Jacob Jeffries

Listening to the music of local singer Jacob Jeffries has a way of putting life in perspective. Whether you're catching him live or listening to his newest EP, Life as an Extra, his songs about love, relationships gone bad, and braving the rigmarole aspects of daily existence are potent enough to make the neurons in your face start tingling. At the age of 19, that seems next to impossible, unless Jeffries, neé Jacob Groten, really is the superstar-in-the-making most folks are starting to recognize. On this five-song EP, listeners get hit with a wallop of an introduction to Jeffries' songwriting prowess. The tune "And I Say" is full of rare introspection but also solid piano playing and stellar arrangements by Jeffries and crew. Of course, he gets some help with all this, and it would seem silly not to acknowledge local producers Dan Warner and Sebastian Krys for their roles in putting everything in the right order. But a lot of what you'll hear is Jeffries captured raw as he's flying on with that invisible star-quality booster pack strapped to his back. The musicianship here is solid, and by the time "Getting There," the last track on the EP cues up, you'll wish it was an LP with 10 more songs to follow. They will. He's due to drop another five-track EP next month, so be patient. What's crazier is that these are just studio cats (albeit damn good ones), though when you hear the Jacob Jeffries band live with Johnny Powers on guitar, Brian Lang on bass, and Josh "Papa Bear" Connolly on drums, this foursome locks in unlike any other band around, seemingly primed to knock Maroon 5 off of their throne.