Jacob Jolliff is one of the country’s premier contemporary bluegrass mandolinists. His namesake solo project, The Jacob Jolliff Band, is the next generation of bluegrass supergroups, which features a rotating quartet of some of the most virtuosic and innovative young pickers in the country. Catch the Jacob Jolliff Band live at Salisbury’s premier live event space, Revival, on February 25, Friday at 8PM!
Jacob Jolliff was born into a musical family in Newberg, OR. His dad started him on the mandolin at age seven and required him to practice ten minutes a day. But after six months of practicing this minimal amount, something clicked, and almost overnight he started putting in several hours of intense practice daily. And this hasn’t really changed in the last 20 years.
When he was 18, Jacob was awarded a full scholarship to The Berklee College of Music in Boston. He moved to Massachusetts to start school in 2007, along with a lot of the other young musicians he had grown up with. There he studied under the late mandolin great John McGann, who was a huge influence. Under John’s supervision, he spent many six-hour practice days working on a variety of styles from bluegrass to jazz to celtic music. In 2008, during his sophomore year of college, he joined the New England based roots music band, Joy Kills Sorrow. Over the next few years the group toured extensively throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe, playing hundreds of clubs, theaters, and festivals. Because of the group’s rigorous schedule, it was a challenge for him to stay in school, but he still managed to graduate in 2011. Shortly after, in 2012, he won the National Mandolin Championship in Winfield, Kansas.
Now in 2021, the mandolinist’s main focus is The Jacob Jolliff Band. This ensemble is a group of virtuosic pickers that play Jacob’s original instrumentals, as well as showcase his singing. They tour nationally in the US and have also travelled to Scotland and Australia to perform.
Jacob’s all-original first album, entitled, “Instrumentals, Vol. 1” was released in 2018.
Over the years, Jacob has had pleasure of sharing the stage with many legendary musicians spanning many genres including Darol Anger, Tony Trischka, Sam Bush, Ronnie McCoury, Jerry Douglas, Bryan Bowers, John Popper, The David Grisman Quintet, Widespread Panic, The String Cheese Incident, Michael Daves, and many more. Currently, he lives in New York City, and can be heard around town playing with his own projects as well as sitting in with his friends’ groups in a wide range of styles.
Tickets available online at revivalshows.com or call the box-office at (667) 281-0101 for assistance.
“revival” is located on the 3rd floor of the City Center building in downtown historic Salisbury (213 W. Main St. Salisbury, MD). Follow us online: Facebook @revivalsalisbury, Instagram @revivalshows, Email boxoffice@revivalshows.com
