Jacob McCoy

One of the reasons that I found myself gravitating towards folk music over the years is because of its sense of humor. The tongue-in-cheek of John Prine, the hilarious word-bending of Roger Miller, and the pure silliness of songs like this one. I like things that don’t take themselves too seriously, and singing “Keep It Clean” always seems to do that for me.

This song has been getting a lot of love from you guys since the release and that makes me really happy. I wrote Far Away with my buds and just months before the Nashville tornado tore through our neighborhood and the pandemic broke.

As I was trying to figure out what songs to record for this EP, I remembered this old song that had just been sitting quietly for years. I remember writing it and feeling that it was significant somehow, but it took 7 years and a lot of living for its meaning to fully hit me.

Like all the songs on the EP, and I live tracked all the guitar and vocals at the same time because that always tends to feel the most natural and organic and allows you to work rather quick. Production-wise, this one was kept intentionally minimal, probably because I’d been listening to a lot of and loved how much empty space they left in their arrangements. But after listening back weeks later, something about my vocal felt too strained and not as intimate as the song wanted it to be.

So just a few weeks before sending it off to mastering, I re-tracked the lead vocal in my home studio and then had so wonderfully contribute her voice to the song, and it turned out to be the missing ingredient. This song went from being the one I was least confident in to one that felt the most genuine and vulnerable. Never be afraid to rework something until it feels exactly like you want it to.

EP Release Show this Thursday here in NWA and genuinely getting so excited to play music for you in public again. Writing and recording songs can be a blast, but nothing will ever beat singing and being loud with a group of actual humans. Come sing and celebrate the release with me and the band this Thursday if you’re in the area. Bring a chair or a blanket so your backside stays dry, grab a drink from and a slice from , and maybe a shirt or two while you’re at it.

Thu May 7th / 7pm
Johnson Square, Johnson, AR
Free Admission

STILL, I WAIT

I know the full EP comes out tomorrow and I should probably just make you wait a few more hours, but what the hey—this is fun for me to write (hopefully it’s fun for you to read).

This was the first song that and I ever did together back when he was still in Tulsa and right on the brink of becoming everyone’s favorite indie sad songsmith. I drove over for the day fully expecting to just write and catch up with an old friend, but after I showed him this song I had been working on, we quickly started laying stuff down. 4 hours later, we had a finished track. Now 3 years later, we’re about to release it.

I’ll spare you the meaning because I think it’s incredibly beautiful that all of us can take away different things from the same piece of music, but this one means a whole lot to me, and I can’t think of a better song to cap my first EP in over 7 years.

Love you all and thanks for listening to my songs.

EP out TOMORROW

FAR AWAY feat.

Sometimes you write a song that in the moment you know is significant but you don’t quite know what to do with it yet, so you set it aside until the right time comes. Far Away was that song for me. I wrote it over 6 years ago with my two buds and back in Nashville. I couldn’t articulate its full meaning at the time, but over the next several years it would hit me like a ton of bricks.

In short, I am a deeply insecure person. I know most of us feel that in our own way, but for years I lived a life marked by constant doubt and insecurity. I felt far away from my family, my friends, and myself. Still do sometimes. But I’m getting better, and singing these words helps for some reason. I hope they do for you, too.

Listen to the full song this Friday.

Slow down
Feels like I’m spinnin’
And I’m breaking down
I try my best to fit in
But I feel the crowd
Staring, sharing glances, oh

Drinks to drown
The hours and the minutes
And I feel left out
Of life that I’m not living
And it’s all these doubts
I’m hiding, fighting, lost in, oh