New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Cris Jacobs will release
Color Where You Are, the full-length follow up to his critically acclaimed 2016 album Dust to Gold, on April 12, 2019. Releasing through Blue Rose Music,
Color Where You Arefollows Jacobs' brand of rock, Americana, and soul through the next steps of his life; coming off of a few years of extensive touring, learning to recognize the current political climate and its divisive nature, and most importantly, becoming a husband and a father. Jacobs and band members Todd Herrington (bass), Dusty Ray Simmons (drums/percussion), and Jonathan Sloane (guitar) self-produced
Color Where You Are together, piecing together songs that Jacobs found time to write "between tours, coming home, changing diapers, fixing things around the house... whenever I could." The album's title references Jacobs' no longer having the luxury of waiting for inspiration to strike. Cris Jacobs "colored where he was".
"Painted Roads", Jacobs' groovy meditation on "finding the magic in the ordinary, everyday miracles and not getting caught up in any race to the finish line" opens
Color Where You Are. Like most of the album's songs, "Painted Roads" fleshed out in the studio; something Jacobs has usually not done in the past. "I booked the studio time with very little written and put a gun to my head," Jacobs says. "I had no choice but to just tap whatever emotional spaces I was in and whatever was going on around me and create as honestly as I could." While
Color Where You Areis not a political album, per se, current events certainly played an inspirational role in the songwriting. Tracks like "
Afterglow" and "Under the Big Top" explore that environment with encouraging, thoughtful criticism, never allowing the listener to stew on the negative. Through each song and narrative, the album never loses the soulful, jovial feel that is evident in songs like "Rooster Coop" and "We'll Act Like Strangers". "I just wanted some country funk on that one," Jacobs says of "Rooster Coop". "We started grooving on this lick I had and the first line that popped into my head was, 'There's something funky in the barnyard'. It wrote itself from there."
Color Where You Are ends up being a deeply soulful delivery of styles, feels, and subject matter from a changed-for-the-better Cris Jacobs; still true to what his fanbase has grown devoted to, but with a confident step in a fresh direction. Recorded in Richmond, VA with Jacobs' now road-tight band and guest keyboardist
Daniel Clarke (k.d. lang, Ryan Adams), and mixed by multi-GRAMMY winner Ryan Freeland, it is truly his most focused effort to date.When asked what he wants to do with his music, Jacobs thoughtfully responds, "I'm trying to connect with people. To express real-life human emotions and make people feel things. To hopefully have people walk away feeling lighter or happier or more inspired to be a better person in some way after listening."
After a decade, five records, and 200 shows a year as principal songwriter and frontman for beloved Baltimore-based band The Bridge from 2001-2011, Jacobs wasted no time continuing to write music of his own and exploring different configurations for his craft. He released his debut solo album, Songs for Cats and Dogs, in 2012, and continued to perform relentlessly, both with his new band and as a solo artist. In doing so, he quickly garnered the admiration of a variety of predecessors and peers: rock legend
Steve Winwood saw Jacobs perform in 2014 and soon invited him to open his national tour. The following year,
Sturgill Simpson extended the same invitation. Never limited by genre, Jacobs and New Orleans heavyweight Ivan Neville recorded a collaborative album under the name "Neville Jacobs". As an adapting, evolving, versatile musician who has survived on his own merit, Jacobs continues to win over audiences of many tastes, as he brings his characteristic authenticity and soul to every set.
Cris Jacobs on tour:
February 8 -
Round Hill, VA - B Chord Brewing Company
February 15 - Denver, CO - Cervantes' Other Side
February 16 - Park City, UT - Canyons Resort
February 27 - Raleigh, NC - Lincoln Theatre (supporting JJ Grey & Mofro)
February 28 - Winston-Salem, NC - Muddy Creek Cafe and
Music Hall
March 1 - Charleston, SC - The Charleston Pour House
March 2 - Macon, GA - Rookery
April 4 - Boston, MA - Great Scott
April 5 - Fairfield, CT - Stage One
April 6 - New York, NY - Rockwood
Music Hall
April 12 - Baltimore, MD - Union Craft Brewing
April 13 - Washington, D.C. -
Pearl Street Warehouse
April 18 - Harrisonburg, VA - Golden Pony
April 19 - Richmond, VA - Broadberry
April 20 - Ardmore, PA - Ardmore
Music Hall
May 10-11 - Aiken, SC - Aiken Bluegrass Festival
May 14 - Atlanta, GA - Smith's Olde Bar
May 15 - Nashville, TN - The Basement
May 17 - Chicago, IL -
Tonic Room
May 18 - Jasper, IN - Astra Theatre
May 25 - Thornville, OH - Dark Star Jubilee
July 4-7 - Quincy, CA - High
Sierra Music Festival.
