Meet Kyler Jakubowski | Musician/Songwriter

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kyler Jakubowski and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kyler, what role has risk played in your life or career?
It seems like the fear of taking a risk only prevents the actualization of your goals. Many things make me nervous, but overcoming that often leads to a greater outcome. It took strong criticism from my peers to get me to play in front of people, a live audience, but once I overcame it I was offered greater opportunities to learn and to perform music.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Well being an artist isn’t like some other professions. One doesn’t wake up looking for work and stable income and choose to become an artist. To be an artist is to be born into the way of thinking that the task requires. Since I started listening to music seriously, and learned a little guitar, I would find joy in creating my own songs or melodies in my head as I walked home for school or to the store. The great joy about being an artist is you get to create what you want to see or hear in the world. The music I write is often part of a direct lineage of players that came before me. Every word and melody rests on the songs of the past. I see it important to carry on certain traditions in music, to create a sound that is classic but also modern. I would like to engage the musicologists and the average listener alike. In that, I hope there is something for everyone in my music. Perhaps thats why I have never been constrained by titles or genres, they are only limiting to the creative process of true expression.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Well sometime last year my sister came to visit, its not often someone comes to visit me from out of town. I wasnt sure where to start, but I knew she needed to eat. I took her down south into national city for carnitas tacos at Rodeos Market. That seemed like something she wasnt going to get in North Carolina. Next I would throw on Bowlegged BBQ, they have always been so kind to me when I go in there looking for a bite, and their food is top notch, I like the feeling I get there as if Im just at a backyard BBQ with their family. I might skip some of the more touristy things, although its always somewhat necessary to take someone to the beach, to get a fish taco, and probably to take a stroll through Balboa Park also, but all that stuff can be done quickly. When you visit a city do you really want to run around looking at Brooklyn Bridges and Statue of Liberties, or do you want to immerse yourself with the people who live there and try to learn something you wont read about in a pocket brochure. Its good to have a guide who will take you to some of the hidden gems of the city, to some of the locals only spots, without all the ridiculous frills and expensive price tags found in some of the touristy locations.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
It would be foolish to give only one name in this section for a shoutout. It takes a community to move a mountain, and the varied success I’ve received locally is only due to the help of so many around me. Theres my band, my roomate/bass player who might drink too much one night and give me a speech about where he wants to see the band moving forward. Theres the local guitar scene, who has been generous in allowing me to stand shoulder to shoulder with some of my local influences, Fuzzy Rankins, Laura Chavez, and Cody Sherman, These are a few names of folks who one way or another have given me the kick in the rear to keep going.

Instagram: @kylerj.guitar

Youtube: Kyler J.

Image Credits
Moonshine Beach Kyler J Prohibition