Meet Jesse Blue Eads | Musician

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jesse Blue Eads and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jesse, have there been any changes in how you think about work-life balance?
My work is a huge part of my life, so I don’t really think much about balancing those as if they’re separate; keeping work good and fun is just another part of keeping life good and fun. I would not have pursued music if I didn’t have faith that the fun parts would outweigh the un-fun parts, and that the un-fun parts would ultimately be good. That’s part of the beauty of an artistic career; there’s a holistic sort of cycle where creativity, resources, community, all those sorts of things feed back into each other as a complete and rich lifestyle. It’s easy to forget when playing music professionally that music is something to be enjoyed and shared, and I’ve seen a lot of folks around my age go that stressful route, especially in LA. Everyone is stressed about being the best player and getting the best gigs in the city, and I’d much rather climb the ladder than knock people off of it or worry aimlessly about how low I am on it. Ultimately I’m always trying to make more room for fun in work: bringing loved ones to shows, making the music I want to make, making laborious and managerial tasks easier and less stressful, and meeting good people through music.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I have been playing music for about eight or nine years, since i was around thirteen. I’ve always played bass and guitar in that time, but most of my professional experience has been as an electric bassist in jazz, pop, and funk settings. I played just about as much as possible in high school and was destined, in theory, for a Bachelor’s in jazz composition/bass from some expensive university, but I bailed out last minute; I was torn but ultimately I didn’t get the full ride I was hoping for and didn’t want to bear student debt for a decade like most of my peers. At the dawn of the pandemic and in the half-year or so leading up to it, I dropped out of community college in my first year and fell in love with acoustic music. I started playing the five-string banjo, guitar, and mandolin almost exclusively and constantly! I was (and remain!) deeply enamored with bluegrass, folk, old-time, country blues, and Celtic music and amazed at how disconnected the academic world was from the virtuosity and beauty in those styles.
At the end of 2020, I started busking (playing outside for tips) in my hometown Hermosa Beach, usually for four or five hours at a time. One day that April I got a call from a friend that some folks were in my spot playing the same music I play. I showed up with my banjo, played some tunes, and, well, we haven’t stopped since! Those guys: Joe Berglund, Tommy Drinkard, Kenny Feinstein, Jim Priest, turned out to be the first musicians I’d tour with, and are part of a small and beautiful country-bluegrass-oldtime-whatnot scene in LA. In that November I met and fell in love with Willow Osborne, who always holds my heart in our little home by the Smoky Mountains and who also happens to be a superstar banjoist.
Nowadays, you can find me playing for touring bands like Water Tower, Bar Jay Bar, Tommy Drinkard & the Remedy, Matt Axton, and as the duo Willow and Jesse. I’m usually hired as a banjoist now, influenced by Don Reno, Bela Fleck, and Noam Pikelny. I’m secondarily an electric bassist and a bluegrass vocalist. I’ve also been hired for upright bass, mandolin, guitar, keyboard, and production work. All of those things feed into each other so I usually just say I’m a musician.
My life has taken some extraordinary turns in the past year and it’s all thanks to music. It hasn’t been free of challenges, struggles, and ongoing lessons of gratitude and responsibility. I am grateful for my complete abstinence from drugs and alcohol and for the huge support of my family and friends. I identify passionately and constantly with my art and career, and I think that also has a lot to do with my success. I’m overjoyed for such a colorful and beautiful life.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Ha! For more tourist-y visitors I’m a big advocate of the South Bay. I would show Hermosa pier and downtown Hermosa, Manhattan pier, and probably a nighttime visit to Redondo pier. We’d get acai bowls from Paradise Bowls or Oakberry in Hermosa, poke from Jus’ Poke on PCH or that place on Hermosa Ave that’s renamed every 30 seconds, boba from Ding Tea and Boba Loca, pho from Pho Daily in Gardena, and kbbq from Gen on Crenshaw. I’d definitely check out the view from up top of the Getty Center, sunset from Hermosa pier or some random coves/parks in PV, and that rocky coast area in San Pedro with the crazy graffiti. It’s funny, I don’t really eat out or go out just for fun in LA very often. Chances are I’ll invite my guests to my gigs at spots like the SIlverlake Lounge, the Grand Ole Echo (Echoplex), Hennessey’s, whatever else comes up, or I’ll bring them out to pick at bluegrass events like at Project Barley, Shutts Fabricators, and some private spots in El Sereno or Long Beach.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
All day and every day I recognize and enjoy the influence of people I have learned from. I thank my parents, who have always blessed me with peace of mind and stability; my best friends Henry, Nick, Matt, Max, Taylor, and others, for making me as a musician and person; my partner Willow, for simply being the love of my life; my band mates, new and old, for making work and play one beautiful experience; my high school music teachers, for setting young folks like me on a beautiful path; and all of the family, friends, listeners, strangers, and future friends who create community that I have the privilege to be a part of. I thank everyone for good, beautiful times and giving me a good, beautiful life.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jesseblueeads/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jesseblueeads/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAaA7hPLFbeKwJnljs9CAQQ/

Image Credits
Josh Villbrant Madison Miles Joanne Ledesma Honolulu Penn Graham Richards