Jake Blount

{{Infobox musical artist

| name = Jake Blount

| image = Jake Blount performs at the Earful of Fiddle camp in Michigan.jpg

| caption = Jake Blount performs at Earful of Fiddle

| image_size =

| birth_date = August 8, 1995

| origin = Washington, DC, U.S.

| instrument = Banjo, fiddle, vocals

| genre = African American traditional, Afrofuturism

| occupation =

| years_active = 2016–present

| label = Free Dirt Records, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings

| associated_acts = Tui, The Moose Whisperers, Tatiana Hargreaves, Libby Weitnauer

| website = {{URL|jakeblount.com}}

}}

Jake Blount is an American musician and writer based in Providence, Rhode Island.{{Cite web |last=Abrams |first=Ken |title=What's Up Interview: RI Roots Musician Jake Blount Releases "Spider Tales" {{!}} What's Up Newp |date=June 2020 |url=https://whatsupnewp.com/2020/06/whats-up-interview-ri-roots-musician-jake-blount-releases-spider-tales/ |access-date=September 3, 2020 |language=en-US}} He specializes in the traditional music of African Americans,{{Cite web |title=Jake Blount Presents: Afrofuturism |url=https://folkways.si.edu/playlist/jake-blount-afrofuturism |access-date=January 13, 2023 |website=Smithsonian Folkways Recordings |language=en-US}} and his work has been described as "Afrofuturist folklore."{{Cite web |last=Valentine |first=Syris |title=How Afrofuturism has empowered queer Black artists |url=https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2022/10/afrofuturism-empowered-queer-black-artists/ |access-date=January 13, 2023 |website=LGBTQ Nation|date=October 28, 2022 }} Blount, while initially recognized for his skill as an old-time banjo player and fiddler,{{Cite web |last=Abrams |first=Ken |date=October 12, 2020 |title=RI Musician Jake Blount Wins 2020 Steve Martin Banjo Prize |url=http://whatsupnewp.com/2020/10/ri-musician-jake-blount-wins-2020-steve-martin-banjo-prize/ |access-date=January 13, 2023 |website=What's Up Newp |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Hight |first=Jewly |date=September 22, 2022 |title=Jake Blount's 'The New Faith' is a cautionary, clarifying Afrofuturist tale |url=https://www.npr.org/2022/09/22/1124126459/jake-blounts-the-new-faith-is-an-cautionary-clarifying-afrofuturist-tale |publisher=NPR}} is a versatile multi-instrumentalist and vocalist who has described his music as "genrequeer."{{Cite web |last=Cholst |first=Rachel |date=June 23, 2020 |title=Jake Blount's "Genrequeer" Vision • Country Queer |url=https://countryqueer.com/stories/interview/jake-blounts-genrequeer-vision/ |access-date=January 13, 2023 |website=Country Queer |language=en-US}} He often performs most of the parts on his recordings, and fluently employs modern instruments and production techniques in his performances of centuries-old repertoire.{{Cite web |title=Jake Blount's 'The New Faith' deepens the soul of Black folk, offers dystopian salvation |url=https://www.tennessean.com/story/entertainment/2022/09/21/the-new-faith-jake-blount-deepens-the-soul-of-black-folk/7837641001/ |access-date=January 13, 2023 |website=The Tennessean |language=en-US}} His work critiques popular notions of genre and linear time,{{Cite web |last=Powers |first=Ann |date=February 22, 2022 |title=Jake Blount, 'The Man Was Burning' |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/now-playing/2022/02/22/1082325550/jake-blount-the-man-was-burning |publisher=NPR}} and usually centers themes of social and environmental justice.

Blount's first full-length solo album, Spider Tales, debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard Bluegrass Chart.{{Cite web |title=Jake Blount - Press Kit |url=https://jakeblount.com/press-kit |access-date=September 3, 2020 |website=jakeblount.com}} It received a nomination for Album of the Year at the 2021 International Folk Music Awards,{{Cite web |last=International |first=Folk Alliance |date=January 12, 2021 |title=Announcing the nominees for the 2021 International Folk Music Awards |url=https://folk.org/announcing-the-nominees-for-the-2021-international-folk-music-awards/ |access-date=January 13, 2023 |website=Folk Alliance International |language=en-US}} was named Best of the Americas in the Songlines Music Awards in the same year.{{Cite web |title=Songlines Music Awards 2021 |url=https://www.songlines.co.uk/awards/2021 |access-date=January 13, 2023 |website=Songlines |language=en}} Shortly after the album's release, Blount was awarded the Steve Martin Banjo Prize.{{Cite web |title=Steve Martin Banjo Prize - FreshGrass Foundation |url=https://freshgrassfoundation.org/steve-martin-banjo-prize/ |access-date=January 13, 2023 |language=en-US}} His single "The Man Was Burning" appeared on Spotify's list of the Best Blues Songs of 2022.{{Cite web |title=Best Blues Songs of 2022 |url=https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DWYi488IywmOA |access-date=January 13, 2023 |website=Spotify |language=en}} Blount's 2 most recent albums, The New Faith and Symbiont, were released by Smithsonian Folkways Recordings as part of their African-American Legacy Series.{{Cite web |title=The New Faith |url=https://folkways.si.edu/jake-blount/the-new-faith |access-date=January 13, 2023 |website=Smithsonian Folkways Recordings |language=en-US}} The New Faith was ranked among the best folk and roots releases of 2022 by news outlets including The Guardian,{{Cite web |date=December 28, 2022 |title=The 10 best folk albums of 2022 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/dec/28/the-best-folk-albums-of-2022 |access-date=January 13, 2023 |website=The Guardian |language=en}} NPR{{Cite web |last=Powers |first=Ann |date=December 19, 2022 |title=The Best Roots Music of 2022 |url=https://www.npr.org/2022/12/19/1134907922/the-best-roots-music-of-2022 |publisher=NPR}} and Rolling Stone.{{Cite magazine |last1=Hoard |first1=Jon Dolan, Jon Freeman, Jonathan Bernstein, Charisma Madarang, Joseph Hudak, Tomás Mier, Christian |last2=Dolan |first2=Jon |last3=Freeman |first3=Jon |last4=Bernstein |first4=Jonathan |last5=Madarang |first5=Charisma |last6=Hudak |first6=Joseph |last7=Mier |first7=Tomás |last8=Hoard |first8=Christian |date=December 18, 2022 |title=The 25 Best Country and Americana Albums of 2022 |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-country-americana-albums-2022-1234648516/ |access-date=January 13, 2023 |magazine=Rolling Stone |language=en-US}}

Early life

Blount was born and raised in Washington, DC. His family is interracial; his mother's family originates in Sweden and Jersey, and his father is Black. Blount and his older sister, Julia, attended Georgetown Day School. His parents, Jeanne Meserve and Jeffrey Blount, were television news professionals. He began learning to play electric guitar at age 12, and played in rock bands with his peers. Influenced by a chance encounter with Megan Jean and the KFB, Blount delved into acoustic music in the latter half of high school.{{Cite web |title=Banjo Newsletter |url=https://banjonews.com/2019-09/jake_blount.html |access-date=September 3, 2020 |website=Banjo Newsletter |language=en}}

Blount enrolled at Hamilton College in 2013, where he focused his studies on early African-American folk music. He received his first banjo lessons from Lydia Hamessley, who would become his advisor, and delved into old-time music.

Career

Blount first received widespread recognition within the old-time community in 2016, when his band The Moose Whisperers won the traditional band contest at the Appalachian String Band Music Festival in Clifftop, West Virginia.{{cite web |title=Appalachian String Band Festival |url=http://www.wvculture.org/news.aspx?Agency=Division&Id=2848 |website=West Virginia Culture |accessdate=September 3, 2020}} In mid-2017, Blount graduated from Hamilton College with a B.A. in ethnomusicology, released his debut EP, Reparations, with fiddler Tatiana Hargreaves,{{cite web |last1=Ely |first1=Elizabeth |title=Jake Blount '17 Performs Traditional Fiddle and Banjo Music |url=https://www.hamilton.edu/news/story/jake-blount-17-performs-traditional-fiddle-and-banjo-music |website=Hamilton.edu |accessdate=September 3, 2020}} and began to tour in earnest. The Moose Whisperers put out their self-titled album in early 2018 and embarked on a release tour in Scandinavia. Upon returning, Blount and Hargreaves opened several shows for Rhiannon Giddens.

Blount and fiddler Libby Weitnauer formed the duo Tui on a tour of Australia in late 2018. They released their album, Pretty Little Mister, in 2019.{{cite web |last1=Frahm |first1=Jonathan |title=Tui Brings Black String Band Music to the Forefront with 'Old Aunt Jessie Get Up in the Cool' (premiere) |url=https://www.popmatters.com/tui-old-aunt-jessie-premiere-2638924782.html |website=Pop Matters |date=June 20, 2019 |accessdate=September 3, 2020}} In the following year, Blount appeared on Radiolab and was selected as a member of the International Bluegrass Music Association's Leadership Bluegrass Class of 2020.{{Cite web |title=Jake Blount - About |url=https://jakeblount.com/about |access-date=September 3, 2020 |website=jakeblount.com}}{{Cite web |title=Birdie in the Cage {{!}} Radiolab |url=https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/radiolab/articles/birdie-cage |access-date=September 3, 2020 |website=WNYC Studios |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=IBMA Announces Leadership Bluegrass Class of 2020 |url=https://ibma.org/press-releases/ibma-announces-the-leadership-bluegrass-class-of-2020/ |access-date=September 3, 2020 |website=IBMA |date=December 19, 2019 |language=en-US}} He also claimed first place in the banjo contest at the Appalachian String Band Music Festival, competing with tunes from Black banjoists Nathan Frazier and Dink Roberts.{{Cite web |title=West Virginia Division of Culture and History News |url=http://www.wvculture.org/news.aspx?Agency=Division&Id=3507 |access-date=September 3, 2020 |website=wvculture.org}}

Blount released his debut solo album, Spider Tales, on Free Dirt Records on May 29, 2020. It debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard Bluegrass Chart.{{Cite web |title=Jake Blount - Spider Tales |url=https://jakeblount.com/spider-tales |access-date=September 3, 2020 |website=jakeblount.com}} The Guardian declared the record "an instant classic," and awarded it five out of five stars.{{Cite web |date=May 22, 2020 |title=Jake Blount: Spider Tales review I Jude Rogers's folk album of the month |url=http://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/may/22/jake-blount-spider-tales-review |access-date=September 3, 2020 |website=The Guardian |language=en}} Bandcamp selected it as their Album of the Day, and it received positive coverage from NPR, Rolling Stone, Billboard and more.{{Cite web |date=May 29, 2020 |title=Jake Blount, "Spider Tales" |url=https://daily.bandcamp.com/album-of-the-day/jake-blount-spider-tales-review |access-date=September 3, 2020 |website=Bandcamp Daily}}{{Cite web |title=New Music Friday: The Top 8 Albums Out on May 29 : All Songs Considered |url=https://www.npr.org/2020/05/28/864403529/new-music-friday-the-top-8-albums-out-on-may-29 |access-date=September 3, 2020 |website=NPR.org |language=en}}{{Cite magazine |last1=Hudak |first1=Joseph |last2=Freeman |first2=Jon |date=May 26, 2020 |title=RS Country Music Picks: Week of May 25th |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-country/country-songs-rs-picks-ashley-ray-1005030/ |access-date=September 3, 2020 |magazine=Rolling Stone |language=en-US}}{{Cite magazine |date=May 29, 2020 |title=First Out: New Music From Orville Peck, Keiynan Lonsdale, Blimes and Gab & More |url=http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/pride/9393287/first-out-orville-peck-keiynan-lonsdale-blimes-and-gab |access-date=September 3, 2020 |magazine=Billboard}} In an interview with Country Queer, Blount stated that the album "came out of a desire to tease out the sort of anger and demands for justice and resentment that I see simmering in the black traditional music canon throughout history," and was intended to contradict preconceived notions about Black folk music.{{Cite web |date=June 23, 2020 |title=Jake Blount's "Genrequeer" Vision • Country Queer |url=https://countryqueer.com/interview/jake-blounts-genrequeer-vision/ |access-date=September 3, 2020 |website=Country Queer |language=en-US}}{{Cite news |last=Hight |first=Jewly |date=September 22, 2022 |title=Jake Blount's 'The New Faith' is a cautionary, clarifying Afrofuturist tale |language=en |publisher=NPR |url=https://www.npr.org/2022/09/22/1124126459/jake-blounts-the-new-faith-is-an-cautionary-clarifying-afrofuturist-tale |access-date=September 22, 2022}} The album was named among the best releases of 2022 by publications including NPR, Bandcamp Daily, and The New Yorker.{{Cite web |last=Ruehl |first=Kim |date=January 13, 2022 |title=The Best Albums of 2020 |url=https://www.npr.org/2020/12/02/934624616/the-50-best-albums-of-2020-page-2 |publisher=NPR}}{{Cite web |date=December 18, 2020 |title=Best of 2020: The Year's Essential Releases |url=https://daily.bandcamp.com/best-of-2020/best-of-2020-the-years-essential-releases |access-date=January 13, 2023 |website=Bandcamp Daily}}{{Cite magazine |date=December 19, 2020 |title=A Musical Top Ten for an Unmusical Year |url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/2020-in-review/a-musical-top-ten-for-an-unmusical-year |access-date=January 13, 2023 |magazine=The New Yorker |language=en-US}}

Blount received the Steve Martin Banjo Prize shortly after the release of Spider Tales.{{cite magazine |last1=Grow |first1=Kory |title=Steve Martin on His Dedication to Awarding Banjo Musicians: 'This Is Equal to Classical Musicianship' |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/steve-martin-banjo-prize-interview-1073084/ |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=October 12, 2020 |accessdate=October 12, 2020}} He was prominently featured on NPR's Weekend Edition in a segment regarding traditional musicians and their efforts to address racism within the canon,{{Cite web |title=Breaking Down the Legacy of Race in Traditional Music in America |url=https://www.npr.org/2020/07/25/895112760/breaking-down-the-legacy-of-race-in-traditional-music-in-america |access-date=September 3, 2020 |website=NPR.org |language=en}} and was interviewed by Hunter Kelly for Apple Music's Proud Radio show.{{cite web |last1=Kelly |first1=Hunter |title=Proud Radio |url=https://music.apple.com/us/station/chely-wright-and-jake-blount/ra.1538223387 |website=Apple Music |accessdate=November 10, 2020}} The success of Spider Tales catapulted Blount onto the mainstream Americana touring circuit, leading to performances at venues including the Kennedy Center and the Newport Folk Festival.{{Cite web |title=Jake Blount {{!}} Kennedy Center |url=https://www.kennedy-center.org/whats-on/explore-by-genre/young-audiences/2021-2022/jake-blount/ |access-date=January 13, 2023 |website=The Kennedy Center |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Newport Folk Festival stage schedule 2021 |url=https://newportfolk.org/2021-schedule/ |access-date=September 21, 2021 |website=newportfolk.org}}

In early 2022, Blount released the single "The Man Was Burning" on Free Dirt Records. The song received positive coverage from NPR, and appeared on Spotify's list of the Best Blues Songs of 2022.

Later that year, Blount made his Smithsonian Folkways debut with the Afrofuturist concept album The New Faith. The record, which incorporates rap, looping, digital processing and a wider array of instrumentation than his prior recorded works, represents a significant sonic and conceptual progression for Blount. While Blount has said that he views all his work as intrinsically Afrofuturist, The New Faith engages with Afrofuturism more explicitly.{{Cite web |last=Blount |first=Jake |date=September 26, 2022 |title=SPOTLIGHT: Jake Blount on Traditional Music's Built-In Science Fiction |url=https://www.nodepression.com/spotlight-jake-blount-on-traditional-musics-built-in-science-fiction/ |access-date=January 13, 2023 |website=No Depression |language=en-US}} The album is set in the future, and depicts a religious ceremony held by descendants of Black climate refugees. It is composed entirely of rearranged traditional folk songs, some of which date back to the seventeenth century.{{Cite web |last=Proctor |first=Katherine |date=November 17, 2022 |title=Jake Blount unearths Black history through folk music, using its sounds as a bridge to the future |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2022-11-17/jake-blount-unearths-black-history-through-folk-music-using-its-sounds-as-a-bridge-to-the-future |access-date=January 13, 2023 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}} NPR, The Guardian, Rolling Stone and others named it among the best roots and folk releases of 2022.

Blount began 2023 with a performance at NPR's Tiny Desk{{Cite web |last=Boilen |first=Bob |date=January 6, 2023 |title=Jake Blount: Tiny Desk Concert |url=https://www.npr.org/2023/01/06/1146659751/jake-blount-tiny-desk-concert |publisher=NPR}} and a nomination for Artist of the Year at the International Folk Music Awards.{{Cite web |last=Uitti |first=Jacob |date=January 10, 2023 |title=International Folk Music Awards Reveal Nominees and Honorees |url=https://americansongwriter.com/international-folk-music-awards-reveal-nominees-and-honorees/ |access-date=January 13, 2023 |website=American Songwriter |language=en-US}} In 2024, he released symbiont in collaboration with Mali Obomsawin,{{Cite web |title=ALBUM REVIEW: On 'symbiont,' Blount and Obomsawin Remix the Ancestors |url=https://nodepression.com/album-reviews/album-review-on-symbiont-blount-and-obomsawin-remix-the-ancestors/ |access-date=2025-04-20 |website=No Depression |language=en-US}} and later appeared in the country music documentary Rebel Country.{{cite news |last1=Barraclough |first1=Leo |title=Fremantle to Handle Sales on Country Music Documentary 'Rebel Country,' World Premiering at Tribeca, First Look Released |url=https://variety.com/2024/film/global/fremantle-rebel-country-tribeca-1235973957/ |work=Variety |date=April 17, 2024}}

Discography

=Solo Studio albums=

class="wikitable"

!Title

!Album details

!Peak chart positions

Reparations (EP)

Label: Self-released
Release date: July 28, 2017

|None

Spider Tales

Label: Free Dirt Records
Release date: May 29, 2020

|US Bluegrass: No. 2

The New Faith

Label: Smithsonian Folkways
Release date: September 23, 2022

|NACC Folk Chart: #1

FAI Folk Chart: #6

Symbiont

|Label: Smithsonian folkaways

Release date: September 27, 2024

= As Tui =

Pretty Little Mister (2019)

= As The Moose Whisperers =

The Moose Whisperers (2018)

Singles

class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" ! style="width:22em;" \| Title ! style="width:2em;" \| Year
scope = "row" \| "The Man Was Burning" \| 2022

class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

! style="width:22em;" | Title

! style="width:2em;" | Year

scope = "row" | "The Man Was Burning"

| 2022