Jack + Jill Making Name from Western Slope
by Tim Wenger
The evolution of jam rock and its infusion with other genres has provided modern music with some very diverse bands pulling from its’ basket. In Colorado, we certainly have seen the full gamut of the genre from 20 minute guitar solos to the more modern, alternative takes on the genre such as Dave Matthews Band. Yesterday, I even listened to a submission from a group from New Orleans labeling themselves as “jamtronica.”
Here in Colorado, Jack + Jill, a band reaching further and further outside of their hometown of Grand Junction, is a band that that focuses on the modern side with heavy influences from alternative rock and grunge. Aaron Seibert brings a background in metal and harder music while his wife rocks out on the violin, bringing a lighter air to the sound. “I’m really trying to meld the two,” he says. “I enjoy vocal harmonies, I enjoy happy go lucky stuff just as much as I enjoy head banging. It works.”
The group got their start following Aaron and wife Jessica Seibert’s marriage several years ago, growing from a two piece into the electric four piece seen onstage today. “2008, 2009 was when we really started kicking things off,” says Aaron. They began playing around the Junction area and started developing a decent local following. Gigs kept piling in, eventually reaching a point where the duo needed to become a quartet in order to have a bigger sound. “The demand got so high that we had to higher other musicians because the events were so big. It’s like ‘I can’t fill this room with just her and I. I need a drum and bass.’”
The fuller sound stuck, increasing the diversity of their music which in turn increased their appeal. The band now entertains fans of nearly every sub-genre of rock from metal to jam and routinely gigs with just as diverse a lineup of bands. Jack + Jill has toured the Rocky Mountain region extensively behind their latest release COLORADiO.
After spending much of the last two years gigging heavily in Idaho, Wyoming and Utah, Jack + Jill is spending more time in Colorado this year. They have built a solid fan base in the Grand Junction area (enough that they are able to make the finals of Colorado Music Buzz’s Bandwagon 5 competition, the first western slope band to ever do so). “We’re loving Colorado life,” says Jessica.
They are also loving life in their hometown, which they say has a very strong local scene that, contrary to popular belief, offers up much more than just overplayed metal wannabes and Country Jam. “(Grand) Junction is amazing,” Aaron says. “The music scene is really good. It’s amazing that it hasn’t blown up. I know Denver has good music but when you have a national act on every corner, it’s hard to pay attention to the little guys. Junction has one or two main theatres and the rest are local places where local bands can get a good start.”
“Since Colorado Mesa University opened, it has totally turned everything around,” Jessica says.
The current lineup in Jack + Jill, also featuring Jake Cram on drums and Cory Roberts on bass, will be answering the call for a new album in the near future, once their busy tour schedule calms down a bit. “We’re booked out through October,” says Aaron.
Showing no signs of slowing down, Jack + Jill are working hard and the members are all happy with current lineup and constant gigging. “This is the most satisfied, comfortable group that we’ve ever had,” says Jessica about her bandmates. Through numerous member changes, the music has continued to progress and maintained the same drive behind the Seibert’s dream. “It’s nice because the music keeps going. It isn’t ‘Oh, now we have to write new music because some of it was this guys or some of it was that guys. The show must go on!” Catch the group in Denver at Higher Ground Music Festival August 23.
Check out Jack + Jill at jackplusjill.com
Category: Buzzworthy
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