Video Premiere: Jake Ybarra “A Whole Lot to Remember”

The latest single from Jake Ybarra is full of rockabilly energy.  ‘A Whole Lot to Remember’ is the tale of an unruly party guy, delivered in a suitably upbeat, uptempo fashion by Ybarra, whose rhythmic strum gets you moving, and his band.  Dow Tomlin’s throbbing and warmly tuneful upright bass is a particular highlight, alongside David Flint’s dynamic guitar.  Ybarra has a great, clear voice for a pacy rockabilly tune like this.

It was, perhaps, inevitable that the Greenville, South Carolina-singer would find a life in music.  His brothers played guitar, his mother was a classically-trained pianist and his dad was a semi-professional horn player.  Although he sang in choirs as a child and played in rock bands during his teenage years, Ybarra didn’t begin creating his own music seriously until after graduating from university.  He explains: “I found myself listening less to rock bands and more to lyricists.  The first ones that really got to me were Jason Isbell’s ‘Southeastern’ and ‘The Freewheeling Bob Dylan’. Until then I didn’t realise how sad songs could be, but they could also be beautiful at the same time.  That led me to Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clark, James McMurtry, John Prine and Lucinda Williams.”  With influences like these, Ybarra was ready to tell stories through his songs.  In 2020, he recorded ‘Basement Songs’, a four-song pandemic project that he posted on Instagram.  This first release was well-received and led, in turn, to his first full-length album ‘Something In The Water’.

With his conscious focus on lyricism and character-driven narratives, Ybarra says: “It is very gratifying when I get on stage and I see people reacting emotionally.  I know they’re into the words as much as the music.”  Thanks to the artists that have inspired him and the blend of styles he delivers, Ybarra has created a collection of timeless music, due for release on 7th April 2023.  Check it out.