Buzzworthy musician, Jake Cassman of Drunken Logic, heads out on tour this December, kicking off the 1st at The Green Room at Shrine NYC. Currently 11-dates see him making his way out West to Berkeley, California for the delightfully dubbed "Vagabond Tour." With a guitar and an impressive set of vocals in tow, these will surely be shows you will want to mark on your calendar for year end. We had the chance to catch up with Cassman, for an exclusive interview below, the eve before he hits the road.
For Jake Cassman tour dates, click HERE
You're about to hit the road. What cities are you looking forward to playing the most?
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I’ve never been to New Orleans or Austin, and I’ve heard nothing but wonderful things - playing there has been a dream of mine for awhile. I’ve also never played in DC, so it’ll be great performing for friends and family there. And Philly is always near the top of that list - I lived here for two years and still have tons of friends in the area. I can’t wait to ply the Barbary on Sunday 12/4!
Do you have any plans on touring next year as well?
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Nothing yet, but we just finished recording a new album and want to put it out in 2018. So I’m sure I’ll hit the road at some point.
What are your influences musically and lyrically?
Artists like Frank Turner and the Hold Steady really inspired the sound of our first two records. But preparing for a solo tour has really brought out some of our folkier influences, like early Josh Ritter and Tallest Man On Earth.
What are your favorite venues to play?
The ones with people in them! I’m not snobbish about numbers, enthusiasm is what counts.
What are your favorite songs to perform live?
We’ve got a new one called “Alone In America” that should be really fun to play solo - it will require some audience participation. I really love playing our song “If You Only Knew” on guitar (which I only recently learned how to play) - that song is a journey, and I love trying to retrace those steps all by myself. The song “Every bastard Drinking Alone” of our debut album is a great one for piano as well.
Performing also as part of indie buzz band Drunken Logic, what is the differences when you perform live and when you perform solo? How does the musical dynamic work?
Our music is very ornately arranged - our full band lineup is so talented that you have a several really powerful musical voices all working together. Stripping down these songs to just one instrument and voice brings the energy down a little bit, but also really lets the song and lyrics shine through. I just hope I can do justice to these songs and the brilliant musicians who recorded them.
Can we expect any new songs on the tour?
Yes! Our third album is on the way, so I’ll be workshopping some solo arrangements of that material. I’ve also got some unreleased songs I want to play for people, so there will be all sorts of surprises!
Traveling from the East Coast to the West Coast, as you have done before, what notable differences you see between the coast's crowds?
I haven’t played much on the west coast - I’m actually playing my first show in four years in my hometown of Berkeley, Ca, which should be really special. But I’d definitely say you have to work harder with east coast crowds to get and maintain their attention. I like having to earn it at a show, and fighting through that at bars up and down he east coast definitely made us a better band.
