Local Colorado Music Through The Eyes of Avery Jacob

I founded Sonder Music Management because I believe so much in Colorado music - not just as a blip in history, but as a movement that is truly making waves, and changing the landscape in more ways than one. It’s becoming widely accepted that Colorado, and Denver specifically, will emerge on the map in 2020 to compete on the national level with music cities like Nashville, Chicago, New York, and L.A.

Music is connection. Music is community. Music is a story. That being said, I have been thinking for a while that I really want to tell the story of local Colorado music, but I can’t do it on my own. So, I plan to talk with those making the music in Denver, Fort Collins, Colorado Springs, Pueblo, Durango, and every town in between.

This week, I had the absolute privilege of sitting down with Avery Jacob to talk about his band, Avery J & the BA, their new album, titled “See U at the Crossroads,” the release party on Nov. 16th, and all things Denver music. Avery Jacob is one of those movers and shakers pushing this scene forward - and I can’t wait to see what he comes up with next. I so enjoy our meetings, as it always feels we’re talking soul to soul about the thing that moves us both most - music.

Who is Avery Jacob?

Sitting in a South Broadway pizza joint, that golden afternoon light coming in sideways like it does in the late fall, I asked Avery what he would want people to know about him and his story. “I would want people to know that I’m Avery J and I’m very fly,” he said with a laugh, “and that I’m very focused.” But he’s really much, much more than that.

Avery is a local genre-blending musician from Aurora, Colorado, a fact that he’s very proud of. “That community raised me up,” he said, “I’m originally from Savannah, Georgia; I was born there. My parents moved here and this is where we’ve lived our entire lives. We grew up here. We got to know life here. I’m proud to be from Aurora, and I want to make other people from there proud too.” Avery talks like this a lot about community and connection as the driving forces behind what he does, both as a musician and as a person - one of the many reasons that he’s helping our Colorado music scene thrive.

Beyond being a musician, Avery J is a storyteller and a leader, evangelizing to his congregation of onlookers about the gospel that is music. He says, “We have these stories to tell. They might be stories that only we know - but they’re also stories that only we can tell. Nobody else knows them, because no one else has told them yet.”

Before he began doing music full time, Avery was in the U.S. Army, and had the chance to travel the world and experience all kinds of different cultures. In his time abroad, he discovered that no matter the place, no matter the language, no matter the economic or social level, one string ties every human together. A spirit of connection and community.

“Because we’re all spirits, we’re all connected in some way. Because we’re all connected, everything we do matters in some way. There may be some people in the world who feel like their spirit doesn’t matter, and I want to be here telling them that it does. Not only that it does, but that I’m here contributing to telling that story. We all have something to say. We all have a story to tell. We all have a hill to pass out on. Since we all have that hill, maybe we can all use our voices to spotlight it.”

Avery J & the BA and Post-Apocalyptic Gospel

Avery J & the BA, a project that blends Soul, Hip-Hop, and Delta Blues, was formed as another avenue for the band’s frontman, emcee, and bassist to explore further rap genre fusions. Drummer Lucas Milowsky and backup vocalist/co-writer Doms Gordon fill out the outfit. The band has produced their new album, titled “See U at the Crossroads,” and has plans to release it at a community party on November 16th. The album is meant to be an expression of freedom, as listeners begin their journey in chains and work towards beating off their oppressions. The album is filled with songs that can be universal - applying to each and every listener in a way unique to them.

“It’s all about conversation; That’s what started this album: telling the story about what you’ve been through and wanting to be free. We live in this life and we enjoy a lot of freedoms, but there’s still so much to feel oppressed by,” said Avery. “By the end of the album, I want you to be able to be free, looking whoever or whatever in the eye and saying, ‘This is who I am.’”

There’s one song on the album that’s very special to Avery. God is a Good God, a heavy gospel tune, is all about one of his true-life role models.

“That song is a tribute to my grandfather. My grandfather - he sings; He’s really old and he sings in the church, but the songs that he wants to sing, they won’t let him sing. That really inspired me to write, because we’re all dying to say the same thing in our own way.”

“I sent it to him. He loved it. He talks about it to this day. I sent it to him when I first recorded it, when I first finally had it done and got the choir on it and everything. He’s not the best with computers, like most of our grandparents. They have seen times change so often, more than anyone else, and then in the 90s and 2000s, boom - this technological advancement comes and wow. But I was able to email it through my grandma and she played it for him and every time he talks to me he’s like, ‘That song - that’s me. I feel like that’s me singing that.’ And that’s everything to me. That’s all you want. That right there is the dream. We talk about these dreams that we want to live, and some are superficial - some might want money and cars and superficial things and that’s cool; There’s nothing wrong with wanting it. We all have to aspire toward something. But I have always aspired to make my home proud; Make Colorado proud; Make Denver proud; Make your grandfolks proud; Make your ‘home’ proud; Make people proud to say that person has been around from the beginning and they did it.”

The “See U at the Crossroads” Release Party

In planning the release party for their new album, AveryJ & the BA wanted to continue on with their passion for community, connection, and music. That’s why they chose to drop the album on Nov. 16th at The Highlands Center, 3401 W. 29th Ave. The Highlands Center is everything that a community needs - a church, center, free library, and gathering space, and from the beginning, have opened their hearts to the Avery J & the BA project. “It’s another one of those places that feels like home,” said Avery. “We want to invite everyone in to celebrate this great spiritual awakening that’s happening in our community right now.”

The last half of the band’s name, “BA,” comes from ancient Egyptian, meaning something close to soul, spirit, or personality. Each of the band members are a part of the soul of the project, and, as Avery J said, “We all share in it together and we’re all working together to make the same thing happen. We produced this album all of us together - and it’s all of ours to share.” They can’t wait to share it with the community, and a couple of other great, home-grown Colorado artists - Kaitlyn Williams and Davany - will be opening up the night.

Avery J & The Denver Music Scene

When I asked Avery how he thinks of the Denver music scene, he described it as the new frontier:

“Think about the Gold Rush - back when the West was new. The country went through this phase when everything was “new” when we first founded it - New York, New Hampshire, etc. Then we wanted to move out West, and “west” replaced “new.” That’s why you have places like West Virginia. Right now, in Colorado, there are a lot of transplants that come here - and I look at that as the Gold Rush. You’re migrating west - not only to see this new land, new territory, new vision, but also because there’s “gold” in these hills and mountains. There is so much. It’s all avante garde and it’s all really beautiful and it comes from such a genuine place.”

“Every artist I come across has something to say - and what they have to say is super important and it needs to be heard and it’s going to move you in some sort of way. It might move you emotionally; It might move you and make you want to dance; But it’s gonna move you. Everybody here has that. It’s an honor to contribute to that and to play a part in that.”

Avery sees his role in that is as someone who wants to continue to facilitate that more and more. “It’s about merging of the genres, and influencing new genres potentially,” he says with a laugh, as he knocks on the wooden countertops, “forging a new genre, a new way, a new sound, and continuing that.

What about the future of the Denver music scene?

“That’s still to be told. We all come together and say I’m from here, I’m from here, I’m from here. It doesn’t matter where we come from, but we’re all trying to get to that gold. We’re in it right now. Right now it’s thick and its heavy and its dark because we’re all pioneers,l mining for gold together. We just keep digging. It’s about hope and imagination. We’re all still searching and the beautiful thing is that we’re all starting to search together. When we find it, we’ll do it differently. We’ll all divide up those pies and get what’s coming to us, because we’re all superstars. We’re all great. It’s not about one person. How about this: we can all be kings, we can all be the gods, we can all be the pioneers together.”

I want to leave you with one last thing from Avery Jacob - something that he said about our local music scene that I find incredibly beautiful:

“Have you ever gone out to the mountains and looked up at the sky when there’s no smog, no light? All you see is a sky full of stars. Isn’t that the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen? Isn’t that something that you want to see more of? I don’t want to see one star in the sky; I want to see a billion of them.”