Andrew Jacob Hiebert (1 March 1963 – 16 June 2022), known professionally as Big Rude Jake, was a Canadian songwriter, singer, musician, and bandleader based in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

. The original "Swing Punk", he was associated with the neo-swing trend of the 1990s. Jake was drawn to the roots of American music, and incorporated elements of

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

, blues, gospel, jump, and

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre, it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western musi ...

, among others. His

finger picking Fingerstyle guitar is the technique of guitar picking, playing the guitar or bass guitar by plucking the strings directly with the fingertips, fingernails, or picks attached to fingers, as opposed to flatpicking (plucking individual notes with ...

ragtime Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that had its peak from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its Syncopation, syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers ...

guitar style was inspired by the likes of Mose Scarlet and

Leon Redbone Leon Redbone (born Dickran Gobalian; August 26, 1949 – May 30, 2019) was a singer-songwriter and musician specializing in jazz, blues, and Tin Pan Alley classics. Recognized by his hat (often a Panama), dark sunglasses, and black tie, he was ...

. Jake stepped away from recording and touring for several years, during which time he began practicing

Zen Buddhism Zen (; from Chinese: '' Chán''; in Korean: ''Sŏn'', and Vietnamese: ''Thiền'') is a Mahayana Buddhist tradition that developed in China during the Tang dynasty by blending Indian Mahayana Buddhism, particularly Yogacara and Madhyamaka ph ...

. He returned in 2009 with a new album, Quicksand. He started touring Canada and Europe again in 2010, as well as playing in the United States.

Biography

Jake grew up in the

Regional Municipality of Niagara The Regional Municipality of Niagara, also colloquially known as the Niagara Region or Region of Niagara, is a regional municipality in southern Ontario, Canada, which occupies most of the Niagara Peninsula. As of 2024, the region had an estimate ...

. In high school, he moved from

St. Catharines St. Catharines is the most populous city in Canada's Niagara Region, the eighth largest urban area in the province of Ontario. As of 2021, St. Catharines has an area of and 136,803 residents. It lies in Southern Ontario, south of Toronto ac ...

Niagara Falls, Ontario Niagara Falls is a city in Ontario, Canada, adjacent to, and named after, Niagara Falls. As of the Canada 2021 Census, 2021 census, the city had a population of 94,415. The city is located on the Niagara Peninsula along the western bank of the ...

, where his parents took over his grandparents' business. It became the celebrated "Jake's Chip Wagon". After completing an honours degree in history at

Conrad Grebel University College Conrad Grebel University College is a university college affiliated with the University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. It is affiliated with the Mennonite Church Canada. The college is named after Conrad Grebel, a co-founder of t ...

and

University of Waterloo The University of Waterloo (UWaterloo, UW, or Waterloo) is a Public university, public research university located in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is on of land adjacent to uptown Waterloo and Waterloo Park. The university also op ...

, he moved to Toronto with a passion for music, and writing lyrics and poetry. Picking up work at places like

Sneaky Dee's Sneaky Dee's is a concert venue and Tex-Mex restaurant in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Originally opened in 1987 on the north west corner of Bloor Street and Bathurst, it moved to its present location at College and Bathurst in 1990. History 562 ...

, he dove deeply into the local music scene, connecting with a large and diverse array of artists, crossing genres from jazz and lounge to rockabilly and punk. ''Butane Fumes & Bad Cologne'', the first record by Big Rude Jake and his Gentlemen Players, was recorded in 2 days, on 26 and 27 July 1993 in

. With what the group described as a "ridiculous puny budget", the idea was to record "live off the floor, just like the old cats did". The album was produced by

Gordie Johnson Gordie Johnson (born 22 May 1964) is a Canadian musician, best known as the front man for the blues/reggae rock band Big Sugar, Austin-based blues/gospel band Sit Down Servant, and southern rock band Grady. Johnson is a Grammy nominated pr ...

of local rock act Big Sugar and Pete Prilesnick. The executive producer was Michael L. Johnson. ''Blue Pariah'', the second album, followed in 1996, and "Swing Baby!" was aired in college radios across Canada and United States. It was also produced by Gordie Johnson, and engineered by Prilesnik. Blue Pariah also featured

Ashley MacIsaac Ashley Dwayne MacIsaac (born February 24, 1975) is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter and actor from Cape Breton Island. He has received three Juno Awards, winning for Best New Solo Artist and Best Roots & Traditional Album – Solo at th ...

on violin. This album was deliberately designed to set Big Rude Jake apart from all the other bands on the swing scene. It uses what some thought to be rather elaborate production techniques. Seeking to get this record distributed in the US, Big Rude Jake left Toronto, establishing himself in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, where he signed a record deal with

Roadrunner Records Roadrunner Records is a Dutch–American record label focused on Heavy metal music, heavy metal and hard rock music. Founded in the Netherlands in 1980, it is now a division of Warner Music Group and is based in New York City. Formerly seen as ...

. A third album, ''Big Rude Jake'', was released in 1999. While one of the most well known at the time, it is the hardest album for fans to find, as Jake had control of distribution over all albums except this one. In 2002, he recorded a fourth album, ''Live Faust, Die Jung'', which is totally different from the first three. It was produced by Jake Langley and Big Rude Jake, but was never officially released, as he was badly injured one night after being struck by a taxi. He 'disappeared' from the public eye for a while, going into semi-retirement. When he began playing publicly again, he used the moniker Chet Valiant, stepping back from the "big suit party animal persona" of Big Rude Jake. Maintaining a lower profile, he focused on honing his ragtime guitar skills and kept composing. He began to play a few shows as Big Rude Jake again in 2006. With Kyree Vibrant, Jake made the award-winning film
Big Rude Jake: Pursuing the Pearl of Great Price
He released the album ''Quicksand'' at Hugh's Room in September 2009, got married, and returned to touring. On the side, Jake recorded albums and toured with his other bands, Tennessee Voodoo Coupe (Rockabilly) and Blue Mercury Coupe (Retro Punk). His European tours inspired him to make a new

jump blues Jump blues is an uptempo style of blues, jazz, and boogie woogie usually played by small groups and featuring horn instruments. It was popular in the 1940s and was a precursor of rhythm and blues and rock and roll. Appreciation of jump blues wa ...

influenced live album with his 7-piece band and special guests. Live & Out Loud was recorded in November 2011 in front of a live audience at The Drake Hotel in Toronto, funded in large part by fans through the

crowdfunding Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and Alternative Finance, alternative finance, to fund projects "withou ...

platform RocketHub. By day, Hiebert continued to play music for seniors and others in long term care, as he had done for many years. In 2014, Jake became a father and launched his ongoing charity event
Blues For the Red Door
in support o
The Red Door Shelter
Shortly after, he and his family moved from Toronto to Hamilton, Ontario. In 2020, he made Fanfare Music Enrichment Services official, serving intellectually challenged clients online and in person. He also began a series of weekly live concerts on Facebook. Big Rude Jake was working on another album, "The Jackhammer Sessions". He died on 16 June 2022 from metastatic small cell carcinoma of the bladder. He was 59 years old.

Discography

; Big Rude Jake * ''Butane Fumes & Bad Cologne'' (1993) * ''Blue Pariah'' (Big Rude, 1996) * ''Big Rude Jake'' (Roadrunner, 1999) * ''Live Faust, Die Jung'' (Big Rude, 2002) * ''Brooklyn Blue'' (Pivotal, 2004) * ''Quicksand'' (Big Rude, 2009) * ''Live and Out Loud'' (2012) ; Tennessee Voodoo Coupe * ''Live in Person Radio Transcripts'' (2011) * ''Over the Moon'' (2013)

References

External links

Big Rude Jake's official web siteBig Rude Jake's bio on maplemusic.comBig Rude Jake's bio on VH1

* * * {{Authority control 1963 births 2022 deaths Canadian jazz singers Musicians from St. Catharines Singers from Toronto Swing revival musicians