The Calm Comes After (1993) “A masterful mix of engaging pop hooks, gorgeous vocals, driving guitars and soul. . . drawing musically from folk, country, rock and pure pop.” Goldmine “. . . a singer/songwriter of rare toughness, maturity and sophistication. A Jacobs song is feather-light but exceedingly strong, like a graphite fishing rod—it can lift the most leviathon themes from the psychic depths and bring them to the surface with effortless panache.” St. Louis Riverfront Times “Kate Jacobs writes amazingly sly songs. Her manner is so completely direct at times, and so delightfully evasive at others, that it is impossible not to want to embrace her.” Nashville Scene “She is so good I think we can bestow upon her our highest honor and make her an honorary Southerner.” Oxford Town (Mississippi)
What About Regret  (1996)
 
“. .. resembles a long trip in a big old car.”  The Narragansett Times
 
“Like Dolly Parton and Loretta Lynn, Jacobs is able to capture, with little remorse and no self-pity, the disappointments, frustrations, and minor tragedies that are part of life.” Tampa Weekly Planet
 
“These 13 songs tell simple, Raymond Carver-like stories about regular people living in regular towns. Jacobs has a gift for picking out the perfect details that tell you everything you need to know.” San Francisco Bay Guardian
 
“Jacobs’ way of turning a phrase is surpassed only by her effortlessly catchy melodies.” Albany Metroland
 
“Jacobs catches a rare space, both whimsical and powerful, as she lionizes regular people and proclaims the pleasures of the commonplace.” Albany Times Union
 
“. . . what Eudora Welty might sound like if she lived in Hoboken in the ‘90s and played guitar.”  Minneapolis City Pages
 
“Sophomore release from canny, tuneful songwriter Kate Jacobs sets the tone with her cast-iron waif vocal delivery.”   Billboard
 
“. . . enchanting melodies that encourage repeated listening and avoid cliche. Jacobs stands apart with her unusually literate songs and clear, pixie-ish voice.”  CMJ
 
“Jacobs existentialism is so understated and pathos-free it could be mistaken for cheeriness—but her lyrics reveal the essential sadness of her sensibility which makes her music’s upbeat toughness all the more appealing. She may well have the most exquisitely modulated sorrow since Camus.”   St. Louis Riverfront Times
 
“She touches upon the the longing and wisdom that haunt a life of staying put and moving on, using humor to soften the blows of everyday living without histrionics or apologies.”    HUH
 
“Pop music as it should be—insight and hook cojoined.  Her voice is a perfect foil, a combination of melancholy, intelligence, and pop sensibility.”  Bloomington Voice
 
“ . . . simply gorgeous, and fits like a comfortable old coat with a treasure in each pocket.”  
Dayton Daily News
 
“. . . songs that possess haunting power and intimacy. The kind of stuff Dylan probably figured would happen more after he applied Rimbaud and Brecht to pop music.”  The Washington Post
 
“. . . like a china doll at a rodeo.”  Jackson Citizen Patriot
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
scroll down for reviews of all my albums
You Call That Dark (2004) “Quite spectacular. Each track slides smoothly into the next, like continuing chapters in a best-selling novel. Kate’s melodies are quite brilliantly sublime. A joyous album to listen to.” Maverick (UK) “Jacobs delivers her masterstroke. . . The Rubber Soul-iish pop and multi-part harmonies of Let Dusty Be Your Guide are so lushly and effectively arranged that you hardly notice it’s one of the most distressed break-up songs ever put to tape. . . The resounding message is one of finding meaning in the subtle details of existence. . . Jacobs faces mortality without succombing to fear; she encounters pain without turning morose; she retains her humanity without turning cynical or defiant; and she finds beauty in the face of loss.” PASTE “ . . . sparkling, country-inflected rock she’s been making with multi-instrumentalist Dave Schramm since before labels like Lost Highway and Nonesuch turned it into a growth industry. The outlook is a little darker than usual; her little-girl soprano, appropriately, is starting to fray. Time does that. It also makes precious things more so.” Tracks A dazzlingly enlightening storyteller. . .her wisp of a voice slips gracefully between the joints of songs that stand weathered and stately. Rolling Stone ‘Your Big Sister’ cops a lick or three from Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs ‘Stay’ via The Vulgar Boatmen. Jacobs voice ties it all together with a sense of melodic wonder, bringing a welcome bit of light into the world. No Depression “Jacobs offers not slices of lives, but entire lives. The dull ache in the grain of her voice is a wish that these people, who are all her and us, could just accept life on its own terms and move into their destiny, no matter how great or small. The great tenderness and empathy in these songs is a gift to the listener. You Call That Dark is, in its quiet yet unflinching way, simply stunning.” All Music Guide “Her songs have as much in common with Richard Ford and Barbara Kingsolver as Lucinda Williams and Ron Sexsmith. . . economically vivid, rich portraits of life that seem to defy their own prudence with lush detail and heart.” Pop Matters “You Call That Dark has character, honesty and intelligence that make it irresistible and hugely rewarding.” Fish (UK) “. . . sharpy observed and wryly written, You Call That Dark is full of unexpected details and detours.” The New York Times “Jacobs coaxes and charms the audience until we find ourselves sitting on someone’s front porch, in middle America, watching the sun set behind the rusting bodies of discarded cars.” Edinburgh Evening News “Jacobs, had she the wedding tackle, would immediately join the ranks of van Zandt, Prine and others. She has produced a stunner.” Hi-Fi News and Record Review (UK) http://www.myspace.com/daveschrammshapeimage_3_link_0
 
Hydrangea        (1998)
 
“. . . twangy 3-minute pop songs that brim with ache and swoon and achieve the sort of sleight of hand narrative compression that marks the work of the best modern storytellers.”   All Things Considered, NPR
 
“. . . there are many stories here, and most of them hook you from the first verse, much like the best songs of Dolly Parton.” Pulse
 
“. . . jangly pop, gorgeous balladry, and complex, contrapuntal harmony—as if inspired by Alex Chilton, Joni Mitchell and Brian Wilson.”     Billboard
 
“One of indie-rock’s great singer/songwriters.”   Mother Jones
 
“. . . imbued with all the richness and flair of a superb collection of short stories.” Anthony DeCurtis, CDNow
 
“. . . among the most skilled storytellers in indie-pop. Like a less-wifty Victoria Williams or a more straightforward Freedy Johnston, Jacobs creates catchy roots-pop thumbnail sketches. A real find.”  The Philadelphia Inquirer
 
 “This is a magical thing. Here are songs that are sensitive and knowing, evocative and true. Musically it is richly acoustic, jangly and electric. Melodies are irresistible.” Time Out (London)