In the midst of what could be the largest movement in folk-rock music since the 1960′s, revolutionary sounds from sensations such as The Avett Brothers and Mumford & Sons open new doors. With a similar sound and an admirable aspiration, Jack & the Bear was birthed in the downriver town of Monroe, Michigan in the the summer of 2010.
Named after an inspirational figure in lead singer Brandon Schreiber’s life along with the initials of the founding members of the group, the five-piece band hit the ground running with the writing of their self-titled EP, which received a self-distributed release in the spring of 2011.
With the core of the group made of two sets of brothers and an outlier family friend, collaborating comes comfortably and naturally to the band. Writers Brandon Schreiber and Ryan Servis provide a unique blend of two musical backgrounds; traditional guitar stylings of artists such as Neil Young and Glen Hansard meet new-wave cascading instrumentals found in songs of Radiohead and Beirut. The use of four part harmony and instruments such as mandolin, trombone, and accordion in many of their songs set the group aside from many others.