Nashville’s Jess Kerber first picked up a guitar at the age of 12, and her precocious drive to
experiment with different tunings and picking styles – influenced by kindred spirits like Joni
Mitchell and Susan Tedeschi – led to the development of a unique sonic palette and authentic,
personal approach to songwriting. Inspired equally by her upbringing in Louisiana and her
studies at Boston’s Berklee College of Music, her compositions highlight the dynamism and
depth of her gorgeous voice and thoughtful, humanistic lyrics, as well as the refined intricacy of
her guitar playing.
While performing in and around Boston and Cambridge, Kerber encountered fellow songwriter
Will Orchard, who quickly became a partner and collaborator. Working together on debut
album From Way Down Here, Orchard’s production prowess, intuition, and multi-instrumental
talents helped push Kerber’s beautiful compositions to a new level of fullness, while retaining
the disarming purity of the core elements. Kerber’s rich, emotive tenor and accomplished
writing radiate a profound warmth, while varying arrangements of pedal steel, Wurlitzer, drums,
and ambient guitar create the surrounding sparkle. The influence of her musician parents –
along with a certain nostalgia for what she lovingly calls the “way apart from the rest of the world
feeling” of the Deep South – shines through in the honest, straightforward, and timeless
qualities of her composition.
