Skip to main content
Skip to main content
Updated 2/16/2023

Jake Blount

  • R

    RI

Institution/Business Type: Artist / Creative (Individual)

A powerfully gifted musician and a scholar of Black American music, Jake Blount speaks ardently about the African roots of the banjo and the subtle, yet profound ways African Americans have shaped and defined the amorphous categories of roots music and Americana. His 2020 album Spider Tales (named one of the year’s best albums by NPR and The New Yorker, earned a perfect 5-star review from The Guardian) highlighted the Black and Indigenous histories of popular American folk tunes, as well as revived songs unjustly forgotten in the whitewashing of the canon. Jake Blount’s new album, The New Faith, is a towering achievement of dystopian Afrofuturism and his first album for Smithsonian Folkways (released September 23, 2022). The New Faith is spiritual music, filled with hope for salvation and righteous anger in equal measure. The album manifests our worst fears on the shores of an island in Maine, where Blount enacts an imagined religious ceremony performed by Black refugees after the collapse of global civilization due to catastrophic climate change. Jake Blount’s music is rooted in care and confrontation. On stage, each song he and his band play is chosen for a reason - because it highlights important elements about the stories we tell ourselves of our shared history and our endlessly complicated present moment. The more we learn about where we’ve been, the better equipped we are to face the future.

The New Faith received widespread critical acclaim, garnering five-star reviews from The Telegraph, Songlines and Financial Times and receiving positive coverage from outlets including NPR, Bandcamp, The Guardian, The Los Angeles Times and more. It appeared on "Best of 2022" lists from Rolling Stone, NPR, PopMatters, Songlines, Folk Alley, The Guardian and more. He also released an NPR Tiny Desk Concert in January of 2023. 

Most recently, Blount has been nominated for Artist of the Year at the 2023 International Folk Music Awards.

Blount has appeared on podcasts including Radiolab and Soundcheck. He regularly teaches fiddle and banjo at camps like the Augusta Heritage Center’s Old-Time Week, the Ashokan Center’s Old-Time Rollick, and Earful of Fiddle Music and Dance Camp.

“Blount is a virtuosic multi-instrumentalist... with a hauntingly gorgeous voice and a bottomless, scholarly knowledge of American musical history.” - Katherine Proctor

The Los Angeles Times

Find Me

Mollie Farr
Job Title: agent
Phone: (941)356-3118
Address:
16 Collyer St.
Providence, RI 02904

About

Overview

Institution/Business Type:

Artist / Creative (Individual)

Legal Status:

Commercial / For profit - Sole proprietorship

Year Founded:

2016

Overview

Institution/Business Type:

Artist / Creative (Individual)

Legal Status:

Commercial / For profit - Sole proprietorship

Year Founded:

2016

Disciplines

Primary Discipline:

Music - General

Activities and Services

Activities and Services:

  • Arts Criticism / Journalism
  • Arts for Social Change / Creative Activism
  • Cultural Preservation
  • Arts Instruction / Lessons
  • Cultural Education
  • Residency - In School
  • Workshops / Demonstrations / Master Class
  • Performance / Concert / Reading
  • Virtual Events
Seasons Active: spring, summer, fall, winter
Events Per Year: 175

Communities

Populations Engaged:

  • Adults
  • Elders
  • Families
  • General Public
  • Immigrant Populations
  • LGBTQ Populations
  • Native American Tribes
  • School Groups
  • Teens

Languages Available:

  • English

Geographic Reach:

  • Town / City
  • County
  • Multi-County Region
  • State
  • Multi-State Region
  • National
  • International

I Have Worked With

Affiliations and Accomplishments

Awards

Awards:

  • Steve Martin Banjo Award
  • "Best of the Americas" - Songlines Music Awards

Awards

Awards:

  • Steve Martin Banjo Award
  • "Best of the Americas" - Songlines Music Awards

Artist Info

Touring Artist

NEST Eligible Artist

Technical Requirements:

  • basic PA sound system
  • mic stand (full height)
  • mic stand (short height)
  • two guitar stands
  • 3 xlr cables

Fee Range:

$1000-4000

State of Residence:

Rhode Island

Minimum Number of Performers:

1

Maximum Number of Performers:

4

Touring Artist

NEST Eligible Artist

Technical Requirements:

  • basic PA sound system
  • mic stand (full height)
  • mic stand (short height)
  • two guitar stands
  • 3 xlr cables

Fee Range:

$1000-4000

State of Residence:

Rhode Island

Minimum Number of Performers:

1

Maximum Number of Performers:

4