Cynthia Todd, MavRadio News Director
Sometimes all it takes is a little determination and creativity to make a name in music.
Jacob Whitesides, a 17-year-old singer-songwriter from Knoxville, Tennessee, took his passion for music to YouTube. Using the website as a platform to reach millions of people, Whitesides went from putting personal spins on covers to creating his own music.
The singer is currently finalizing his new EP, “A Piece of Me,” which is set for release on Feb. 14.
To promote the new music, Whitesides’ is kicking off his “EP Release Tour” on Feb. 15 and will play a show at The Slowdown on Thursday, Feb. 19. Whitesides took time to talk with MavRadio about his music and upcoming show.
MavRadio: How would you describe your music?
Jacob Whitesides: I’ve done three tours now and for all three of those tours, my entire set was cover music like Ed Sheeran, John Mayer and Mumford and Sons. I’ve been working on my EP for the past few weeks, and there are little tastes from those artists. So it’s kind of like an indie pop/ folk sound; it’s really interesting.
MR: You frequently post cover videos on YouTube, what’s that process like?
JW: I usually go on iTunes to see what’s popular, and after that, I’ll listen to the song for a couple of days so I can really learn it and make it my own. I try to make them less poppy. I usually take the pop songs and make them slower, or more my style. I did an EP of covers, which I did with the piano, and it has popular songs like “Your Body is a Wonderland” and “Stay With Me.” The EP is called “ 3 AM The EP,” because I used to go on Sound Cloud and post a song around 3 a.m. for the fans that have trouble sleeping. I tried to make them really soft, slow and “sleepy.”
MR: You’re really involved with your fans and using social media to connect with them. Can you talk a little bit about that?
JW: Yeah, it’s been really cool. When I first started out I was posting a couple videos a week and they were doing OK, but they weren’t doing amazing. After a while I was kind of getting frustrated because I wasn’t growing a ton, because everyone else is doing it too. One day I posted a cover of “One Thing” by One Direction and one of the members from the band, Liam, tweeted the video out. That really motivated me to start taking everything more seriously. I started posting three videos a week and started utilizing social media a lot more.
MR: So how has fan reaction been to your music over the past few months?
JW: They’ve always really been into the music. Like with this new EP, they’re finally going to find out more about me, my sound and my story. I’m looking forward to seeing their reaction to the original music because I’ve never really released anything like this.
MR: Can you talk more about the EP and what it was like creating it?
JW: When we decided we were going to make it, we booked my trip to Nashville and mapped out a schedule. The first week was writing week and I co-wrote every single song, along with my producer and manager. Week two was focused on vocals, listening to the demos and deciding what direction we wanted to go in. Week three has been crazy. I’ve been listening to all of the mixes, finalizing everything and strategizing the release for it.
MR: What do you hope listeners take away from this EP?
JW: Since I’ve been doing covers for so long, I really hope that all the stories and music on the EP go over well. I hope people get to know me as an artist after they listen to it.
MR: What can people expect on the “EP Release Tour?”
JW: Well these shows are going to be unlike anything else because I’ve only done covers. I’ll still have a couple of covers, because I love covering Ed Sheeran and other popular artists. These shows will be really high energy, really emotional and unlike any of my past shows.
MR: So this will essentially be the first time you showcase your own music?
JW: Yeah so even I don’t know what to expect, to be honest, but I think it’ll be a really cool process.
MR: Why do you think people should come out and see one of your shows?
JW: I feel like it’ll be a different experience. My shows are really personal. My engagement with my fans is really personal; I feel like we’re friends. It’s not like you’re coming to see “some famous guy.” It’s just a really chill environment and I’ll walk around to meet people afterwards. I think that’s what makes my shows cool.
MR: What’s coming up in 2015 for you?
JW: This will be the year of me finding my sound and releasing a ton of original music. I also hope to tour internationally and more across America.
