Jason Webley
Jason Webley is an accordianist, folk/punk vagabond and cult leader. He looks like Nick Cave in a party hat. Musically, he gets around a bit. Amongst many other lovely collaborations he’s a producer for Eliza Rickman and a friend of Amanda Palmer (here’s our Amanda Palmer interview). Jason Webley’s sound is likened to Tom Waits and Gogol Bordello. Oh, and we interviewed him about how to become an accordion player about a million years ago, so you should definitely check that out! Honestly, he spills ALL the beans! About accordion playing. But also gigs in Russia.
But who IS Jason Webley?
Essential facts:
- Sometimes wears a gorilla mask on stage
- Recorded his first album in his kitchen
- Is very big in Russia
- Looks like Nick Cave in a party hat
Explain this Jason Webley fellow in greater detail
One extraordinarily fine day, Jason Webley packed in his day job, took his accordion and himself on the road and kept going until he ran out of money. Fortunately he hasn’t run out yet.
Leaping on stage with his long coat, lovely hat and gorilla masks he attacks the microphone with a voice that makes Tom Waits sound as though he’s been gargling Listerine for a month. His stage craft and songs built on almost a decade of street performing, he can encourage any audience to point at the sky, stare at their finger and spin. Then sing. He’s a cheeky one this chap, one time leading a legion of fans dressed as pirates onto a Seattle ferry. Other times staging guerilla musicals in supermarkets.
His music is a live monster that rushes through an audience, making them giddy with sing-along happiness, mixed with a dark as pitch humour and expert performance. One moment mellow and melancholy, the next raucous and shouty. He’s recently finished a short stint supporting The Dresden Dolls, before embarking on an eleven day tour of America in November, before touring Europe next year.
If you can, please go to Jason Webley’s website and consider buying his albums. This may surprise you, seeing as he plays the accordion and all, but Jason Webley is not rich.
Trust us, the accordion is the sound of the future.
