Jelly Jar

Austin, Texas band Jelly Jar concocts a tantalizingly original and pleasing blend of stylistic influences to create a catchy, and highly danceable sound all their own. Tastes of blues, folk, bluegrass, swing and country can all be heard in their lively music, but what it really sounds like is pure Jelly Jar.

Merging the distinctively different, but complementary, singing and songwriting talents of Tom Metcalf and Rick Duszynski, the band displays a flair for interpreting original songs that range from tongue-in-cheek hilarious to heart-on-sleeve poignant. Their voices, plus the band, featuring banjo and saxophone, along with female vocals, acoustic and electric guitar, bass, and drums, Jelly Jar’s sound segues seamlessly from a jazzy and sophisticated vibe to swampy blues.

Jelly Jar has been steadily building a following and gathering favorable reviews of their first CD, Preserved. That CD won Rick del Castillo of Smilin’ Castle Productions “Producer of the Year” honors at the 2005 Austin Music Awards. Jelly Jar’s music has inspired reviewers to conjure expressions such as “stunningly haunting” and “sly, jazzy swing” to describe the band’s sound. In the Austin Chronicle, Margaret Moser called Preserved “an album to pull out when you need to describe the Austin sound.” In the Austin Daze, Maria Mesa describes “the dreamlike state and creative imagery” of Jelly Jar songwriting. For Doc from Texas Rising Star, Jelly Jar’s music conjures a “bluegrass band with the blues, waking up drunk in New Orleans and not giving one gawd damn.”

Perhaps the die was cast for the insightful quirkiness of their future band when Jelly Jar songwriters Tom Metcalf and Rick Duszynski met as high school juniors, at the same Southern California school that had already graduated eccentric musical geniuses Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheart. Duszynski was writing songs, and the two jammed together, becoming fast friends. Then diverging life paths led to over two decades without any contact. Settling in Austin, Metcalf set out on a quest to find his old friend. After locating Duszynski in Oregon, he invited him to come and visit.

It was a cold February when Duszynski arrived. It took him only three days of visiting before Duszynski came up with the chorus and a verse of “Man, That’s Austin.” Metcalf finished the song that night. Two days later they recorded a demo of their first co-write and seven Metcalf originals. A few days later, Duszynski returned to Oregon, but the amazing musical chemistry conjured in one recording session ensured that he would be back.

At age 18, Metcalf had bought a banjo, simply because not everyone else played one. After relatives heard Preserved, they told him his grandfather had also played banjo. Metcalf did not begin to flex his own songwriting muscles until years later, after honing his chops enough to compose melody lines on his chosen instrument. Joining a songwriter’s circle, he received enthusiastic encouragement to continue. After the reunion with Duszynski, Metcalf sought out interested players for his first band and began gigging around town.

“Man, that’s Austin” moved Mesa to declare the song “one of the best Austin tributes since Doug Sahm’s ‘Get A Life.’” Through frequent airplay on Austin’s popular NPR station KUT, Zachary Scott Theatre director Dave Steakley heard the song and selected it for prominent featuring in the Austin tribute play, Keepin’ It Weird. From there, snippets of the song aired on the CBS Sunday Morning feature on the play and the weirdness of Austin.

Jelly Jar keeps stirring the inspiration pot and has just released their second CD, titled "Currant Jelly" and will be on the road and in Austin promoting its release all through October and beyond.