Rock Music News: guitarist / singer-songwriter Jake Aaron rocks out with jazz fusion giant, John Etheridge (2024)

Single release date: 16^th June 2023

“Simply calling Aaron a guitarist and songwriter is a little like calling Warhol a painter. It misses the mark by miles.” Tim Carroll – FolkWords

“This album really is a proper immersive experience, way beyond good songwriting and performance.” Paul Jackson – Fatea

‘Gotta Believe’ is the latest single from guitarist and singer songwriter, Jake Aaron. Featuring a guest appearance from renowned jazz fusion guitarist, John Etheridge (of Soft Machine, Hawkwind, solo acclaim and many collaborations), it’s one of the harder rocking tracks from Jake Aaron’s newly-released album, Always Seeking . The album was released on digital formats on 17^th May 2023 and is also available on CD from 7^th June.

Talking about ‘Gotta Believe’ single Jake says: “I’m partial to some heavy rock now and again, so I enjoyed writing this track. In the studio, John Etheridge put aside his boutique Jazz amp which he’d used for a jazzier track on the album, and plugged his guitar into the studio’s Marshall. The solo sounds like molten lava dripping off the fretboard, lovely stuff.  Kate Kurdyak, who also sings “Lupe’s Theme” on the album, is singing backing vocals. Before we recorded it I mentioned to the musicians, who are all very fine Jazz players, that they didn’t have to play this one if they didn’t want. The drummer Marc Parnell replied “jazz players are fine playing rock, it’s rock players who won’t play jazz!”

The album itself, Always Seeking, is a collection of fourteen tracks – a mix of acoustic, rock, blues, saloon piano and a Western cinematic theme. There are some characters along the way – Parnell (‘Parnell’s Last Stand’), a young wolf Lupe (‘Lupe’s Theme’) and an old dog who’s lost his way (‘Leave the Light On’).

Commenting on the album, Jake says: “I’d say it was alt-Americana rather than straight Americana. I grew up listening to bands like The Jam, Ian Dury and The Specials rather than American country – so there are other influences in there”