David W. Jacobsen

Artist Information

Biography

David W. Jacobsen performs and records a diverse range of music. His lyrics include humorous stories and anecdotes as well as serious commentary and musings on social and psychological concerns. He performs live accompanying himself on acoustic guitar and entertaining his audiences with an amusing banter.

His recent albums start in the acoustic singer/songwriter genre, but branch out to include synth driven pop, guitar heavy rock, and difficult to classify experimentation. His newest album, Postcards, is a collection of amusing and soulful yearnings that explore disconnection through bad dates and Dilbert inspired office humor. Starting off in the acoustic singer/songwriter genre, the songs branch out to incorporate progressive elements, unexpected melodies, and intricate rhythms.

David W. Jacobsen has been writing and performing music for over fifteen years. He studied at Berklee College of Music and has both an excellent understanding of music theory as well as the good sense not to use it. His album Footprints was voted the top 10th album of 2005 by Upstage Magazine. His song "Christmas in Jersey City" received an honor award in the Great American Song Contest. He has recorded over ten albums on his Zbokth Productions label and is currently recording his next release.

More information at http://davidwj.com

Instrumentation

Discography

* THE CHASM (1999-2001)
* CUBICLE WONDERLAND(1999-2002)
* FOOTPRINTS (2002-2005)
* DUST (outtakes collection) (1998-2005)
* SEPTEMBER'S SHADOW - HOBSON'S JOURNEY (2004-2007)
* WALKING AWAY FROM WONDERLAND (2004 - 2008)
* POSTCARDS (compilation) (2011)

Links

• MySpace
• Twitter

Audio

• Jacqueline
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• Batteries
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• David W Jacobsen - 12 - Postcard
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• The Sales Meeting
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• Best Thing You Ever Did
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Video

david j sorry fc7

Photo Gallery

Press

• More Press At http://davidwj.com/press.shtml
  

  More Press At http://davidwj.com/press.shtml

• Feature in Jersey Journal [+ Show ]
  

  http://www.nj.com/waterfrontjournal/index.ssf?/base/news-2/1232004337104950.xml&coll=3 GIVING F...
  http://www.nj.com/waterfrontjournal/index.ssf?/base/news-2/1232004337104950.xml&coll=3
  
  GIVING FOLK A FEW LAUGHS
  Thursday, January 15, 2009
  
  By JEFF THEODORE
  
  JOURNAL ARTS EDITOR
  
  Come next month, David W. Jacobsen will do something that has become almost as automatic as paying his yearly taxes: release a new album of self produced music.
  
  "I believe my biggest accomplishment is just the sheer volume of work I put out there," says Jacobsen, an independent recording artist who lives in Downtown Jersey City. "I tend to release an album a year."
  
  Jacobsen, 34, dubs his music as acoustic folk with a smattering of sarcasm.
  
  "It models my sarcastic and humorous type of personality," Jacobsen says. "People have compared me to Phil Ochs, who was a contemporary of Bob Dylan's. He didn't become as successful as Dylan, but was a very talented man. Tragically, he wound up committing suicide."
  
  Jacobsen, who attended the Berklee College of Music, says his latest effort, "Walking Away From Wonderland," contains plenty of his trademark humor and addresses how people lose touch with their past as time goes on. Sometimes, Jacobsen says, that's a good thing, such as a bad breakup.
  
  "I tend to romanticize the past," Jacobsen says. "For example, on the album cover it shows a man walking away from a castle holding a guitar. That represents moving away from a certain element of your life and not knowing what's ahead. You know what's behind you and many times that really wasn't wonderland at all."
  
  Some songs on the new album also take on a decidedly political bent.
  
  "Some songs are semi-couched with the 2004 presidential election, comparing it to rearranging deck chairs on the Titantic," Jacobsen says.
  
  With this album, Jacobsen says he made an earnest attempt to be more consistent with style.
  
  "In an album with a lot of different styles, you're going to alienate your audience," Jacobsen said.
  
  And aside from playing guitar, the South Orange native reunited with an instrument he hadn't played in a dozen years: a mandolin.
  
  "I played it in high school so it felt a little awkward to play it again now," he says. "A madolin is essentially like a violin, which you play like a guitar. It's used pretty frequently in bluegrass and Italian folk music. For me, it's giving a slightly more rootsy and folsy element than stuff I've done before."
  
  Jacobsen acquired his love of music from a rock-and-roll loving father and a mother who embraced "show tunes and stuff like that."
  
  He's been self-recording albums since 1995.
  
  "A lot of them, I would make 100 copies and send to friends," he says. "In 2001, I got more professional with it with the release of 'The Chasm."'
  
  When asked what's changed about the folk music industry since he entered it, Jacobsen says he doubted if there's anything.
  
  "Doing solo acoustic music is actually not that popular," he says. "One change perhaps is that John Mayer guy who pops up on the scene, and is younger and better looking than me."
  
  ©2009 Jersey Journal

• Review of Footprints
  

  Review of Footprints from the Centre Daily Times: http://davidwj.com/CentreDaily.html

• Review of Footprints from Maywood University's Wood Word [+ Show ]
  

  Review of Footprints from Maywood University's Wood Word: http://davidwj.com/woodword-Footprints....Review of Footprints from Maywood University's Wood Word:
  
  http://davidwj.com/woodword-Footprints.html

• Review of Footprints from the Rhode Island College Anchor
  

  http://davidwj.com/AnchorFootprints.html

• Review of Footprints from the Brown University Post [+ Show ]
  

  http://post.browndailyherald.com/media/paper745/news/2006/03/09/Music/Footprints-1660977.shtml?norew...http://post.browndailyherald.com/media/paper745/news/2006/03/09/Music/Footprints-1660977.shtml?norewrite&sourcedomain=post.browndailyherald.com

• Review of Footprints from the Aberdeen Independent
  

  http://independent.gmnews.com/news/2006/0111/Front_Page/042.html

Setlist

I can fill 3 hours doing 80 % originals. I throw in solo acoustic renditions of 80s pop songs that were not originally recorded as acoustic songs.

Basic Requirements

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