“Hello My Friend”
1/2/2019 Atlanta– The sun was shining and we were en route to Atlanta. The night before, The Jacks graciously responded to a comment we made about their “house party” show. They DMed us the address, and asked us if we wanted to come. Of course we couldn’t pass up the opportunity, so like always we hopped in the car and drove.
We arrived around 2PM, and we were escorted to the open backyard. We walked down the porch steps and walked closer to where the stage was set up. The party host, Alex was so sweet and accommodating. He was shocked that we had driven so far to see the band, and promised to make it worth our while.
He introduced us to Tom (guitar/ vocals), Josh (drums), Jonny (vocals and guitar), and Scott (bass/vocals). The band was just as excited as us about being there.
“Shake it up baby now”
The guys made their way to the makeshift stage and started playing their set around 3:30. They opened with “Holy Roller”, played through some of their unreleased songs, and covers of “Should I Stay or Should I Go?”, “Hey, Jude” and “Twist and Shout”. They kept the crowd energized and on their feet through the duration of the show. Jonny engaged with the crowd by getting off the stage and sharing the microphone. We made connections with the guys while they were performing and we never missed a beat. They finished the set with an encore of “Twist and Shout” and had everyone twisting in their shoes.
The Dirt (on our shoes)
After the show, our shoes were muddy, the sun was setting, and the crowd had dispersed. We met up with each of the guys and struck up an intriguing conversation. We were curious to know what was next for their career. They mentioned that they recently got signed to EDGEOUT Records (a record label under Universal Music Group). Thanks to their new record label, they were able to participate in the Superbowl performances. Jonny explained that because of this big milestone in their career, they will be releasing new singles soon and are planning on going on tour in the upcoming year.
Josh was curious to know where we had discovered them. We explained that Vista Kicks had mentioned them and we were interested in learning more about them. We did our best to persuade Scott to go on tour with their pals, Vista Kicks. Scott asked us where we were from and was open to any suggestions on venues to play at when they come back around. We mentioned that we recently went to a concert at the Radio Room in Greenville. We continued the conversation talking about psychedelic rock bands.
In our conversation with Tom, we found out that they cover songs that fit in their genre of music. “We do this because if the crowd isn’t familiar with our music, it gets them interested in our sound.” He then added that they do like to add their own twist to the songs that they cover. For example, he mentioned that he loves covering “Hey Jude”, because “It’s one of the best songs ever written and we love to add our own spin to it.” “
“Hello, Goodbye”
The sun had set and we were bidding our farewells. We thanked Alex and his roommate Murphy for the billionth time for hosting the party, and made our way to say goodbye to our new friends, The Jacks. We had mentioned the blog in our previous conversation and couldn’t pass up the opportunity to get a picture with them. They were more than happy to, and thanked us again for traveling down to see them. We bid our farewells and promised to see them again soon!
“…a little taste”
If you have never listened to The Jacks, you definitely should! These guys create some badass rock and roll music. Their music is influenced by the 1960’s and 1970’s rock invasion. Keep an eye out for any new music they will be releasing and if you ever have the chance to see them (even at a house party in the middle of Atlanta) you should take that opportunity!
Thank you guys again for inviting us and being so down to earth and genuine! This will be an experience that we will never forget!
Hypnotic Bolt 