Jacob Humber
If you were to be exploring the back hallways of an abandoned outlet mall or a random antique store, you’d eventually find a partially-lit room toward the back. In that room, Jacob is sitting at a dusty piano, singing songs to himself — either his own, or perhaps those of Randy Newman or Tom Waits.
A bit on the somber side, Jacob’s songs sit firmly in the singer-songwriter genre, and span from upbeat indie pop/rock to more ethereal indie-folk and softer ballads.
Based in Nashville, Jacob Humber started writing songs in college after his football career abruptly ended. Around that time, two Nashville writers/performers changed everything for Jacob when they came to his college town and performed at a small open mic night.
Ever since, Jacob has found enjoyment sitting at home or talking a walk in reflective silence, learning how to improve his songwriting.
Q: Which song would you like featured?
My latest single, Afterlife.
Q: How long have you been creating music?
I’ve played piano most of my life, and I’ve composed for fun growing up. I started writing music for creative purposes in December of 2017, so a little over 4 years.
Q: Do you have a preferred genre?
Singer-songwriter, definitely. I think lots of stuff within various indie genres is cool, too.
Q: Do you write your own music, or do you collaborate?
Both! Most times when I write a song that I think could make the cut of a future project, I’ll shop it around to friends for some feedback during editing phases.
Q: Tell us about your latest song, EP, or album.
The song idea for Afterlife, my latest song, came in a typical ‘Jacob-gets-stuck-in-his-head’ spiral as I thought about how easily belief was weaponized in my upbringing. The tune features some tasteful indie production moments mixed in with the musical implementation of melodic indie pop/rock, all driven by the lyric and vocal profile. There was a tension in mind throughout the process of creating Afterlife. Within that push-pull, one finds the release of pent-up anger toward those who often soil the love their belief exists to share.
Q: What is the best song you ever released and why?
The best song I’ve ever released is a song on my YouTube channel called Jacob’s song. I wrote it about a dear friend of mine who passed away too soon, within the first 6 months of my songwriting adventure. It’s the best song I’ve ever released because although I was proud of having written the song, I didn’t care to draw attention to it when I posted it. It’s a heavy topic, sure, but a necessary one, ready for listening if anyone so chooses.
Q: Do you, or would you like to, perform live?
Definitely, I love performing live. I have some smaller house-show tours organized for this Spring/early summer in NC and TX, with more coming in the fall!
Q: Which of your songs is, or do you think would be, fun to perform live?
Most songs I write will never be heard by anyone but me, but there are some satirical songs that have come out over the years that would be pretty fun to play at a show. As far as songs that have been released, my upcoming single Sometimes (releases Apr 8) would definitely be a blast to perform live.
Q: What is your favorite/best outlet to connect with your followers Instagram, Spotify, FB, Twitter, iTunes? How would you want them to follow?
Following on Spotify and on Instagram would be my favorite/best outlet to connect! Everything else gravitates toward those hubs, for now.
Q: Are you currently working on any projects we should look out for?
Yes! Afterlife is a harbinger of my first full-record project that’s coming in September. The record is called Kodiak, and it’s my first big project.
My dad and I take this yearly trip to fish in Kodiak, Alaska. It’s about a week-long dance with Kodiak grizzly bears, massive fish, and way too much time together with limited hiding spaces. These 10 songs walk through conversations and topics that came up between him and I on this trip over the years. I raised funds for the project through writing lots of letters toward the end of 2020 and making my own Analogue Kickstarter out of it. It’s the best creative work I’ve ever made, and I can’t wait for people to discover it.
