Jake Ousley

DECEMBER 2012.

We could not be more excited to welcome Jake Ousley to the Music City Unsigned family! We know you'll love his catchy pop country songs. Be sure to keep up with his career here on the Music City Unsigned website and at http://www.jakeousley.com. There are big things ahead for this guy and we can't wait to see what he's got in store for us! - Music City Unsigned

DECEMBER 2012.

We could not be more excited to welcome Jake Ousley to the Music City Unsigned family! We know you'll love his catchy pop country songs. Be sure to keep up with his career here on the Music City Unsigned website and at http://www.jakeousley.com. There are big things ahead for this guy and we can't wait to see what he's got in store for us! - Music City Unsigned

OCTOBER 2012.

Our friend Jake Ousley released his new record, Counting Down the Days, TODAY and we couldn't be more excited! If you don't love Jake's music yet, you will. He has a sweet, smooth voice and his lyrics speak to a life we can all relate to. You'll walk away from his music feeling like you've known him your whole life. - Music City Unsigned

OCTOBER 2012.

Our friend Jake Ousley released his new record, Counting Down the Days, TODAY and we couldn't be more excited! If you don't love Jake's music yet, you will. He has a sweet, smooth voice and his lyrics speak to a life we can all relate to. You'll walk away from his music feeling like you've known him your whole life. - Music City Unsigned

FEBRUARY 4, 2010
BY: ANGIE BIANCHI

Jake Ousley isn’t new in town. And he isn’t new to the music biz, either. Yet, he hasn’t even put out his first EP yet. So, what gives?

Throughout his teens, Ousley was active in a program called Young Life. The group would sometimes host singer-songwriters, and through those activities he became friends with songwriters Andy Davis and Dave Barnes. Looking up to them, he thought he’d go into the music business. So, naturally… he moved to Nashville and went to Belmont.

While there, Ousley wrote and sang a little. But he felt overshadowed by the many singer/songwriters at Belmont, and didn’t think he should pursue being a musician per se. Through his friend Barnes, he also befriended Matt Wertz. When Barnes and Wertz toured together, they took Ousley along as their tour manager.

While that experience was a good one, Ousley still wasn’t convinced that going into the music business was for him. He left Nashville to take a full time position as a youth pastor in Michigan.

While there, however, he started writing again. Sometimes, he’d spend up to 6 hours a day writing songs! He had been playing guitar – and sometimes singing – for some of his youth programs, and people started really encouraging him to pursue music. He finally realized he wanted to do music for a living, but it was a hard choice to make.

Jake Ousley was still in Michigan, and drove to Ann Arbor to see Matt Wertz play a show there. He voiced his thoughts and worries to Wertz, to get his advice. Both Matt Wertz and Dave Barnes encouraged Ousley to make the move back to Nashville, where he could properly pursue a career making music.

Ousley has been back in town for a short while now, and is hard at work on his first EP. The 6-song set is due out this spring, and includes one track (Times Like These) that was co-written with Dave Barnes.

Jake Ousley is about to set out on tour with Ryan Long and Mark Wagner. See them in Nashville tonight, before they hit the road.

What: Jake Ousley, Ryan Long, & Mark Wagner
When: Thursday, February 4, 8:30pm
Where: 3rd & Lindsley
Cover: $7 in advance

Next stops:

Feb 6 The Evening Muse - Charlotte, North Carolina
Feb 8 The Rudyard Kipling - Louisville, Kentucky
Feb 11 The Edge - Livingston, Tennessee
Feb 12 The Vine - Chattanooga, Tennessee - Examiner.com

FEBRUARY 4, 2010
BY: ANGIE BIANCHI

Jake Ousley isn’t new in town. And he isn’t new to the music biz, either. Yet, he hasn’t even put out his first EP yet. So, what gives?

Throughout his teens, Ousley was active in a program called Young Life. The group would sometimes host singer-songwriters, and through those activities he became friends with songwriters Andy Davis and Dave Barnes. Looking up to them, he thought he’d go into the music business. So, naturally… he moved to Nashville and went to Belmont.

While there, Ousley wrote and sang a little. But he felt overshadowed by the many singer/songwriters at Belmont, and didn’t think he should pursue being a musician per se. Through his friend Barnes, he also befriended Matt Wertz. When Barnes and Wertz toured together, they took Ousley along as their tour manager.

While that experience was a good one, Ousley still wasn’t convinced that going into the music business was for him. He left Nashville to take a full time position as a youth pastor in Michigan.

While there, however, he started writing again. Sometimes, he’d spend up to 6 hours a day writing songs! He had been playing guitar – and sometimes singing – for some of his youth programs, and people started really encouraging him to pursue music. He finally realized he wanted to do music for a living, but it was a hard choice to make.

Jake Ousley was still in Michigan, and drove to Ann Arbor to see Matt Wertz play a show there. He voiced his thoughts and worries to Wertz, to get his advice. Both Matt Wertz and Dave Barnes encouraged Ousley to make the move back to Nashville, where he could properly pursue a career making music.

Ousley has been back in town for a short while now, and is hard at work on his first EP. The 6-song set is due out this spring, and includes one track (Times Like These) that was co-written with Dave Barnes.

Jake Ousley is about to set out on tour with Ryan Long and Mark Wagner. See them in Nashville tonight, before they hit the road.

What: Jake Ousley, Ryan Long, & Mark Wagner
When: Thursday, February 4, 8:30pm
Where: 3rd & Lindsley
Cover: $7 in advance

Next stops:

Feb 6 The Evening Muse - Charlotte, North Carolina
Feb 8 The Rudyard Kipling - Louisville, Kentucky
Feb 11 The Edge - Livingston, Tennessee
Feb 12 The Vine - Chattanooga, Tennessee - Examiner.com

SEPTEMBER 2012.

One of my favorite people, favorite songwriters, and great friends Dave Barnes plugged the new album. See what he said below…

“Counting Down the Days is one of my favorite albums of 2012. I really can’t tell you how much I love this record. The songs, the production, Jake’s voice and playing – all of it is so sincere and well done. The songs straddle that incredibly fine line of insanely catchy yet truly heartfelt and sincere. To think this is only his second record impresses me SO much, and it makes me even more excited about all the music to follow. This record is a MUST buy.” – Grammy Nominated Singer-Songwriter Dave Barnes - jakeousley.com

SEPTEMBER 2012.

One of my favorite people, favorite songwriters, and great friends Dave Barnes plugged the new album. See what he said below…

“Counting Down the Days is one of my favorite albums of 2012. I really can’t tell you how much I love this record. The songs, the production, Jake’s voice and playing – all of it is so sincere and well done. The songs straddle that incredibly fine line of insanely catchy yet truly heartfelt and sincere. To think this is only his second record impresses me SO much, and it makes me even more excited about all the music to follow. This record is a MUST buy.” – Grammy Nominated Singer-Songwriter Dave Barnes - jakeousley.com

FEBRUARY 2011.

When asked to describe his music, Jake Ousley’s first response is “Neo-polka” …followed up by a quick, “just kidding.”

The truth is that Ousley’s music probably falls closer to country or simple “singer-songwriter” music than neo-polka, but, whether or not his particular type of music is your typical cup of tea, it’s hard not to like the squeaky-clean, good humored Ousley.

“I think music was always something that was in me,” he says, with a hint of a southern drawl and a smile in his voice.

“Music is a connecting piece. I think my favorite experiences with music are the parts when it takes me to a place I can’t get to, in terms of its nostalgia or anything—excitement, expectation,” he says.

Ousley’s sound is influenced by artists such as Chris Rice and James Taylor, along with the artists that he was able to tour with or work closely with in his past.

“I think my favorite songs are the ones where someone wrote something that was really special to them and you can hear their voice on it—not just their physical voice, but you can hear them talking about the coffee shop they used to go to and why they liked it and the girl they liked and why,” says Ousley.

Originally from Henderson, Kentucky, Ousley learned how to play the guitar when he was 13. He eventually moved to Nashville and got to experience the music business firsthand when he went on tour with Matt Wertz, as his tour manager. In 2008, he switched gears temporarily, working in Hudsonville, Mich. for a year as a youth minister, of which he says, “It was great, and I loved being there.”

Although Ousley had written some of his own songs during college, he didn’t consider pursuing a career in music until he began working for a camp called Wilderness.

“I was leading music, and I had a couple of people sit me down and ask me if this was what I wanted to do. A few really close friends told me that they thought I could do this so called music thing, if I wanted to,” he says.

The encouragement sparked his most intensive stint of songwriting.

“I spent that year in Michigan feeling like I wanted to write more songs and spending more time by myself writing than I ever had. I got to the point where I was curious to see how they measured up, and sent some back to Dave Barnes and Matt Wertz and a couple other guys,” he says.

The positive feedback that he received reassured Ousley that he was on the right track, and, after his first year of working in youth ministry was up, he turned down a two year contract, instead opting to pursue music full-time.

Ousley recorded a six-song EP entitled, “Times Like These,” in 2010 with the help of Josh Robinson, a college friend and producer, and lately he’s been spending a lot of time doing what he calls a “mini-tour.” When asked what his favorite part of touring is, Ousley first says, “the food,” then, “connecting with people,” adding that he loves hearing people’s stories about their lives.

Ousley says that, other than touring, the next thing on his horizon is a full-length album, although a release date has not yet been set. He will be visiting Ann Arbor and performing at the Blind Pig on Tuesday, February 8 at 9:30 p.m. Tickets are $3. For more information, visit http://jakeousley.com. - ISPY Magazine

FEBRUARY 2011.

When asked to describe his music, Jake Ousley’s first response is “Neo-polka” …followed up by a quick, “just kidding.”

The truth is that Ousley’s music probably falls closer to country or simple “singer-songwriter” music than neo-polka, but, whether or not his particular type of music is your typical cup of tea, it’s hard not to like the squeaky-clean, good humored Ousley.

“I think music was always something that was in me,” he says, with a hint of a southern drawl and a smile in his voice.

“Music is a connecting piece. I think my favorite experiences with music are the parts when it takes me to a place I can’t get to, in terms of its nostalgia or anything—excitement, expectation,” he says.

Ousley’s sound is influenced by artists such as Chris Rice and James Taylor, along with the artists that he was able to tour with or work closely with in his past.

“I think my favorite songs are the ones where someone wrote something that was really special to them and you can hear their voice on it—not just their physical voice, but you can hear them talking about the coffee shop they used to go to and why they liked it and the girl they liked and why,” says Ousley.

Originally from Henderson, Kentucky, Ousley learned how to play the guitar when he was 13. He eventually moved to Nashville and got to experience the music business firsthand when he went on tour with Matt Wertz, as his tour manager. In 2008, he switched gears temporarily, working in Hudsonville, Mich. for a year as a youth minister, of which he says, “It was great, and I loved being there.”

Although Ousley had written some of his own songs during college, he didn’t consider pursuing a career in music until he began working for a camp called Wilderness.

“I was leading music, and I had a couple of people sit me down and ask me if this was what I wanted to do. A few really close friends told me that they thought I could do this so called music thing, if I wanted to,” he says.

The encouragement sparked his most intensive stint of songwriting.

“I spent that year in Michigan feeling like I wanted to write more songs and spending more time by myself writing than I ever had. I got to the point where I was curious to see how they measured up, and sent some back to Dave Barnes and Matt Wertz and a couple other guys,” he says.

The positive feedback that he received reassured Ousley that he was on the right track, and, after his first year of working in youth ministry was up, he turned down a two year contract, instead opting to pursue music full-time.

Ousley recorded a six-song EP entitled, “Times Like These,” in 2010 with the help of Josh Robinson, a college friend and producer, and lately he’s been spending a lot of time doing what he calls a “mini-tour.” When asked what his favorite part of touring is, Ousley first says, “the food,” then, “connecting with people,” adding that he loves hearing people’s stories about their lives.

Ousley says that, other than touring, the next thing on his horizon is a full-length album, although a release date has not yet been set. He will be visiting Ann Arbor and performing at the Blind Pig on Tuesday, February 8 at 9:30 p.m. Tickets are $3. For more information, visit http://jakeousley.com. - ISPY Magazine

“Jake has been a dear friend for a long long time, so when he told me he had started to write and sing i didn’t know if he was joking or not. But it’s no joke, my friends. His songs get stuck in my head, as much, if not more than some of my favorite artists out there. He has the unique gift of having a voice that perfectly suits his songs, both of which I LOVE.”
- Dave Barnes - jakeousley.com

“Jake has been a dear friend for a long long time, so when he told me he had started to write and sing i didn’t know if he was joking or not. But it’s no joke, my friends. His songs get stuck in my head, as much, if not more than some of my favorite artists out there. He has the unique gift of having a voice that perfectly suits his songs, both of which I LOVE.”
- Dave Barnes - jakeousley.com

“Jake Ousley sings with an earnestness and longing that draw me in every time. His songs, like Jake, draw from a deep well that is instantly endearing and relatable- you’re gonna love him!”
– Matt Wertz - jakeousley.com

“Jake Ousley sings with an earnestness and longing that draw me in every time. His songs, like Jake, draw from a deep well that is instantly endearing and relatable- you’re gonna love him!”
– Matt Wertz - jakeousley.com