Photos provided by Jake Retting
I had the opportunity to interview Radford University professor and musician, Jake Retting, and learn more about his inspirations and love for music. Retting is a recording artist that works with the label, Sierra Drive Sounds, and his latest song, “One-Hand Mama,” was released on August 27, 2021. For fans of Americana and Folk music, this is a hidden gem of a song and one that you will find yourself replaying over and over again.
Check out his interview below:
Q: What do you feel drew you to music?
Jake: I’ve always been interested in at least listening to music. I wanted to be a drummer when I was a kid, but my parents never followed up on my pleadings for lessons. It wasn’t until my sophomore year at RU that I lived across the street from a guy who had a whole family of musicians. I thought that was so cool. He showed me a lot about the intersection between music and community. I kind of decided that year that I would learn an instrument and try to join that world.
Q: What was the inspiration behind “One-Hand Mama”?
Jake: This one has kind of an interesting answer. The inspiration for that song came from a simple observation. At the time, I was working at a kombucha company, running deliveries around the area. I was in Boone, North Carolina one afternoon and I saw a woman dragging her child from one side of the road to the other, holding her smartphone in one hand and her child in the other. I distinctly remember her shouting “Come on now, I only have one hand!” That got me thinking about parenting and the onset of technological advances. Everyone talks about the negative influences of phones/devices on children, but what about the effects on parenting? Anyway, I couldn’t stop thinking about that and by the time I drove back from Boone to Floyd, I had a song.
Q: Were there any particular artists that you drew inspiration from?
Jake: Anyone who knows me already knows the answer to this, but Dispatch, State Radio, and Chadwick Stokes are my greatest influences. Chad generally is my hero in terms of contemporary songwriting and activism. If you haven’t heard of one or all three, go check them out.
Q: What category or genre would you say your music would be classified as?
Jake: I guess it would be classified as contemporary folk or Americana, but I definitely want to keep expanding and make a conscious effort to bend genre and the expectations of genre whenever I can.
Listen to Jake Retting’s most recent release, “One-Hand Mama,” here or on other streaming services.