JESSICA LEA MAYFIELD

The 20-year-old singer-songwriter from Kent, Ohio, started performing with her family band One Way Rider at the tender age of eight. By 11 she was playing guitar and writing songs. Four years later she recorded her first album “White Lies” in her brother’s bedroom, printing only 110 copies. One of those copies fell into the hands of Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys, who quickly asked to be introduced to the teenager with an ability to convey a sadness far beyond her years.

Jessica and Dan hit the studio, laying the foundation for her debut album “With Blasphemy So Heartfelt”. Produced by Auerbach and recorded over a two-year span in his home studio in Akron, the album features Jessica on acoustic guitar and vocals, Dan on a variety of instrumentation and Mayfield’s brother David on upright bass.

A DARK, MOODY SOUND
Auerbach considers Jessica’s music “dark and moody in a mysterious way”, and he is “always really excited to make music with her.” Pitchfork gave the album a rating of 8.2 out of 10, calling it “fascinating and endlessly listenable.” The on-line magazine Blurt named “With Blasphemy” the Best Album of 2008 and considered Jessica the year’s Best New Artist.

Already in her young career, Jessica has opened numerous shows for The Black Keys, The Avett Brothers, Band of Horses, Ray LaMontagne and Cake. A successful tour in Europe brought her music to festivals in Sweden, Norway, The Netherlands and Finland. She is currently working on her second full-length album.

DAVID JACOBS-STRAIN

Slide guitarist and singer-songwriter David Jacobs-Strain grew up in Oregon, far from Mississippi, but he found his first musical home in the Delta blues. “I’ve always been drawn to the dark stuff,” David says. This young roots musician channels age-old wisdom and heartache with such energy and passion that you can’t help but feel good, even about feeling bad.

You also wonder how one man with one acoustic guitar (at a time) can rival the sonic density of a jam band. “I really like getting a big acoustic guitar sound — not loud but with a lot of depth and space. It’s all about having the flexibility to convey all different kinds of emotion,” he says.

CROSSING MUSICAL BOUNDARIES
There are various references in David’s music — bluesmen Skip James and Charlie Patton, Afro-pop star Salif Keita, Indian slide guitarist Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, rock icon John Lennon. But his work as a whole falls neatly in the gaps between multiple genres. Dirty Linen says that “he doesn’t just rock out: he’s learned the art of crossing musical boundaries from the masters.” Ask David what you should call his style. He grins. “Gangster-grass?” he suggests. “One-man arena rock?” A prankster peeks out from under long, dark lashes before disappearing behind the lanky singer’s polite manner.

His latest recording, “Terraplane Angel”, was released in May 2010 in the middle of the Nashville floods. Produced by Ray Kennedy (Steve Earle, Lucinda Williams), the album pushes well beyond the one-man show concept. David’s guitar and vocals blend with drums, bass, fiddle and more. Blues? Rock? Or an artful mix of both? You be the judge!

“Liar’s Day” (2008), produced by Kenny Passarelli (Otis Taylor, Stephen Stills), features Passarelli on bass and Joe Vitale on drums. “I wanted a big, aggressive drum sound,” says David. “A Neil Young or Tom Petty sound — that still allowed space for the Traugott acoustic and National steel guitars. I got it with Joe and Kenny, Joe Walsh’s rhythm section in the 70s.” Together the three lay down solid grooves that massage away the sorrow of lost love.

ONE MAN AND A GUITAR
The music isn’t only about love, though. Long before being green became a corporate cliché, David grew up in a community in Eugene that was centered on cultural change and the health of the environment. He sees a distinct connection between the communal base of his upbringing and the democracy of folk music. “I’m really into hand-made culture — and real people making real music. The voice. One guitar. Even at its simplest, folk music like the blues has always been a vehicle for expressing your own situation, whether as an individual or a community. There’s such power in that.”

In his mid-20s, David is already a veteran of the national club and festival circuit. In 2008 he was chosen by Boz Scaggs to be the opener for his tour. David has also shared the stage with T-Bone Burnett, Bob Weir, Los Lobos, Lucinda Williams, Taj Mahal, Etta James, Dave Mason and the Blind Boys of Alabama. His festival credits include the Strawberry Music Festival, MerleFest, the Lugano Blues to Bop Festival in Switzerland, the Newport Folk Festival, the Telluride Blues Fest, the Vancouver Folk Festival and the Montreal Jazz Festival. He’s also been on the faculty at guitar workshops, most notably at Jorma Kaukonen’s Fur Peace Ranch.