MP3 Jeff Tessler EP - POP: with Live-band Production

20 year old Jeff Tessler says he sounds like "A first grader in love with an older woman." Need we say more...

5 MP3 Songs
POP: with Live-band Production, POP: Today's Top 40



Details:
20-year-old Jeff Tessler emerged from the Detroit music scene at the age of 17 playing the local acoustic and coffeehouse circuit. Raised in the suburbs, Jeff picked up a guitar for the first time when he was 16 and has never looked back. Self taught Tessler grew up in a musical home filled with the vibrations of Michael Jackson, Sade, Luther Vandross, Phil Collins & Van Morrison. Tessler spent three years developing his talent as a guitarist, singer & songwriter before dedicating his time to recording his first full length EP.


With the help of the multi-platinum production team of engineer Al Sutton (Kid Rock, Sheryl Crow) & producer Marlon Young (Dave Matthews Band, Kid Rock, Fefe Dobson, Sponge) Jeff's self-titled EP was recorded over 6 months at Rustbelt Studios in Royal Oak, Michigan.

The first single What Did I Do twists a tale of young love and the choices ones faced with in life. The chorus offers an unforgettable melody and shows Jeff's strong pop sensibility while still keeping his cool.

Caught In The Rain which may very well be the album's most compelling track brings us face to face with the loss of Jeff's older brother Michael Tessler who died when Jeff was only 15 from a tragic drug overdose. The songs chorus is symbolic of what his mother told him as they stood in the rain on the day of Mikes death, that every time it rains Michael is crying down from heaven. It's an emotional recollection that puts you on the verge of tears. The thing about this song is that its real, you can hear the pain in his voice and it hurts, to the point where you the listener can feel it.

The final cut on the album is filled with atmosphere & ambiance, similar to an early Death Cab For Cutie. Untitled July 29th was first recorded during a very difficult time, one where Jeff found himself facing deep personal demons and uncertainties. With great inner-strength, Jeff used his music to overcome these hard times and as a result wrote the EP's closing track which feels like it builds endlessly, finally climaxing musically with a beautiful symphony of harmonic cello, driving pianos, a chilling bass line and lyrical genius. The song leaves you wanting more, which you may get if you just let it keep playing.