Today we’d like to introduce you to Jacob Fleming.
Jacob, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I’ve lived in Tampa, Florida for most of my life. In high school, I began playing house shows every month and at venues around the city with my band.
We released a string of, admittedly, rough EPs but got much better as live performers. I moved to Nashville for school in 2018 and started playing out — open mics, writers rounds, and full band shows.
During a spring break, I recorded my first EP that was solely me called It Became Often in a friend’s make-shift home studio over the course of three days.
Looking back, there are a lot of things I’d do differently with the EP but it was the first time I felt confident in myself as a solo artist.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Know Me took a long time to record. Ray Aley, my friend and producer, and I went through many variations of the track before we ended up knowing this version was the One.
Originally, we considered making it a folky, acoustic track without any synths or electric instruments. I’m so glad we took the risks and ended up with the song we have now.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I’m a writer, guitarist, and singer, usually in that order. I began ‘writing’ songs when I was about 9 but didn’t actually commit them to paper until a couple of years later.
My dad had given me a guitar with strings that were several pencil widths off of the fretboard. A couple of fingers on both hands would bleed a bit but it made playing every other guitar I ever picked up after that so much easier. I learned a bit of piano during fifth grade from a friend who taught me a few chords after school.
I’m still not the most amazing piano player but good enough to lay down some synths on a song. My most recent work has had a lot of these synths, as well as electric guitar passages, the ladder of which is I think unique about my version of pop music.
Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
Networking has always been a bit of a challenge for me.
I’m a social person but networking always feels like I’m using people as a means to an end. It helps that it’s a mutual exchange but I typically prefer to collaborate with friends.
My most recent single, Know Me, was produced by my friend Ray Aley and, before that, Straight Line Drive was produced by my at-the-time roommate Wyatt Rouse.
Contact Info:
- Website: jacobflemingmusic.com
- Instagram: @scarletguitar
- Twitter: @JacobFSongs
Image Credits:
Claudia King and Lexi Elliot
