Jamie N Commons

Very few young artists can count Elvis Costello as a fan after just one EP, The Baron (2011). Jamie N Commons can. He hasn’t yet released anything else, album will come out this year. Hearing the charismatic smoky voice and the slow grim songs, it’s almost impossible to believe their owner is only 22. The closest references are Nick Cave, Mark Lanegan and Kelly Joe Phelps.

Jamie was born in Bristol, UK, but moved early on to Chicago with his parents. The will for making music kindled there, when he saw The Allman Brothers live with his dad as a teenager. Having tried for a good while to sound like Greg Allman with not very good results, Jamie – who has returned to live in England – finally found his own voice, which does sound like a much older man, surprisingly naturally. His gift for storytelling is obvious, but again it’s hard to fathom how somebody this young can write about the Old Testament-like themes of retribution, guilt and death, and not sound silly. Jamie’s band backs the dark songs up with a subtle and minimal down-to-earth sound. It’s all very impressive!