Jake Xerxes Fussell | |
|---|---|
 Jake Xerxes Fussell performing at Wolf Trap in August 2022 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | November 9, 1981 Columbus, Georgia, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Singer |
| Instrument(s) | Guitar |
| Website | jakexerxesfussell |
Jake Xerxes Fussell (born November 9, 1981, in Columbus, Georgia) is an American singer and guitarist who plays folk and blues music, with a focus on traditional Southern folk songs. [1]
Fussell was raised in Columbus, Georgia, the son of Fred C. Fussell, a folklorist, curator, and photographer. [2] As a teenager Jake began playing and studying with elder musicians in the Chattahoochee Valley, apprenticing with Piedmont blues legend Precious Bryant, with whom he toured and recorded. He joined a Phenix City, Alabama, country band who were students of Jimmie Tarlton of Darby and Tarlton, and accompanied Etta Baker in concert in North Carolina. [3]
Before releasing his debut album, Fussell recorded vernacular Southern Music in the field with music historian, George Mitchell and Grammy Award-winning folklorist, Art Rosenbaum. [3] He often leverages his knowledge of traditional American folk music in his own work, for example, by adapting the cry of a 19th Century fishmonger for his song "The River St. John’s". [4]
Fussell has appeared on A Prairie Home Companion . [5] He toured in the U.S. as an opening act for Wilco, Bill Callahan, and The Decemberists. [6] [7] [8]
In 2015, Fussell released his debut self-titled album composed entirely of adapted folk and blues songs. William Tyler produced the album and contributed features on the guitar and organ. Chris Scruggs recorded features on steel guitar, bass, and mandolin, and Hoot Hester on the fiddle. [9]
In 2017, Fussell released his second album, What in the Natural World. Writing for The New Yorker , Amanda Petrusich named What in the Natural World to her, "My Ten Best Albums of 2017". [10]
Fussell released his third album in January 2019. In a review of his 2019 album Out of Sight, Pitchfork magazine noted,
Musicians like Jake Xerxes Fussell are nearly as rare nowadays as the material he performs. “All songs are traditional & in the public domain,” reads the sole composition credit on Out of Sight, Fussell’s often-transcendent third album. Put another way: Each of these nine songs survived the great folk-pop copyright round-up of the 1950s and ’60s (and beyond), when publishers hunted down and claimed untold numbers of “traditional” melodies as their own. [11]
In 2022, Fussell released his fourth album, Good and Green Again. Produced by James Elkington, the album is a combination of traditional song adaptations and original compositions.
Fussell's fifth album, When I'm Called, was announced on April 17, 2024 along with the release of the album's first single, "Going to Georgia". The album, produced by Elkington, will release on July 12, 2024 on Fat Possum Records. The album will feature nine songs, "some of them traditional [and] some not so traditional." [12]
| Title | Date of Release | Label |
|---|---|---|
| Jake Xerxes Fussell | January 27, 2015 | Paradise of Bachelors |
| What in the Natural World | March 31, 2017 | Paradise of Bachelors |
| Out of Sight | June 7, 2019 | Paradise of Bachelors |
| Good and Green Again | January 21, 2022 | Paradise of Bachelors |
| When I'm Called | July 12, 2024 | Fat Possum Records |
| Title | Date of Release |
|---|---|
| "Have You Ever Seen Peaches Growing on a Sweet Potato Vine?" | January 19, 2017 |
| "Furniture Man" | February 9, 2017 |
| "Jump for Joy" | March 10, 2017 |
| "The River St. Johns" | April 3, 2019 |
| "Michael Was Hearty" | April 25, 2019 |
| "Oh Captain" / "Three Ravens" | May 23, 2019 |
| "Copper Kettle" | February 5, 2021 |
| "Hills of Mexico" | March 5, 2021 |
| "Love Farewell" | October 29, 2021 |
| "Going to Georgia" | April 17, 2024 |
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By his special request, Nathan Bowles and Jake Xerxes Fussell — two recent Durham transplants who update historic southern folk music for modern times on outstanding recordings of their own — open with a special duo set.
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