At the age of 18 I found myself in the back of a crowded van on a long road trip headed West on I84. I started singing, as I often do, making up the words as I went. I don’t know why I sang. I never considered myself to be very musical and I definitely had no intention of starting a band or anything. I just enjoyed it - coming up with words to tell stories and convey ideas. With my words, I created a character - a young man that found himself driving back down the same highway he once used to leave his hometown. I kept these words in my head unwritten for years, singing them from time to time.
Eventually, I met and married Alie Renee - a wonderful human being and talented musician who is as kind on the ears as she is on the eyes. She helped me finish the lyrics and add music. Interstate 84 was the first song we created together and just 1 of 10 tracks on our album, Desert Days.
I’m so proud of what Alie and I have been able to create together and with the help of so many other talented friends and family members. Song by song we wrote, developed, recorded, released, and now get to debut with a full band at our release show in October - our largest show to date.
I don’t think we’ve shown up to an event yet where I haven’t been asked, “so what do you play?” The short answer is that I don’t play any instruments - My role in Byland primarily consist of managing, marketing, audio engineering, and (my personal favorite) writing. I’m so thrilled to see a song I began writing nearly a decade ago find its way onto a Seattle stage performed by an incredibly talented 7 piece band led by an amazing woman. And while you may not see me on stage, these songs mean a great deal to me, as I hope they do to many others that get the chance to hear them.
- Jake
