Heat, punk rock in the vein of Social Distortion and the straight up dirty guitar instrumentation of the late great Link Wray.

However, fans of the other bands that James is involved in need not worry. His other popular bands (the greaser punk/ Springsteen rev up The Sticky Throttles and the rock n roll gems If You See Kay, in which Jesse plays drums), aren’t done. James told me he is not slamming the door on those bands because he still really enjoys being a part of them. He is just branching out, trying new things, pushing his boundaries, trying to catch the next big wave so to speak.

Musicians and artists of all types need to challenge themselves to grow. If they do not, like anything else that needs attention, it will die on the vine. Complacency makes for boring life and a boring life is not living. Jerkface is just the next piece in the puzzle of James’ life. A life as far as I can tell, has not been a boring one.

Make sure to check out Jerkface at Magoon’s on May 31st. The show is 21 and over and there is no cover.

 

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 16th, 2012 at 10:23 am and is filed under entertainment, music, news. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.