Will Jacobs talks about gigging at the age of twelve, his perception of the music industry and how a simple homework assignment to study “Pride and Joy” by Stevie Ray Vaughan started his love affair with the blues.

Vizions of Rock: Who plays what instruments in the band?

WILL JACOBS: I play guitar and sing vocals and the band is comprised of Simon Horn (Bass), Lionel Haas (Keys) and Brian Sauls (drums). If one of them has a scheduling conflict, then I’m fortunate to have Roland Fidezius to step in on bass and Connor Fitzgerald on keys.

Vizions of Rock: How did the band come together and how long have you been together?

WILL JACOBS: I’ve been living in Berlin almost four years now and had a chance to meet and perform with some amazing, experienced players. The first two years, I worked with various combinations of musicians before assembling this particular group - each of these guys has a strong style, is a versatile player and bring their A-game to our group.

Vizions of Rock: You were gigging at the age of 12. What attracted you to “The Blues” at such a young age?

WILL JACOBS: I remember the day I fell in love with Blues like it was yesterday. I was lucky enough to have a daily music class in Middle School (when I was 11 years old). Each Friday, we were assigned a weekend listening project to analyze a song from a different genre. One Friday, Blues was the genre of the assignment and the song to analyze was “Pride and Joy” by Stevie Ray Vaughan. I remember thinking "I have to go home right now and learn how to play that note by note.” And that’s exactly what I did. I spent the weekend playing along to SRV tunes and digging through his catalog to learn everything I could. After that weekend I was hooked and spent most of my High School and College years, digging through music and learning as much as I could. I'm still doing it to this day with Blues and many other musical styles.

Vizions of Rock: As a follow up: How did you get a gig at the age of 12?

WILL JACOBS: The show was a battle of the bands that my Middle school was holding. I remember we played Jimi Hendrix and Ted Nugent; not sure if we won or if there was any real prize, but I know I loved being on the stage. Shortly after, I was playing blues jams in Chicago and my band was performing locally.

Vizions of Rock: How would you describe your sound?

WILL JACOBS: My band and I have been performing and recording what I describe as high-energy Blues and Soul. While that’s still true today, in my recent songwriting I’m diving into experimenting with more Funk and Soul-based sound. I have lots of music in my head and I’m excited to be expanding into other musical territories.

Vizions of Rock: How does your song come together, what is the creative process?

WILL JACOBS: While I don’t have a strict process, ideas typically come to me while practicing my guitar every day. Whatever comes up - a chord, a word or phrase, a pattern of sounds - I jot it down right away. Most of the time, the music comes to me before lyrics, but sometimes a chorus of lyrics will pop in my head and then the music follows. However, it happens, I try to let it be a natural process and build on top of whatever comes first, until the song is finished.

Vizions of Rock: You have played all over the world. How is “The Blues” perceived overseas opposed to here in the USA?

WILL JACOBS: My perception comes from several points of view - I grew up and learned to play blues from the finest blues men and women in Chicago, where there’s a very specific blues sound and history. When I was 16, I was fortunate to play at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, Tennessee, where I first heard many alternative interpretations of “blues” from bands from all over the world.

Since I’ve been overseas in Europe, I’ve noticed many musicians and listeners gravitate more deeply toward Roots and Traditional Blues music versus Modern Blues. They seem to prefer “classic” blues and roots music. However, I do think blues musicians are more appreciated in certain ways in Europe than they are in the US - the fans and clubs in Europe really support their musicians.

Vizions of Rock: Is there a message that you are trying to communicate with your music?

WILL JACOBS RED GUITAR HI RES PHOTO BY PERRON #7 MANAGEMENT.jpg

WILL JACOBS: Not so much a message, but it’s a feeling and sound I want to communicate. I want people who hear my music to feel good, to feel free, be themselves and to let loose. Whatever you have going on in your life good or bad, I want my music to make their emotions flow...ones that they may not have known they needed to feel.

Vizions of Rock: I am really interested in getting a younger artists perspective (who grew up with the internet) of where they see the music industry heading in the future?

WILL JACOBS: Like many musicians, I’m extremely uncertain of what the future holds for our industry. The current COVID19 pandemic has thrown us a wild curveball. Like other of my professional musician colleagues, I’ve only known songwriting, gigging, recording, live shows and tours with other musicians. Hopefully, in the not too distant future, we can continue where we left off with music. But in the meantime, our job is adapting to current circumstances and remaining productive and as visible as possible -- writing music, doing live streams or collaborating...so when all of this is over, we’ll have interesting and exciting music to offer our listeners.

Vizions of Rock: Do have any advice for up and coming musicians who want to follow in your footstep, aside from “Stay in school” and “Don’t quit your day job”?

WILL JACOBS: Write every day, practice every day, and listen every day. The only one stopping you is YOU!

Vizions of Rock: Who are your influences?

WILL JACOBS: For me this is a hard question. It's like asking a kid in a candy shop to pick his favorite candy. If I had to narrow it down to a random list of five, (in no particular order) it would be:

Albert King, Johnny Guitar Watson, Bobby Womack, D'Angelo, Lucky Peterson

Vizions of Rock: Is there a tag line that describes WILL JACOBS?

WILL JACOBS: Yes. As I usually say right after a song, "Dats what I'm talkin' about!"

Vizions of Rock: What is on the horizon for the future?

WILL JACOBS: At the moment, I'm still planning to reschedule the shows that were postponed when everything went into lock down. Otherwise, currently I'm in the studio working on a new album, as I said before, to take my time and explore some different sides of my songwriting.

Vizions of Rock: How can we find your music?

WILL JACOBS:

Website: www.WillJacobsBand.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/willjacobsband/

Instagram: www.instagram.com/willjacobsband/

Twitter: www.twitter.com/WillJacobsBand

CD: "Takin’ Our Time" - Will Jacobs & Marcos Coll (http://www.hotsak.com/denda/takin-our-time)