Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter
| Jesse Sykes | |
|---|---|
Jesse Sykes
|
|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Jesse Solomon |
| Born |
July 17, 1967 Mount Kisco, New York, United States |
| Genres |
Psychedelic folk Psychedelic rock Alt country |
| Occupation(s) |
Musician Singer-songwriter |
| Instruments | Guitar |
| Years active | 1999–present |
| Labels | Burn Burn Burn Records Fargo Records Barsuk Records Southern Lord Station Grey |
| Associated acts | The Sweet Hereafter Hominy Whiskeytown Sunn O))) Boris |
| Website | jessesykes |
| Members | Jesse Sykes Phil Wandscher |
| Past members | Kevin Warner Anne Marie Ruljancich Eric Eagle Bill Herzog |
Jesse Sykes (née Solomon) (born July 17, 1967) is an American singer and songwriter, best known for her band Jesse Sykes & the Sweet Hereafter, which was formed in 1999 with Phil Wandscher.
Sykes was born in Mount Kisco, New York, and grew up in Pound Ridge, New York. An obsession with Lynyrd Skynyrd drove her to purchase her first guitar at age 12.
She has a BFA in photography from Rhode Island School of Design.
Sykes moved to Seattle in 1990 after a brief stint in New York City. "I was open to anything new, and on a whim just came out here," she said to the Seattle P.I. "I didn't expect to stay so long."
Sykes also told the Seattle P.I that among her more memorable experiences in the '90s was meeting maverick songwriter Townes Van Zandt after a Seattle show. "Instantly, I felt like I knew him. There was something very, very powerful about him," she said. "I think he's one of those guys who was kind of like a shaman. He was full of love. I think he made everyone who met him feel that love. He was there to receive and to give. When he hugged me, it felt like a river was going right through my heart. That feeling never really went away."
In 1990 Sykes moved to Seattle, Washington, and began playing in bands. Sykes was formerly in the band Hominy with then husband, Jim Sykes, who played guitar. The band released a self-titled album in 1998 on the Ivy label.
In 1998, she met Phil Wandscher, who was well known for both co-founding and for being fired from alt-country band Whiskeytown. They formed the band Jesse Sykes & the Sweet Hereafter. Members of The Sweet Hereafter included Anne Marie Ruljancich on viola, Bill Herzog on bass, Kevin Warner on drums (on first two albums) and Eric Eagle on drums.
In 1999 Sykes met producer Tucker Martine who recorded and produced the first three albums of The Sweet Hereafter. 2011's "Marble Son" was produced by Sykes and Wandscher along with engineer Mell Dettmer. There was additional recording and production on both Like, Love, Lust and the Open Halls of the Soul and Marble Son by Martin Feveyear and both albums were mixed by Feveyear. The band was signed to Barsuk Records in 2003 after Chris Walla of Death Cab For Cutie, also a Barsuk band, heard the debut album "Reckless Burning" and brought it to the attention of label head Josh Rosenfeld. The same year the band signed with Paris-based label Fargo. Their follow-up album, "Oh, My Girl" was recognized by music critic Jon Pareles of the New York Times on his end of the year list of "2004 albums that deserve notice before turning the calendar page" and was featured on NPR's All Things Considered. The Seattle Times said; "Rolling Stone magazine called Sykes' brooding, emotionally-raw album "quiet marvels of lamentation," and "Oh, My Girl" made a handful of Top 10 of 2004 lists."
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