Biography
The Flying Change is the songwriting and performance vehicle for New York-based songwriter and technologist (ed. note: not really, but it sounds futuristic does it not?) Sam Jacobs. Sam used to write and record under the name Lipstik but people found the name distracting and he didn’t care enough not to change it. As Lipstik, Jacobs released one full length titled ‘Everything Is Good’ in 2006, one EP titled ‘There Is Only One Thing’ in Winter 2008 and numerous demos, covers, and experiments through his monthly email list (which remains, thankfully, intact).
When you’re riding a horse, there are two types of lead changes, whereby the horse moving in a canter or gallop, changes leads. The first is the simple change. The second and more difficult maneuver is the flying change. You can, or should be able to, see how this could be a metaphor for life and living.
Most importantly, the title comes from the Pulitzer-prize winning book of poems titled ‘The Flying Change’ written by Henry Taylor. Henry went to school with Sam’s father.
Pain is a Reliable Signal draws deeply from the endless medical journey into which Jacobs and his family have been thrust. Four years ago, Sam’s wife began experiencing severe sciatic nerve pain, leading to the discovery of latent spinal birth defects. A neurosurgeon at Georgetown Hospital performed two experimental surgeries. Not only did neither alleviate her sciatica; in fact, they created new debilitating back pain. Further consultations led the couple to Rochester, Minnesota, hoping for a Hail Mary cure from the Mayo Clinic. Instead, doctors informed them they knew of no remedy nor treatment. His wife continues to suffer from physical pain, her condition interrupting the future they’d intended and the plains they’d laid. Pain relives this story in familiar themes of love, loss and reckoning, spoken in words fluid and incisive.
Jacobs enlisted friend, acclaimed songwriter, producer and award-winning film composer Paul Brill to guide and shape the recording. Together they assembled a stellar band of accomplished musicians; recorded live in two takes by master engineer Robert L. Smith (David Bowie, Laurie Anderson, etc.), the album features performances by Rob Burger (Iron and Wine, Lucinda Williams) Bill Dobrow (Sean Lennon, Martha Wainwright, Black Crowes), Amber Rubarth, Antoine Silverman, Anja Wood, Matt Ray, Rob Jost (Imogen Heap, Jesse Harris), Peter Lalish, Dan Levine (They Might Be Giants), Stan Harrison (Radiohead) and others.
Brill and Jacobs gathered these musicians to create a sound they’ve dubbed “landscape pop“. Says Jacobs, “during early editing sessions, Paul went through the songs with a red pen and we kept editing and editing until they were as tight as possible. At the same time, we wanted every moment to be incredibly vivid. Small fragments of melody and emotion.” These moments are everywhere on the record, from the inverted swells of the pedal steel on the opener “Broken Bow” to the swirling ghostlike sax solo on “Hold My Heartache.”
While performing regularly in New York, blogging about his take on the future of the music industry, living the married life with his wife on the Upper West Side, and donning a suit during the day, Jacobs continues to grow as a writer and has been harvesting new songs by the batch. Stay tuned for much more from Sam Jacobs and The Flying Change in the near future.
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