To Jack Mercer, becoming a musician was as inevitable as a Vancouver rain in November. Music has always been a passion and he lives for the live performance where there are no second chances.
With a musical style that he describes as saloon folk, Jack Mercer recently embarked on a career defining performance with his new band, Jack Mercer & The Whiskey Bandits, Friday night at Chapel Arts (Hastings and Dunlevy) in front of friends, fans and industry shot callers.
Vancity Buzz had the opportunity to catch up with Jack and got the scoop on how his newest album Jack Mercer – Lonesome Dreams & Wild Things came about. The album started to take shape two years ago when Jack and his producer (Kyle Statham of Bear Mountain) were determined to painstakingly develop an album that sounded uniquely west coast.
The album is a therapeutic masterpiece that tells various tales, both personal and characterized, of old fashioned lovers, pirates, life on the water, and of Jack’s determination to have this album launch his career to the next level. What followed was songs like “Old Fashioned Woman” and “Tall As Giants’ with layered lyrics that give the songs a symbolic and literal emotion.
As a licensed tugboat captain, the 29 year-old Mercer has also collected many first and second hand accounts of the trials and tribulations of the west coast waters and has turned them into beautiful songs. “The Salt”, is the haunting story of a disaster at sea with a sole survivor that was turned into a music video filmed in Gastown’s decadent Fort Knight Barber and Men’s Shop. “The Salt” is just a taste of the saloon folk, high energy, Canadiana, country meets blues style that Jack and his bandmates make look easy.
To preview the entire album or to purchase the album, click here.
“Don’t Save Your Dreams For Twilight” – Jack Mercer
Follow Channels and Categories