Friday, April 8, 2016

KATE JACOBS - The Calm Comes After (1993)
KATE JACOBS - What About Regret (1995)
KATE JACOBS - Hydrangea (1998)
KATE JACOBS - You Call That Dark (2004)



  http://www.bar-none.com/kate-jacobs
Kate Jacobs started writing songs in the pre-gentrified Hoboken of the late 80’s, and  teamed with neighbors Dave Schramm (Yo La Tengo, The Schramms) and James McMillan (The Cries, Water Music) to perform and record them. Kate released four albums with Bar/None, and recently opened Little City Books in Hoboken, a neighborhood bookstore that often hosts readings and musical events.

KATE JACOBS:  In 1992 I made an album, cassette-only, and sold it out of my kitchen. I’d been playing around Hoboken and New York for a couple of years and had a really good local band — including James MacMillan of Water Music and Dave Schramm. I’d got my band down to SXSW a couple of times, had collected some respectable indie press reviews — so I wasn’t being lame about it. One night at Maxwell’s, Glenn asked me if I’d like to put my album out on Bar/None, with a few extra tracks. In those days I was caught up in the hustling musician dream of getting a record deal, so I thought that was really easy.

Glenn had a reputation as a frugal maker of records.  He had a favorite saying that we  often quoted in our recording sessions over the years: “Is the amp on? Is there a mic near it? Roll tape!"

Bar/None at the time was in the historic Hoboken Land Building, a beautiful 1889 industrial brick building down by the river and train station, with a wonderful back stoop that caught river breezes. It was next door to the Post Office, which was very handy because there was a tremendous amount of mailing to do. I commuted to my day job on the PATH, and when my album came out, I would often stop at the Bar/None office on my way home to help with copying press releases, drilling holes in promo jewel cases, stuffing jiffy bags, stamping, and carrying boxfuls of packages to the PO. I spent many afternoons sitting on the floor with Tom, stickering and stamping mountains of jiffy bags going to press and radio. 

Glenn’s wonderful daughter Gina came after school and set up her homework in the corner. She was little. Tom (Prendergast) would say he was going to hang her upside down over the Hudson and she would say, “No, you’re not. God wouldn’t let you!”

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