Bio
The Flying Change is the songwriting and performance vehicle for New York-based songwriter Sam Jacobs. Sam used to write and record under the name Lipstik but people found the name distracting and he didn’t care enough not to change it. As Lipstik, Jacobs released one full length titled ‘Everything Is Good’ in 2006, one EP titled ‘There Is Only One Thing’ in Winter 2008 and numerous demos, covers, and experiments through his monthly email list (which remains, thankfully, intact).
When you’re riding a horse, there are two types of lead changes, whereby the horse moving in a canter or gallop, changes leads. The first is the simple change. The second and more difficult maneuver is the flying change. You can, or should be able to, see how this could be a metaphor for life and living.
Most importantly, the title comes from the Pulitzer-prize winning book of poems titled ‘The Flying Change’ written by Henry Taylor. Henry went to school with Sam’s father.
Pain is a Reliable Signal draws deeply from the journey into which Jacobs was thrust four years ago. Sam and his family’s journey through hospitals, hotel rooms in Minnesota, emergency rooms on the Upper East Side. And out again. Seeking a series of cures and treatments that might alleviate a terrible condition. Pain relives this story in familiar themes of love, loss, reckoning, and redemption spoken in words fluid and incisive.
Jacobs enlisted friend, acclaimed songwriter, producer and award-winning film composer Paul Brill to guide and shape the recording. Together they assembled a stellar band of accomplished musicians; recorded live in two takes by master engineer Robert L. Smith (David Bowie, Laurie Anderson, etc.), the album features performances by Rob Burger (Iron and Wine, Lucinda Williams) Bill Dobrow (Sean Lennon, Martha Wainwright, Black Crowes), Amber Rubarth, Antoine Silverman, Anja Wood, Matt Ray, Rob Jost (Imogen Heap, Jesse Harris), Peter Lalish, Dan Levine (They Might Be Giants), Stan Harrison (Radiohead) and others.
Brill and Jacobs gathered these musicians to create a sound they’ve dubbed “landscape pop“. Says Jacobs, “during early editing sessions, Paul went through the songs with a red pen and we kept editing and editing until they were as tight as possible. At the same time, we wanted every moment to be incredibly vivid. Small fragments of melody and emotion.” These moments are everywhere on the record, from the inverted swells of the pedal steel on the opener “Broken Bow” to the swirling ghostlike sax solo on “Hold My Heartache.”
The Flying Change performs regularly in New York. Reviews of the record have been uniformly great. Videos and images are created regularly. And Sam is in the midst of growing the next batch of songs that will turn into the follow-up record, “Living At The Movies”. Stay tuned for more from Sam Jacobs and The Flying Change.
