PREMIERE: Jacksonport and the tender folk Americana reflections of "Better Man" (Official Video)

"some old memory comes and hits me like a boulder"

Jacksonport is the moniker of singer-songwriter, musician John Fatum who I have have the utmost pleasure of writing about in past articles. He is a man who is driven in more ways than one. Prolific in his art, dedicated and adventurous. All those characteristics came together when in the spring of 2019, he gave up his Brooklyn, NY apartment and began traveling around the country in his car, Little Nipper, utilizing his would be rent on his self produced recordings. So, yes, driven in more ways than one. These are his words about the song Better Man:

Last year I came home from SXSW and my longtime partner broke up with me. Although I never learned the reasons, I had to give up my apartment. I bought a cheap car, left New York City, and hit the road. The next songs I wrote became the foundation of Jacksonport. This is a spare recording. It would be tempting to produce this song *big*, but it would mean something different. There is no pleading, no more questions. There is a certainty of self-worth. The rest is foggy, and that’s okay.

Better Man, accompanied with a striking video shot by Lt. Anya Wallace U.S. Air Force in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, at first, feels stripped down in that acoustic guitar, voice sort of way. Fatum has a vocal aesthetic that is a lot of things all at once. Charming, tender, road worn (of course) and seems to hold in it's breath the things of life: struggle, disappointments, love, longing and questioning one's place in the cosmos. This is important to say upfront because Jacksonport hinges around Fatum's deeply moving voice as his main instrument for his songs. It is the connective tissue that binds his melodic words and guitar strums, as well as all the embracing things to come like sparse beautiful piano and synths (provided by Julian Pollack). The song stylistically has faint touches of blues and gospel and at time there are tender, yet grand ascensions. Welcome to the all inclusive of church of Jacksonport where you might find yourself questioning your own life while enraptured in Fatum's stories.

"You had your reasons.
You had to go.
You had your heart to consider
on the unpaved road.
You had your prospects.
You had your plans.
You had your reasons, honey.
Go find a better man, if you can"

Damn, beautiful John.

-Robb Donker Curtius








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Jacksonport is the solo imagination of musician John Fatum, named for the small town in Door County, Wisconsin where Fatum spent summers growing up. After giving up his Brooklyn, NY apartment in spring 2019, John has been on the road traveling around the United States in his car, Little Nipper, spending his would-be rent money on self- produced recordings. The recordings include synth playing by Julian Pollack (J3P0, The Lesson, Marcus Miller) and electric guitar by Adam Brisbin (Buck Meek, Sam Evian, Cass McCombs) and mixing by Grammy Award Winner Phil Joly (Electric Lady, Common, Lana Del Ray, Daft Punk, The Strokes). Jacksonport will be releasing a new song every month in 2020.

Jacksonport, folk, folk indie, storytelling, blues tones, gospel tones, singer-songwriter, John Fatum, Wisconsin, Brooklyn, Little Nipper, "Better Man", evocative voice, rich stories

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