Superunknown by Jamison Sevits
A jazz trumpeter, a record producer, a singer songwriter, and a Hindustani music composer walk into a bar. It sounds like an opening to a bad joke, but in Music City, it’s within the realm of possibilities. In fact, there’s someone who wears all these hats and more. Meet Jamison Sevits.
Sevits describes himself as a producer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist. His production company, Yellow House Studios, is also a moniker for his “bare-bones recording studio” at his home in the Belmont-Hillsboro area. He’s not your conventional music producer. With his last album, he went beyond the role of being the liaison between artist and recording engineer.
“I helped conceptualize and arrange [the songs]. I developed the instrumentation that we were going to use. I played the majority of the instruments on the album, and I recorded everything. Then I mixed and mastered everything.”
This versatile skill-set has been a long time in the making. And it has come at a price, namely, ending his 20 year obsession with the trumpet. Sevits studied jazz trumpet at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Even there his renaissance-man tendencies were manifesting themselves. For a time, Sevits was building his own degree through the College Scholars program, which allowed him to simultaneously study jazz, creative writing, and even theater. Ultimately, he decided to finish the jazz degree. “At that time, I wanted to be a professor, and I felt like it would be more important to have a degree that had that sort of focus to it.”
After graduating, Jamison and his wife Ellen moved to New York, where she entered the graduate program at New York University. Sevits started playing with the NYU big band and was quickly offered a scholarship and adjunct teaching position. Despite the focus in jazz, he continued to branch out studying contemporary classical composition, counterpoint, and Hindustani music. Jamison thrived in the academic setting.
“I love to be in that space where you’re challenged, you’re pushed, you have people who are inspiring you and have that sense of structure. And you have this goal that you’re working towards. It also feels like you’re doing something right, because school just feels like you’re on this path of success.”
Sevits also drew strength from New York’s “big city atmosphere, energy, and cultural vitality” along with its diverse musical opportunities. But as graduation drew near, he and his wife knew it was time to go.
“With the academic world, I always had that structure telling me what my priorities were, where I needed to invest my energy, things like that. And then once [that’s over], you have to construct your own rules and your own structures. Hopefully, throughout that world of academia, you’ve been given some of the tools to do that.”
The two young graduates planned on moving to Seattle. Nashville, where much of their family lives, was only going to be a temporary destination. What started out as a summer with family has now turned into six years of putting down deep roots, including the birth of their first child. “We wanted to live in a big enough city that had things going on [with] music and culture…[Nashville] was a really nice fit overall.”
During the first year in Nashville, Sevits continued along his chosen career path. He taught music at both Middle Tennessee State University as well as Tennessee State University. The doctorate, which has become nearly a prerequisite for pursuing a tenure-track position, became both less feasible and less desirable. So, Jamison continued doing session work, playing gigs, and even going on tour. But these often coveted achievements weren’t enough.
“I guess for a number of different reasons I’ve found that there were other things that I really wanted to pursue, and playing the trumpet wasn’t nearly as fulfilling as it used to be…There’s that whole idea [that] you’re going to go to New York, and you’re going to make it. And there’s some truth to that whole idea that you go up, you go to these cutting sessions, you go sit in with people, and eventually someone finds you. You join their band, and you tour the world...As much as I love jazz music and I loved playing it, it wasn’t really who I was.”
So, with much “soul searching,” Sevits put down his trumpet in order to focus on other artistic endeavors. “It’s been a couple months now, and I’ve played [trumpet] maybe five or six minutes, which is really surreal.” He says that he’s experienced at least a half-dozen trumpet dreams since retiring the horn while his subconscious mind grapples with losing the musical appendage.
Personal is the word that best describes Jamison’s website, www.jamisonsevits.com. He blogs about incredibly private thoughts and experiences using great courage and honesty. You can also find original music, a Beatles recreation project, visual art, and something he calls autodidactic, or self-taught, piano lessons. “I’m going to try to let people inside. I want people to be with me from the very beginning of this journey and watch as, hopefully, I grow and mature and find success in this new venture.”
Sevits sees his career as being part of a larger shift that has taken place in the music industry over the past decade. “I think we’re starting to see that it’s not just about the music anymore. It’s not like, ‘here’s my CD,’ and we’re good to go. People want to have a deeper relationship with the artist.”
The website is also linked to his account with Patron21.com, which is an alternative to the popular kickstarter.com. “The real difference is that [Patron21] is more sustained career-funding for artists as opposed to project-based [support].”
Recently Sevits found himself producing, arranging, recording, and mastering the album Killing Olympia with singer-songwriter Daniel Kirkwood. “As I was doing this project, it became clearer to me that this was something that I would really love to do. It would fulfill allot of my interests and skill-sets as a musician.” By being able to carry-out nearly every job in the recording process, Sevits fills an important niche in Nashville’s music industry. His production company represents a turn-key solution for many artists looking for a high-quality, yet affordable recording.
“Nashville is a fantastic place for that, because there are hundreds of singer songwriters who are in a position where they are not on a label. They have enough music for a full-length or an EP, and they don’t have allot of money to spend. But they do want to make some sort of product that they can be proud of.”
When an artist works with Sevits, it’s more than just a business transaction. Jamison sees his latest venture into the music production world as both a livelihood and a means of artistic expression.
“It’s a way for me to experience that collaboration, which I think all artists really thrive on. It’s nice to be able to do solo stuff, but I think that collaborative element is really nice. And it’s going to allow me to play music and conceptualize music in ways that I love, but also help other people make their dreams come true and manifest their artistic vision in a way that financially and logistically makes sense.”
To follow Jamison’s journey, check out his website www.jamisonsevits.com, or support his work at www.patron21.com.
