We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jake Mach. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jake below.

Jake, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

I’ve been writing songs as long as I can remember. Before I played guitar, before I knew the notes on a piano, I was writing songs. I never thought about doing it for money, outside of every kid guitar player’s rockstar fantasy. It was just something I always enjoyed and always came naturally. Now fast forward about 15 years. When I was in the Navy I used to play on my songs on the ship, at house parties, at bonfires, etc. People would get really into them and tell me I should put them on Spotify and Apple Music so they could listen whenever they wanted. After a while I saved up enough and put together a small studio setup. I put out my first album “Songs That Got Me Here”, which everyone loved, about 4 months later. That album put a lot of new people onto my music outside of my friends, and with my Navy contract coming to an end, it got me thinking that I might be able to play music professionally as a solo acoustic artist. So I booked a few shows for when I left the Navy to see how it went. Will I get a good reception? Will I enjoy doing it? Do I have any hidden stage fright I don’t know about? All of that got put to rest in those first couple of shows. It felt natural, not much different than playing for my friends in the Navy. And I knew after those first shows that this was something I couldn’t see myself not doing. Now I get to make a living doing something I’ve been doing for fun my whole life.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’ve always been a songwriter. I can’t remember what age I sat down for the first time and said, “I’m gonna write a song,” but I can tell you those first songs were written at such a young age the lyrics didn’t make any sense. They were words alright, but there wasn’t a coherent story. Through all my years of writing, I’ve crafted a few hundred songs. I’ve written neotraditional country songs, I’ve written cross-genre songs, rock songs, pop songs, and many other different styles. I’ve written for myself and for others. I’ve produced my own music and have had it produced by others. There’s some things that don’t replace experience, and I pride myself on using mine to work around the tough parts of a song. What sets me apart is how I strive to write songs that pay homage to those who came before me, but also make them refreshing to hear in an age where a lot of country songs sound the same.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

I love getting to work with other people who share my passion. I’ve gained so many new friends from playing festivals, opening at shows, attending different industry events, and finding collaborators on social media. Recently, I’ve made it more of a point to write with other artists I’m a fan of, and to do more collaboration. I heard a quote from a musician friend the other day that said, “A rising tide lifts all ships.” I think that’s a great way to look at music.

How did you build your audience on social media?

When I first started out, my social media was just friends and family. But as more people heard my music, my following branched out a bit to friends of friends. Since then I’ve tried to follow a schedule of releasing new music about every 3 months. Doing that has helped me fall more in line with social media algorithms. Something I struggle with, but I try to stick to is constantly posting content. This could be a video, picture, or anything really, just as long as I’m posting. More recently, I’ve been learning pedal steel guitar, and I alternate posting acoustic videos doing cover songs and videos of me playing pedal steel. Plenty of people don’t know what a pedal steel is, but they’ve heard it. So when they see me playing something with my hands, feet, and knees, it’s got that WOW factor that leads to a new follower. Another thing to note is that you shouldn’t be afraid to invite people to like your page, or to urge your followers to do so. I’ve met a lot of up-and-coming artists that feel like they’re being a nuisance by doing that, but think about this: most people that don’t follow you have never heard of you, so make them hear of you.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://JakeMach.com
• Instagram: @JakeMachMusic
• Facebook: Jake Mach – Singer/Songwriter
• Other: Music streaming platforms: Jake Mach

Image Credits

Mackenzie Machulcz