Jesse Lafser
Nashville, Tennessee, United States | Established. Jan 01, 2009 | SELF
Music
Press
"An excellent Americana-styled album". - Alan Cackett
"Jesse Lafser spins raw, inspired tales haunted by the muses of Bob Dylan and Gillian Welch but with a richness all her own". - Marissa Moss
"Lafser has found her recording groove..." - Jamie McCormick, Brite Revolution - Brite Revolution
"****. Lafser’s ability to tell a story is remarkable…her unassuming voice is subdued, simple and clear – perfect for delivering [Land in Sight’s] profound truths.” - American Songwriter
"Check out "Anywhere I Go" a 'traveling' song that showcases Jesse’s willingness to eschew proper pronunciation in order to craft a solid hook. Pronunciation conventions be damned, I’ll take Jesse’s catchy folk any day." - Adam Cowden
Jesse Lafser "Land in Sight" - Craig Shelbourne
"[Lafser] is a force to be reckoned with both in vocal ability and songwriting talent. Land in Sight is a fantastic collection of songs and stories." - Andy Ziehli
"A songwriter willing to explore intriguing turf, [Land in Sight] is a solid collection of smart and earnest songs." - Ken Paulson
"A student of her generation's folk revival...grounded and human." - Jewly Hight
"At times her songs harness the gritty folk of Gillian Welch, and at other times they even contain the Western lilting of Patsy Cline." - Jon Karr
“Land in Sight recalls the raw storytelling of revered folk artists Gillian Welch and Mary Gauthier.” – Blake Boldt, Out and About Nashville. - Out and About Nashville Newspaper
“Jesse Lafser writes songs that draw you down paths of light and loneliness as beautiful as the Tennessee hills she calls home.” – Chris Pureka - N/A
Discography
Still working on that hot first release.
Photos
Bio
Jesse Lafser has had land in sight for eight years now. That's how long she's lived in the Music City of Nashville, a town of considerable charm but nothing in the way of oceans. If she came for the water, then she, like Humphrey Bogart's Casablanca character, was misinformed.
Named after a Thomas Hart Benton painting of a woman playing guitar, Lafser is rarely misinformed and often informative. Her latest album, Land In Sight, is a gentle gleamer, a testament to what's possible when someone with unique perspective mines the rich pool of talent in today's Nashville and seeks atypical beauty.
"Lafser's ability to tell a story is remarkable.... her unassuming voice is subdued, simple and clear - perfect for delivering Land In Sight's profound truths," wrote Erin Manning in American Songwriter magazine. Erin Manning was not misinformed. Co-produced by the artist and Mike Odmark, Lafser's latest gets compared, pleasantly, to work from Gillian Welch, Mary Gauthier and others who trade in a rare kind of gritty elegance, and who seek an emotional specificity that connects disparate souls.
Lafser was born a quarter century ago in St. Louis. She was raised on St. Louis blues, Roger Miller and transition: She and her family moved eight times - all within the city - during her youth. Classically trained on guitar and piano and less-than-classically trained on banjo and harmonica, she wrote her first song at age 15. It is not included on Land In Sight, an album whose title is inspired by a Mark Twain story about sailors lost at sea and finally found.
Lafser knows about loss, struggle and fear, and about the cessation of these things. Music, of course, is not the cessation of these things: It's often the cause of these things. But it can also be a balm, and if Land In Sight is clear about the fearful stuff, it also shines with hope and transformation. Jesse Lafser shines with these things, too. You may go see and hear that for yourself, should you choose.
*Land in Sight was recorded and produced by Lafser and Mike Odmark (Gray Matters Studio) and features Nashville favorites Andrew Combs, Spencer Cullum, Evan Hutchings, Mike Rinne, and Kristen Weber.
Band Members
Links
