Jack Van Cleaf performing during the Stick Season Tour at Emo's Austin in Austin, Texas on January 28, 2023. (Photo: Ralph Arvesen)
California-reared singer-songwriter Jack Van Cleaf writes determined and delicate songs with poetic slant and confessional warmth. In his songs folk imagination dresses in cinematic production, evoking the spacious and sparse verses of Nathaniel Rateliff and Gregory Alan Isakov. His music also echoes his heroes: a directness borrowed from Kris Kristofferson and lucid spirituality reminiscent of Cohen.
At twenty five, Van Cleaf has taken stage at notable venues including The Basement, Neumos, and Wire Chicago. He has supported artists such as Briston Maroney, Taylor Ashton, Gatlin, Annika Bennett and Ethansroom and is gearing up to hit the road with Noah Kahan on Kahan's 2023 Stick Season tour.
'Fruit From the Trees,' Van Cleaf's premiere full-length record, opens like a lost suitcase. Written across the last seven years, the ten tracks are stashed with fables and fictions, letters to high school lovers, loose change in foreign currency, and a white bandana chalked in red Texas dust. Co-produced by Jamie Mefford (Nathaniel Rateliff, Gregory Alan Isakov) and Alberto Sewald (Katy Kirby), the record soars with sonic width that melds the folk-song precision of Dawes with a rumbled raucousness suggestive of The Killers. Premiered on Atwood Magazine, 'Fruit From the Trees' marks an ambitious and colorful arrival for the emerging singer-songwriter.
New releases include a Live to Tape version of 'Fruit from the Trees' and the 'Music City Murder Ballad' EP.
Jack Van Cleaf shared the stage with Noah Kahan at Emo's Austin. They continue across the United States with the last stop at the The Mission Ballroom in Denver, Colorado on February 18, 2023.
Jack Van Cleaf
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Photos by Ralph Arvesen
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