JBM

Jesse Marchant, who records under his initials JBM, started writing music as a kid. What began with the composing of classical pieces for guitar in his youth morphed 5 years ago into the writing of songs and experimenting with recording and arrangements, and soon led Marchant to writing lyrics and singing. His debut album, Not Even In July, released on Partisan Records in 2010, was a quiet surprise; exquisitely crafted, timelessly warm and deeply human. It was recorded by Henry Hirsch in his 19th Century church studio in Hudson, NY, produced by Marchant, and was praised for it’s sparse, yet rich and complete sound and for the maturity and candor in Marchant’s performance and storytelling. Spreading by word of mouth and soon gaining the passionate support of NPR, Paste, Filter and more led to opening gigs and tours with artists such as A.A.Bondy, St. Vincent, Sondre Lerche and Nathaniel Rateliff. While his debut was written partly of the despair of his time living in Los Angeles, followed by a long period of seclusion in the Adirondacks, his follow-up was the result of an even more intense withdrawal, written and recorded in a studio that Marchant set up in a rented house in upstate NY, where he played most of the instruments himself and handled all of the recording duties. Stray Ashes tested the limits of loneliness and self-discipline, and revealed itself to be a dark, dynamic and raw album. It flows with refined grace and intense force, with the elegance in restraint of Marchant’s haunting vocals and arrangements enveloping the listener in a sound that is at once eerie and comforting. John Congleton mixed the album, beautifully complementing Marchant’s production. JBM has since toured the US with Other Lives, Damien Jurado, as well as the mercury prize-wining Alt-j, and has received substantial praise for his mesmerizing live performances, alone or with his band. Marchant is most noted for his atmospheric sound and highly accomplished guitar playing skills and multi-instrumentalism. He was born in Montreal, Canada and resides in New York City.