Jake Armerding w/ David Barrett

The Boston Globe calls Walking on the World, the newest release from singer-violinist Jake Armerding, “dizzying - it weaves together fiddle, mandolin, and guitar; stories about Rome and nostalgia; consonant ballads about a fleece jacket; and dissonant, off-kilter rags.” Marrying genres is Armerding's forte, a product of growing up with 1980's pop radio in one ear and classical violin in the other.

At 14, after ten years of violin lessons, Armerding joined his father's bluegrass band, Northern Lights, on fiddle. He also turned his attention to songwriting. His first efforts were mainly attempts to weed out cliche, but within two years he had composed "Rome," a minor-key dreamscape that Armerding still performs in concert. Songs began to emerge, and by 1999 he had his first record in hand. Caged Bird was an immediate hit with Boston's folk radio station, WUMB, which honored Armerding in 2001 with its award for “Best New Artist.” He released Caged Bird the old-fashioned way -- out of his trunk. Touring regionally and with support from radio, the record eventually sold more than 2500 copies and got Armerding noticed by the hip Nashville independent label Compass Records.

In 2003, Compass released Jake Armerding, a collection of folk-pop songs written during a stint in Nashville. It was the #6 most added new record among Americana radio stations in April 2003, and put Armerding into the national spotlight.  The Washington Post praised Armerding's “remarkable” instrumental skills. Festivals also took notice, and Armerding went on to appear at the Newport Folk Festival (RI), Kerrville Folk Festival (TX) and Falcon Ridge Folk Festival (NY), along with some of the country's best-known acoustic venues, the Ark (MI), Bluebird Cafe (TN), the Tin Angel (PA) and the Freight & Salvage (CA).

After more than 500 performances, from Anchorage to London and Miami to Bangor, Armerding returned to the studio to record Walking on the World. With a mix of Nashville veterans (Dan Dugmore on pedal steel and Phil Madiera on Hammond organ) and his own friends in the scene, he crafted an album that is “sharp, original, quietly intense, and rewarding for any who'll listen with both ears” (Lansing State Journal). Walking on the World is as difficult to categorize as much of today's best music; equal parts New England singer-songwriter, acoustic pop/rock and newgrass, no genre is exactly safe. But the effect is natural. “His real achievement has been to bend the boundaries of the genre -- to break the conventions that define country music,” writes the Boston Globe (March 2007). Armerding stands out from a crowd of new singer-songwriters for what has always been a hallmark of great songwriting: an ability to create something new out of something old.  

David Barrett is a EMMY-award winning composer/songwriter, whose work ranges from Olympic themes to PBS scores. His best known composition "One Shining Moment", recorded by Luther VanDross, is an annual ritual for those who view the NCAA tournament on CBS. That initial coup opened a floodgate of opportunities for Barrett, who now composes regularly for television: the Olympics, the U.S. Tennis Open, ABC, the CBC… but it isn’t all sports events. He recently won a silver medal at the New York Film festival for a hip-hop song in “Don’t Cross that Line”—a short film about gambling and student athletes. And he won an Emmy for scoring a PBS documentary on the writer C.S. Lewis. He has performed extensively as a solo act with Art Garfunkel as well as a host of others.

His most recent CD is called "The Grateful Life."