Interview by Karla Ash
Steven Ross Jahn: From Flint to the Philippines
Born in Flint, Michigan, the music of singer/songwriter Steven
Ross Jahn is about to take him to a place he never expected:
Southeast Asia. Even more bizarre, Jahn's songs are rooted in
American as apple pie country music, which is about as far from
what you'd think people on tropical islands would be listening
to. But there have been numerous traditional country artists
that have been able to cross over globally - Kenny Rogers and
Bertie Higgins quickly to mind. It's all about the tunes, and
Jahn's hopeless romanticism, best exemplified on "I Saw
Your Picture in the Paper" from South Texas Wind (http://cdbaby.com/cd/srjahn4),
has that easy-listening smoothness that transcends its roots.
South Texas Wind was recently picked up for national retail distribution
in the Philippines by Mondo Distribution (http://www.mondodistribution.com),
a sparklingly positive step for a hardworking veteran musician
who put his art on hold to build houses for a living (see http://www.chelseahomebuilders.com).
Karla Ash: Your voice is as soothing as warm honey. When
did you begin to sing and were you professionally taught?
Steven Ross Jahn: I was raised in a very musical family. I
would say that I really started at the age of five and just fell
in love with the guitar and the harmonies of group singing. I
remember holding my dad's guitar, and it honestly was half the
size of me. I couldn't even get my fingers around the finger
board, but by the time I was 12 I started singing in our basement.
I would play records and practice training my vocals to the exact
replica of the album's singer.
Ash: To me, your music symbolizes heartland America - not
just in terms of its country influences but the tone of the songs
and the messages of your lyrics. Do you feel that, for the most
part, pop music in the U.S. has lost sense of its own roots?
Jahn: I thrived on the pop music of the '70s, and I fell in
love with that era of even several rock groups. But I feel like
the songwriting changed dramatically with the '80s and '90s,
and the shift went to country as far as lyrics really telling
stories of people's lives that hit home.
Ash: How did you get involved in writing and recording
songs?
Jahn: I actually wrote and recorded my first song when I moved
back to Michigan in 1986 called "Blue Heartaches,"
which later we changed to "Blue Teardrops."
Ash: Growing up, who did you consider your role models?
Jahn: My absolute favorite singer growing up might seem strange
for an eight or nine-year-old, but it was Engelbert Humperdinck.
His strong, clear vocal quality with the most powerful orchestration
just lit me up.
To find more about the artist visit http://cdbaby.com/cd/srjahn4
