Jess Novak Music

When I was a kid, I had this dream that I'd go to a show and someone would point at me to come on stage. Then I'd go up there and sing like I knew I could, impressing everyone.

I had the dream because I wanted to be on stage, but was much too terrified to actually do it. I proved that when I went to the Apollo Theater in college with my graduate school class and they literally asked us to come on stage and sing. And I was too afraid.

It was especially sad because I was fearless when I was very young. But the moment kids started picking on each other for bad hair and braces, I became a shadow of myself, painfully shy and awkward.

I don't want anyone else to ever feel that.

I can't solve it for the world, but I do love giving opportunities to young people. Whether it's a tambourine in the audience or sharing my mic for a few minutes to hear "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star," I'm ready for it.

However, two of my greatest joys have become my FIRE Festival CNY where I feature young artists and teaching music because it gives me a front row seat to the talent that's just coming up. I've had students play me songs I can't believe they wrote or share lyrics that stop in me in my tracks. They also surprise me weekly with the skills they master, changing wildly from one lesson to the next. And at F.I.R.E. Festival, I love when a young artist stops the whole room. It's the most incredible moment.

I also have a student, Raelynn Isereau, who amazed me from the moment I heard her. She was strong on guitar AND piano, has an incredible voice and once she started playing me her original songs, I was floored.

There are some things that are very teachable in music and then there are things that people naturally have. She has it all.

Yesterday at my show at Lock 1 Distilling Company, I invited Raelynn up to play a few songs. It started with three...but then I invited her to play another. And later, when I got on piano, I invited her to play more there. And then, I decided to hook up another mic and join her on violin, too.

By then end, it was a jam with both of us switching instruments and vocals, which is always amazing - but with a young student!?! Unbelievable. I left feeling so inspired and so fortunate to be here, watching Raelynn (and all my students!) succeed and grow.

My mom has called me the Pied Piper for years because kids have always gravitated toward me. But maybe they sense that I'm still a little kid, who once waited to be noticed. Now, I see you out there, I notice you there and I believe in you.

I also notice all of you, fully-grown adults, who are out there trying, growing and learning. I believe in you, too. I learned guitar at 23 and piano at 30 years old. You can learn anything you want to anytime. It just takes a little bravery and a lot of work.

Thanks again to Raelynn for joining me yesterday and to her amazing family for being so supportive!! PS. You can also stream Raelynn's original music wherever you listen🤘 https://open.spotify.com/artist/105BV9pNwRutXN1J8fscA9?si=0WiwhlFOQ5O43JIn9Lvc7w

Don't be afraid to share your stage. We all shine brighter when we support each other.
And don't ever be afraid to try.
There is no such thing as failure unless you give up.
And even if you do - failure is not the end - in anything.
So, here's your invitation: I hope you are brave, like Raelynn, today. Get on a stage and own it.

See you out there!

THIS WEEK:
TUESDAY: lessons - take one today!
WEDNESDAY-THURSDAY: I play at a Syracuse school!!
THURSDAY: Jess Novak at The Exchange
FRIDAY: Private Event
THEN: Jess Novak at Wildwood
SATURDAY: Jess Novak at The Lafayette Inn
SUNDAY: Jess Novak at Bluewater Grill

more dates at www.jessrocknovak.com

When I started playing music in 2013, I had no expectations. I wrote songs with the handful of chords I knew just because I wanted to and I played live with fear that gently swept away the more I did it. I was so green and I stayed that way for a while. It was a tremendous amount to learn: guitar, singing, how to solo on violin (I had only played classically), running sound, writing set lists, figuring out the correct gear, dealing with other musicians, all of it. I had never done it before.

So why not, just three years in, start The Jess Novak Band?

I did not know what I was doing.

But, in April of 2016 we started an album originally called "Gravity." As the tracks changed, I added a tune with a riff that I sang to the band and we recorded it live in the studio. That became the song, "Inches from the Sun" and the new title of the album.

"Inches from the Sun" went on to win The Sammys - Syracuse Area Music Awards for Best Pop.

What a beginning.

Since then, JNB has recorded and released a live album from Nelson Odeon and four more studio albums, "Fireworks & Fairytales," "Standing Now," "A Thousand Lives" and "Tattoo."

The band has changed over the years, but the core was solidified in April 2016 when I walked into Ish Guitars and asked the owner, Jesse, if he knew a guitar player. He said, "Yea, my friend Anthony just moved back to town. He's your guy."

And he was.

I called Anthony Saturno Music on the phone and he was about as easy-going as a person could be answering every question with "yea," "ok" and "sure" even though he was a metal guitarist getting asked to join a pop, rock, blues band. Still, he fit right in and over the years has grown in more ways than I could imagine.

Likewise, Gavin George and Jay Fabbri came into the fold with similar ease and comfort, everyone finding their place in the family.

But what's wild about all of this is it's only easy and simple in hindsight.

To write it here like every little piece fell into place is only possible to do from this far-away point of the present. In the moment: I had no freaking idea what I was doing. I was often scared and overwhelmed. It was only thanks to help from mentors, friends and bandmates along the way and my own sheer stubbornness to continue that I can write this at all. There was no reason for me to be brave enough to record albums and have a band. It was like starting at a job and three years later taking over the company.

But here we are.

When I look back at live videos from 2016 there are flashes of brilliance and a lot of things I'd do differently. There is also a way I move that is so full of confidence and I'm not sure where it came from, but I think it's more about the feeling I had. I was having too much fun to care about much else. I was finally living out my dream of being on stage, singing songs and sharing my words. Who cares if it wasn't perfect? At least I was finally doing it.

And thank God I did, because now it's my entire life.

Here's the point:
You may not feel qualified for something, and maybe you're genuinely not.
Do it anyway.
You have a lifetime to learn and improve, but if you never start, you'll never get better.
Maybe you'll fizzle out and give up - and that's ok.
But maybe you won't.
Maybe ten years later you'll still be going and looking back at the whirlwind you left behind thinking of how it all went by so slowly, and at the same time, in a flash.

Having a band has never been easy.
But it's also given me some of my favorite moments and the thing I wanted most - to create music with other people.

From the time I could talk I was singing songs. And once my mom told me I came from a long line of musicians, it was like my blood reacted. I knew what I wanted to do on this earth. It took a long time to make it real, but I always knew it.

What do you know?
Go get it 💓

Here's to ten years of JNB. I couldn't be prouder.
Celebrate with us on SATURDAY, APRIL 11 at Meier's Creek Brewing Company! Unplugged basement show from 6-8 p.m.

THIS WEEK:
TUESDAY: lessons - take one today!
FRIDAY: private event at 2 p.m.
THEN: Jess Novak at Harvey's Garden
SATURDAY: The Jess Novak Band at Meier's Creek Brewing Company (event link in the comments!)
SUNDAY: Jess Novak at Lunkenheimer

more at www.jessrocknovak.com
listen to JNB on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6tgEI4cl9UGoYGolet72Rn?si=6bEvI2Q2S0y9O7L38cLJow

PS. This is a shot from the Nelson Odeon in 2016 at the JNB release party for "Inches from the Sun." Some lyrics from that song go: "They say I fly too high / that I move too fast / ain't no good thing / could ever last, but / I'm just flying a couple inches from the sun / and I'm not gonna burn up until I'm done...Gravity has got nothing on me." ☀️ It's got nothing on you either.