Introducing Jess Kerber - the Louisiana born Nashville based folk/americana artist releases her sublime new single "Next To You" through US indie label Felte

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PRAISE FOR JESS KERBER

“I Wonder If I’ll Forget This” is a poignant dirge in the realm of Elliott Smith or Sufjan Stevens. Droning synths and a softly plucked guitar together possess a gentle devastation, heightened by the lugubrious lyrics: ’All of my advice / I only take when it hurts to cry / But mostly it just feels like / Nothing’s there.’ – STEREOGUM

"Captivating and wistful, this folk ballad will reach your heart. The soft and brooding guitar lines set an intimate, minimalist atmosphere. Kerber’s tender, fragile vocals unfold with touching lyricism. And the artist’s raw vulnerability makes the song enthralling. " TONIC GRAIN

Rising Americana-folk artist Jess Kerber follows up her debut single ‘I Wonder If I’ll Forget This’ with her captivating new offering ‘Next To You’. Drawing comparisons to the intimate, poetic storytelling of Elliott Smith and Sufjan Stevens, Kerber continues to carve out a space as one of the most compelling new voices in modern folk and Americana.

Delicately uncanny, ‘Next To You’ is guided by understated electronic programming and a hypnotic, fingerpicked pattern. As it patiently builds, Kerber’s multi-tracked, honeyed vocals rise from a gentle coo to a stirring howl, exhibiting a remarkable confidence and finesse.

"Next To You" is about the ways your dreams tell you what you don’t yet know about yourself.” Explains Kerber. “I wrote this song in my childhood bedroom, where hazy memories seem to always come back up to the surface.”

Originally from Louisiana and now based in Nashville, Jess Kerber first picked up a guitar at the age of 12, and her precocious drive to experiment with different tunings and picking styles – influenced by kindred spirits like Joni Mitchell and Susan Tedeschi – led to the development of a unique sonic palette and authentic, personal approach to songwriting. Inspired equally by her upbringing in Louisiana and her studies at Boston’s Berklee College of Music, her compositions highlight the dynamism and depth of her gorgeous voice and thoughtful, humanistic lyrics, as well as the refined intricacy of her guitar playing.

While performing in and around Boston and Cambridge, Kerber encountered fellow songwriter Will Orchard, who quickly became a partner and collaborator. Working together, Orchard’s production prowess, intuition, and multi-instrumental talents helped push Kerber’s beautiful compositions to a new level of fullness, while retaining the disarming purity of the core elements. Kerber’s rich, emotive tenor and accomplished writing radiate a profound warmth, while varying arrangements of pedal steel, Wurlitzer, drums, and ambient guitar create the surrounding sparkle. The influence of her musician parents – along with a certain nostalgia for what she lovingly calls the “way apart from the rest of the world feeling” of the Deep South – shines through in the honest, straightforward, and timeless qualities of her composition.

With “Next To You”, Kerber further solidifies her place among folk and Americana’s most promising voices, capturing the tender complexities of love, loss, and longing with effortless grace.

lorraine longApril 2, 2025