Jacob Green is a folk blues singer songwriter based in Vermont who recently appeared on the podcast Rocket Shop Radio Hour, which features Vermont music and artists.  

Jacob Green and Nathan Michaud are musicians who tend to blend the sounds of blues, rock, and country. Together, they opened Rocket Shop with the song “When Peace Comes Back Around,” from Jacob’s new Album No End in Sight. Jacob usually plays in a bluesy style on his acoustic guitar, but Nathan’s part with the electric guitar brought a more technical and organic tone to the tracks.  

Jacob considers himself a “predominantly one-man band, but about half the shows we play as a duo.” They met two years ago at a show in New Hampshire. After listening to each other’s sets, they realized that their playstyles would mesh well together. They started playing together shortly after that show.   

Speaking on his own recording side-project, Nathan described his style as bluesy as well but working on something different from his previous work. This new style he described as “a reinvention of the electronic sound, with an organic tone.” He referred to the sound he’s creating as “Pink Floydish.” 

Last year, Jacob had to readjust his life. Usually, he’d be playing 130-150 shows a year. With the pandemic, he was able to record and release the new album. “I got to come back to what I love doing which is kinda how it all started. The album I just put out, No End in Sight I began work on in March or April, right when this all started.”  

This album was produced entirely from within his home. “I think for a lot of people if you didn’t have a home studio before, you might have one now, and if you did, maybe you’ve honed your skills a little.” In terms of the quality of the album, Jacob wanted it to sound as good as a professionally produced album. In talking about his success in achieving this goal, he said “mission accomplished.” 

“I think what you get from my home studio is the sort-of happy medium between what you’d hear live versus something too overproduced or clean. It has that kind of raw, live sound.” Nathan responded with “the difference between studio and live is where the emotion and sound, everything, comes out.” 

At first glance, the title of the album has a negative feel to it. Since it was released in the pandemic, it feels particularly hopeless. Jacob’s idea of the title effectively counters that feeling. “It’s also like saying, ‘we can be limitless in whatever we choose.’ In some ways we’re way too extreme; we’re too positive or too negative. The point is to recognize that. Hearing the phrase ‘no end in sight’ can seem kind of negative, but it’s more about perspective.” 

In looking ahead, Jacob and Nathan have a few shows scheduled for the summer, and they should be hearing from other venues in the next month or so. After this experience with making the album, Jacob hopes to be able to be recognized for more of his original music, rather than being a cover band. “When you play as many shows as I’m used to, all this time off has given me this perspective to play more of my original stuff at my future shows.” 

Jacob can be found online at his website, Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube. Nathan’s music is on Bandcamp. 

Text by Phil Franklin.