“From the northern outpost of Edmonton Alberta emerges another singer-songwriter getting down to the crux of things in the empty barrel of a stripped down sound. The acoustic guitar and occasional harmonica from Jake Ian may roll around the walls of disused landscape but they prove the launching pad for ten songs as raw and real as you are likely to come across. Not that this Canadian is a novice as EVERYTHING HAS HOLES is his eighth album release and he his noted as a stalwart of Western Canada’s folk and country scene.
From the contrasting cover of a rather run down location standing stoically in the foreground of the most brilliant blue sky outpours ten songs that pay homage in some places to Townes Van Zandt and for a more contemporary comparison sound like a refined version of Rod Picott. The songs have a therapeutic appeal and are just the tonic when you want to chill out after a stressful day to some simple tunes. Of course like all singer-songwriters, the listener is invited to be active in the process of absorbing the poetic content of the lyrics, an attribute that shines right through the short period just shy of thirty minutes required to enjoy this album.
EVERYTHING HAS HOLES may be low key and minimalist, but there is no shortage of craft housed within the songs. When an artist elects to go down this route, there is no hiding place. Jake Ian is perfectly at ease in this mode and certainly knows the ropes to max out the effect from exploiting his talent. This album is not an extrovert piece of art over pitching itself on a commercial plane. However it is a magnetic field for ears seeking an idealistic solace in the heartfelt sanctuary of a beautifully constructed simple song.”
-Three Chords & The Truth, UK
“Canadian born and Edmonton based singer songwriter Jake Ian has produced an album here that will appeal to lovers of Folk, Country and Americana style music.
He is one of a plethora of Canadian artistes that I have reviewed over the last twelve months, as the Country that produced Joni Mitchell continues to provide the music lover with quality sounds and albums.
Jake leads a double life both as a solo performer and appearing also with his band, usually at fairly small venues, where he has built up a solid following. Writing all the songs on this album, he has a voice that has been compared to Springsteen with his slightly gruff vocals yet surprisingly gentle delivery.
The nine songs on this album all have one thing in common, they have been beautifully produced never allowing the backing to overpower the emotion and subtlety of Jake’s lyrics. The foundation of the backing music is guitar but the fiddle, piano, mandolin and even an accordion play leading parts too. The song that perhaps best demonstrates Jake’s approach to a song is the last track on the album. “All Of The Good Times Are Passed And Gone” a look back on life with a beautiful piano backing and subtle harmonies throughout. Jake’s voice is most suited to this type and tempo of song in my opinion.
“All My Trials” with its banjo in the background is the sound that you would expect to hear coming from a bar in Nashville. “Dear Eleanor” is a very slow number delivered as a farewell letter to a lover and where the harmonica adds to the pathos of the lyrics. “94 Romance” has the sound of a Parisian bar and is somewhat upbeat when compared with the very laid back sound and tempo of the other tracks on offer here. Jake definitely knows how to write a song that will show his voice and talent off to its undoubted best.
Nine tracks makes this a fairly short album at just over 32 minutes and I did feel slightly short changed as I was really getting into the music when it ended. I like all of the tracks but my undoubted favourite is the slightly more upbeat “Share You With The Road.”
Overall, this is a very listenable album from an artiste that deserves greater recognition for both his singing and his undoubted skill as a song writer. Jake has a voice that produces a delightfully mellow and relaxed sound and one that it is easy to imagine listening to in a smoky café or bar late at night. You would no doubt go home very relaxed!”
–Rory M Stanbridge, FATEA
“Jake Ian’s The Trestle, his first full-length since 2014’s It Don’t Really Matter Anymore, finds the Edmonton singer-songwriter taking his first spin as producer and engineer, having recorded the album with a modest home studio setup. The results are encouraging. The sound Ian captures on The Trestle finds a pleasing folk tone, not unlike a Guy Clark or John Prine collection. Homey and warm, with a relaxed atmosphere, Ian makes impressive strides from a technical aspect.
The backwoods feel is prominent throughout, the kind of tones that might bring the horses closer to the house. The Trestle is a plaid and denim record, fitting as easy as a worn-in John Deere cap. The more uptempo cuts sway like the late-night two-step at a rural community hall dance. “Headin’ To The Trestle” is the kind of upbeat shaker the farm boys are happy to tip a bottle back to, and “The Tale of Wesley Muskrat” hides its hard times in a catchy chorus melody, with a regal steel shimmering in the background.
Like Clark or Prine, Ian is willing to let a slow burn see its way through, and in some cases, it works, as on “Drunk Woman Blues,” with a submerged tremolo providing a sonic contrast to the cleanliness of the arrangement. Other times, the free reign afforded by helming a project on your own can result in songs that can feel overlong, but with Ian’s hard-earned ability to make an album like The Trestle on his own, he’ll be a fixture in Alberta folk music for years to come”
-Mike Dunn, Beatroute Magazine
“Dare I say there’s an Alberta sound? I’ve spent much of my adult life writing about the effect Alberta’s geography has on its local music, more often in the unnecessarily circuitous language of academic jargon (see how I’ve already made this sentence more complicated than it needs to be? See that?) than in a regular ol’chatty style. But, for all I might be trying to convince my readers this is the case, I finally believe it myself with Jake Ian’s new album, It Don’t Really Matter Anymore.
Maybe I’m just influenced by his subject matter – lost characters, rural settings, and references to Alberta sights – or perhaps it’s the appearance of Alberta’s musical elite on the album — Jeremiah McDade, Grant Siemens, Shuyler Jansen — that make it familiar. To me, though, the opening track, “Summertime in a Lonesome Town”, has a sound that can be locked securely into an Alberta roots aesthetic. The harmonica part evokes a gentle breeze across open spaces, then the steel guitar takes over the same role. Short mandolin riffs add to the delicate playing, until the fiddle moves in to dominate the chorus; all a classic approach to arrangement found in Ian’s peers. Above it all, Ian sings in a warm voice. His delivery is friendly; he’s an accomplished singer without making you feel like you can’t join in, and backup vocalists add to the warmth with some well-placed harmonies.
Maybe we should expect this: Ian is from northern Alberta, and the places and people from his rural past populate his songs. Even his tour schedule privileges the country; tiny taverns and concert halls are the preferred backdrop for his narratives of plain folk.
Some of my favourites include “Black Black Dirt”, a tune that to some extent relies on dark country tropes, suggesting the ominous Wild West in its sparse beginning, echo, and slow build. It’s a contrast to lighter songs on the record, like the cheerful, organ-driven title track, or “Bunkhouse Blues”, a tune anchored by pleasant vocal harmonies and catchy, straightforward guitar strumming. “Hide the Guns” features some great picking on both mandolin and guitar; it could be an instrumental song on its own. The highlight for me is “68 Malibu”, which has that ethereal pedal steel sound that rarely populates country, but makes me like any song it appears on, regardless of lyrical content.
It Don’t Really Matter Anymore is an album deserving of close listening on good headphones. I say this because I’ve listened to it in my travels a lot, and the intricacies of the instrumental performances, Ian’s words, and Jansen’s production get lost in the bleed from external noise. Pour a drink and give it some concentration. The album, not the drink.”
-Gillian Turnbull, No Depression
“Great musical stuffs brewin’ in Alberta. Recently I’ve become inordinately fond of the new works of 100 Mile House, T. Buckley, The Coal Creek Boys, Reuben and The Dark, Matt Pattershuck, Joe Nolan and The Boreal Sons. The wells here in Alberta are overflowing and a new gusher of sweet water joining the flow is Edmonton-based Jake Ian.
With his fifth album since 2008 and his conversion from the punk scene, Northern Alberta’s Jake Ian has hit the jackpot with It Don’t Really Matter Anymore. Ten great songs and stories about livin’ the Alberta advantage. Jake has the juice of a great songwriter: I gotta trailer out by Hillcrest/it’s kinda sinkin in the front/ Anna moved away/she went to go live with some rich guy in the south….Jenny had a walk that was louder than the hole in the muffler of her ’68 Malibu…”
With producer Shuyler Jansen, Jake has assembled a sterling group of musicians, including Jeremiah McDade and Paul Rigby, to swaddle his songs in lovely, straight-forward arrangements with deft touches of accordian, mandolin, banjo, and a very tasteful slide guitar.
This album is a winner and I can’t wait to see more of Jake Ian in the near future”
-Les Siemieniuk, Penguin Eggs Magazine
Jake Ian 