Jerome Forde lives in Traverse City, in northern Michigan, population 15,000, although that number increases exponentially each summer when tourists arrive for the annual National Cherry Festival. Notable residents include U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg (TC is his husband Christian’s hometown), and Michael Moore, who launched the Traverse City Film Festival in 2005. It’s also the home of Grand Funk bassist Mel Schacher, and where hockey legend Gordie Howe lived for much of his later life.
Yet, Jerome Forde is poised to put Traverse City on the musical map, as his new self-titled album (due out April 21st via weewerk) heralds the arrival of a vital new voice on the Americana scene. Imagine for a moment what might have happened if Elliott Smith and Townes Van Zandt had collaborated—that’s one way to approach Jerome’s sound and songwriting style. But given his relative isolation, Jerome has additionally become a skilled jack-of-all-recording-trades, playing each instrument on the album himself as he crafted its 10 tracks in his basement studio over a three-month period last fall in between shifts at the local post office.
Fans of pure songwriting have the songs on Jerome Forde to savor, and as he begins presenting them to live audiences, it seems a sure-fire bet that he’s ready to pick up the torch from fallen heroes like Jason Molina and Blaze Foley whose work consistently cut to the bone, but in the most seductive ways possible.
Today Glide is premiering the video for the album’s first single “Marigold.” Opening with a delicately fingerpicked, Simon & Garfunkel-esque guitar pattern, the song is an exercise in folk harmonics that elevates Jerome’s vocals to give them an ethereal quality that complements the song’s dark melody. Simple guitar strumming gives was to a colorful banjo solo to add to a sound that is simultaneously calming and reflective of some of the unusual turns Jerome’s life has taken.
Jerome describes the inspiration behind the song and his process in general:
“I can’t really say that I have any process to songwriting. It’s too random and chaotic for that. I don’t think I’ve ever written a song by trying. I like the way Damien Jurado compares his songs to cats. You can’t force a cat to come to you. They come to you when they want to, and usually when you don’t expect it. I guess you could push that further and compare songs to tigers or some large predator cat. You’ll just be minding your own business, picking a few strings, when a song just pounces on you, ready to eat you whole. I’m not sure if every song is worth being devoured over, but in the moment of writing any song, I think you at least have to believe it is.”
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