Baltimore-native guitarist, vocalist, and bandleader Cris Jacobs is preparing for a big home-state performance at Annapolis Baygrass Music Festival in Annapolis, MD (9/21–9/22). Set to serve as a sort of liaison between the visiting crop of world-class talent and the local contingent in the audience, he’ll host a guest-filled Cris Jacobs & Friends set on Sunday, 9/22. Considering just how far his creative circle extends—particularly among the artists on the festival’s lineup—the sky is the limit for this special performance along the banks of the Chesapeake Bay [get tickets].
Ahead of Annapolis Baygrass Music Festival, we spoke to Cris Jacobs his beloved Baltimore hometown, working with the legendary dobro player Jerry Douglas (The Country Gentlemen, The New Grass Revival) as the producer for his latest album, One Of These Days, and much more. Check out his conversation with our own Rex Thomson (Rex-A-Vision) below. [Note: Transcript has been edited for length and clarity.]
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Live For Live Music: You’re a born-and-raised Baltimore guy. What do you like about living there? You getting excited to perform a Cris Jacobs & Friends set for fans in your home state Annapolis Baygrass Music Festival (September 21st and 22nd)?
Cris Jacobs: It’s not like anywhere is cheap nowadays but relatively speaking the cost of living is better than a lot of other places. It’s got great restaurants, a great art scene, and great music. Great airport, centrally located… It’s served me well for all my travels. Baltimore also has just got a nice, humble vibe to it. It’s a city that has a bit of a hard luck history to it but people that live here take pride in it. Lotta multi-generational families here, lotta deep roots. It’s not as rat race-y or about being “in on the scene.” Everybody is just kinda themselves, and that’s a good thing. I’ve lived here most of my life. I’ve moved here and there but this is it. I’m settled down now.
Live For Live Music: Speaking of moving around, you’ve been known for covering quite a bit of ground musically. You straddle number of different genres—rock, funk, Americana. Do you have a genre in which you feel most at home—a “Baltimore” of styles, so to speak?
Cris Jacobs: It’s been a bit of a blessing and a curse in that all those different styles feel pretty comfortable. For this particular record I just did, One Of These Days… it’s more of an Americana/bluegrass thing. A lot of my deep roots of learning how to play were based in that stuff. I feel very comfortable behind an acoustic guitar with that kind of music. … I try to just follow the muse and go where it’s pulling me in the moment. The Americana/bluegrass thing is where it was pulling me when I was writing and made One Of These Days. I certainly still love to turn the amp up and rock out real loud though [laughs]! I will also play funky stuff, and that’s also a part of my show. But when it comes to making a particular project I just follow where it wants to go. There was a strong pull towards the bluegrass thing this time around.
Live For Live Music: If you’re trying to make a solid bluegrass/Americana album and you start off by scoring someone like Jerry Douglas as your producer, and then you record in Nashville, that almost sounds like cheating, somehow.
Cris Jacobs: I dunno if it is, but if it is, I did it [laughs]! I met Jerry at DelFest a couple years ago and I remember him watching my set. Afterwards he was really nice to me and I just felt honored to meet him. He even told me to keep in touch. As I was putting together my ideas for my next album I was wanting to take it back to a more bluegrass-y thing and I was like “You know what…” I knew he’d been producing some artists like John Hiatt and Molly Tuttle so I just called him and he was into it right away. That solidified the idea. I hadn’t even written any songs yet but if, in the back of your mind, you know that Jerry Douglas wants to produce you, you get to work.
Live For Live Music: You managed to further stack the deck by recruiting fellow Annapolis Baygrass Festival performers The Infamous Stringdusters as your backing band for the record. How’d you pull that off?
Cris Jacobs: They were in Baltimore a year before this whole thing got started. They had a day off and they called me and said, “Hey, we’re going to the studio to mess around. Do you wanna come in and record a song or two with us?” Which I did. I’d known them for a few years, we were buddies, and at the end of that session I remembered saying, “Man this was fun, I should make a bluegrass record and hire you guys as my band,” which was sort of a funny, “Ha ha, okay”.
Then, when it came down to it and Jerry was signed on as my producer, I called [Stringdusters bassist] Travis [Book] first and asked him if he would ask if the guys would be into doing this, ‘cause Jerry’s gonna do it. We felt like we could get a bunch of different players to join in. And really, the ‘Stringdusters are one of the best of the newer string bands out there and they’re already stacked with amazing players that I already get along with real well. It was just like… Jerry’s already into it, and then the Dusters were into it, and everything just sorta fell into place.
Live For Live Music: You’re telling me. Next you managed to rope in the likes of Sam Bush and Billy Strings…
Cris Jacobs: Yeah. Obviously Jerry helped a lot with that. It wasn’t like I was trying to get as many stars as I can to hype this thing up. It wasn’t like that at all. I came into Nashville and we had a week booked with the ‘Dusters and I had 11 or 12 songs. As we were tracking and working them out we were thinking, “This one could use a nice female vocalist on it… I’m gonna call Lindsay Lou” Or Jerry was like, “I’m gonna see if Lee Ann Womack is around!”
Then I was like, “I’d love to hear Billy Strings rip on this one,” and Jerry called Billy. Same with Sam Bush. I said it would be cool to hear Sam Bush on mandolin [doing] his thing to really drive this one along. So Jerry called him. That was definitely the coolest part about the whole process. It was very organic.
Live For Live Music: Sounds like the secret to making a great bluegrass album is to get yourself Jerry Douglas as a producer.
Cris Jacobs: Yeah, it’s a good move, and I may do it again. I know he’s a great player but he’s also a great producer. He’s also just a great person to be around. That’s one of the best qualities a producer can have. When a guy like him is telling you that your songs are great and he’s patting you on the back, it’s pretty encouraging!
Live For Live Music: The Annapolis Baygrass Music Festival (9/21, 9/22) is right around the corner and it’s as close to your house as any festival could be. Do you get to sleep in your own bed after your set?
Cris Jacobs: Well… I would be able to but I have a gig the next day so I will actually be flying out later that same night.
Live For Live Music: Looking at the lineup, and knowing what we know about the guests on your new LP, the real question is… are you blackmailing the booking team? That lineup reads like a list of Cris’ friends. The Infamous Stringdusters, Sam Bush… the list goes on. Looks like you’re set up nicely for your Cris Jacobs & Friends set.
Cris Jacobs: I know, right [laughs]?! The lineup is full of a lot of my friends and people I love to play with, which is awesome. I do happen to know the booker but I had nothing to do with that. When the lineup came out I was like, “This is awesome! Who am I gonna ask to sit-in with me?” Because there are just so many of my friends on this bill.
[Beyond the people on my new album] there’s folks like Daniel Donato, Jennifer Hartswick and Natalie Cressman… So we’ll see what happens. My core road band will be backing me, but there’s gonna be lots of invites.
Live For Live Music: Do you have any etiquette tips for sitting in, either for yourself or for folks joining you?
Cris Jacobs: My only etiquette thing is to not ask. I never, ever want it to be about me. I only wanna do it if they, whoever it is, feel like I could add to what their thing is. As far as asking other people, it’s usually someone I know, so it’s not like a “let me ask my manager to ask your manager” kinda formal thing.
Catch Cris Jacobs & Friends at Annapolis Baygrass Music Festival at Annapolis, Maryland’s Sandy Point State Park on September 21st and 22nd, 2024 alongside performances by Oteil Burbridge & Friends, The Infamous Stringdusters, Leftover Salmon, Sam Bush, Kitchen Dwellers, Sierra Hull, Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country, Trouble No More, The Lil Smokies, and more. Grab your tickets and find more information here. Check out the full schedule for the weekend below.
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