Jake Armerding is an American

folk musician Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has be ...

and

multi-instrumentalist A multi-instrumentalist is a musician who plays two or more musical instruments at a professional level of proficiency. Also known as doubling, the practice allows greater ensemble flexibility and more efficient employment of musicians, where a ...

from Boston, Massachusetts. He plays mostly acoustic string instruments like the

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

, and fiddle. In 1990, Jake began playing with Northern Lights occasionally. He joined the band full-time in 1992 and was a member until 1999 when he left the band to pursue a solo career. Jake attended

Wheaton College Wheaton College may refer to: * Wheaton College (Illinois), a private Christian, coeducational, liberal arts college in Wheaton, Illinois * Wheaton College (Massachusetts) Wheaton College is a private liberal arts college in Norton, Massachus ...

where he received a degree in

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...

. In 2001, Armerding won the Best New Artist Award from Boston's folk-radio station,

WUMB WUMB-FM (91.9 FM) in Boston, Massachusetts, is the radio station of the University of Massachusetts Boston. It broadcasts an Americana/Blues/Roots/Folk mix hosted by its staff weekdays. On weekends the station concentrates on traditional folk, ...

. In addition to his solo efforts, Jake makes up half of a duo, The Fretful Porcupine, along with saxophonist Kevin Gosa. Armerding is also a member of Barnstar!, a "bluegrass

and or AND may refer to: Logic, grammar, and computing * Conjunction (grammar), connecting two words, phrases, or clauses * Logical conjunction in mathematical logic, notated as "∧", "⋅", "&", or simple juxtaposition * Bitwise AND, a bool ...

for people who hate bluegrass." He is on the faculty of the Traditional Music Project housed at the Real School of Music in Burlington, Massachusetts. Jake recently played violin and mandolin as part of an ensemble recording music for the audiobook version of

Josh Ritter Josh Ritter (born October 21, 1976) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and author who performs and records with the Royal City Band. Ritter is known for his distinctive Americana style and narrative lyrics. In 2006, he was named one of ...

's first novel, Bright's Passage.

Notable Performances

Jake has made multiple appearances at

The Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (formally known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and commonly referred to as the Kennedy Center) is the United States National Cultural Center, located on the Potom ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

Discography

Northern Lights *1994 - ''Wrong Highway Blues'' *1996 - ''Living in the City'' Solo *1999 - ''Caged Bird'' *2003 - ''Jake Armerding'' (released by

Compass Records Compass Records is an independent record label founded in 1995 by musicians Garry West and Alison Brown that specializes in folk, bluegrass, Celtic, jazz, and acoustic music. In 2006, Compass purchased the Green Linnet and Xenophile catalogs, ...

) *2007 - ''Walking on the World'' *2009 - ''Songs in Stained Glass'' *2009 - ''Her'' *2013 - ''Cosmos in the Chaos'' *2015 - ''Your Voice Like Brake Lights: A Collection'' The Fretful Porcupine *2010 - ''Cellar Sessions EP'' Barnstar! *2011 - ''C'mon!'' *2015 - ''Sit Down! Get Up! Get Out!'' Rosin *2017 - ''Rosin'' Contributions *2005 - Mark Stepakoff - ''There Goes the Neighborhood'' (fiddle) *2006 - Scott Alarik - ''All That Is True: Folk Songs Old and New'' *2009 - Taylor Armerding - ''Head That Way'' (fiddle and voice)

References

External links

Official Site

The Fretful Porcupine
{{DEFAULTSORT:Armerding, Jake Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Folk musicians from Massachusetts American folk singers American male singer-songwriters Musicians from Boston Wheaton College (Illinois) alumni Singer-songwriters from Massachusetts