It’s Corona-Time (still), and most of us are stuck at home. A couple of us music bloggers came together – virtually of course – and decided to introduce you to some of our favorite artists. You’ll find new blog posts every Sunday. So keep an eye out for them. So here’s my first Lockdown Artist Discovery: Jake Isaac!

I’ve actually discovered Jake Isaac a few years ago already. I haven’t really heard any of his music, but decided to go to his concert at Mascotte. That was May 2017… Ever since, I was hooked and luckily had the chance to see him live a few times. That’s where I met my friend Rahel too, so this show will always be very special to me 🙂

Jake Isaac performing at Stimmen Festival Ettiswil May 2019

Jake Isaac – Singer/Songwriter with lots of Soul

The British Singer with Caribbean roots doesn’t just write catchy and beautiful songs, his soothing voice makes sure the songs actually stick with you. On one side his voice appears raspy, but then again smooth as can be. His voice does remind me of some of the good old Motown legends like Otis Redding or newer artists like Jacob Banks. When looking for a genre to describe Jake’s music, it’s hard to pinpoint one specific genre. I’ve seen people put him into the neo-soul category or in the very broad “Singer/Songwriter” area. Everything fits in my opinion.

It seems like Jake Isaac has been influenced from many different sides, be it some rock, maybe even some reggae but definitely lots of soul! At first, you might find most of his songs rather slow and calm. But especially live, he can really get some upbeat songs out there and rock out! I am a sucker for slow songs and ballads, but I do quite enjoy some up-tempo songs. One of my favorites of Jake Isaac’s songs is for sure “Long Road”. I absolutely love the build-up in this song. Go have a listen:

From Studying Marketing to Playing at Glastonbury and Signing To Elton Johns Label!

Imagine going from being a student to part-time session musician and eventually ending up at the world-famous Glastonbury Music Festival. Jake Isaac does not only play a shitload of instruments, his songwriting and instrumental skills are also well known in the industry. Even before getting signed to Sir Elton John’s Rocket Music, he has been working with artists like Gabrielle or Blue. After signing, he’s worked with Ella Eyre, Paloma Faith, Angus and Julia Stone, and Elton John himself, just to name a few. Recently he’s been on tour with one of Switzerland’s most successful (internationally) artists Stefanie Heinzmann, that took him around all of Germany and Switzerland.

Jake Isaac at Mascotte Club Zurich in May 2017

Corona Messes up Jake Isaac’s Tour Plans

As so many other artists, Jake had a tour with Tori Kelly lined up in 2020, as well as his own tour throughout the UK and Europe. Then March came along, together with Covid-19. We all know what happened after that. For now, “The Honesty” Tour has been moved to November 2021 – let’s all hope that until then, the world will be back to “normal”, or at least a new normal.

Jake kept busy, even during the year when the entire world shut down. He’s been doing a few livestreams to keep in touch with the fans but also released new music or new versions of older songs. While some artists may have struggled to find the motivation to write new songs, it seemed to have worked out quite well for Jake. I found this quote in a write up from American Songwriter: “After I wrote ‘Good,’ I thought I should probably keep going, so it felt really good to write, because it came easily. Then there was this weird beauty in the fact that I don’t know when I’m ever going to be able to play these songs live for anyone, so I’m just going to enjoy this moment.”

His latest release was: “Remember” ft Samm Henshaw x Mumu Fresh

Go Give Jake Isaac A Follow!

If you want to keep up with Jake’s career and his music, make sure to go give him a follow on all his socials:

Website: Jake Isaac
Facebook: Jake Isaac
Twitter: Jake Isaac
YouTube: Jake Isaac
Spotify: Jake Isaac

About the Lockdown Artist Discovery Series

Make sure to go check out the other blogs that are participating in this series. There will always be 2 new articles each week:

Music and Events published: Marius Bear and Tim Freitag
Erenblogs published: Daniel Donskoy
Planetsarah.ch published: Wild Youth

Image source (title/featured): Jake Isaac