JASON VIGIL: Press

BERTHOUD WEEKLY SURVEYOR

Jason Vigil releases his new album "Heart Gone Sober"

Back in the day, as they say, Jason Vigil’s dad Jerry played the guitar, but over the years the axe was relegated to the basement where it sat patiently. waiting until young Jason looked past a coating of dust and saw something special. That was a decade ago and the 26-year-old Berthoud High School graduate just released his first CD last month.
The musician turned singer-songwriter never took a lesson with the guitar, but taught himself to play and so began a career path he continues to follow with increasing success. The disc, titled “Heart Gone Sober” after one of the ten songs included, was the culmination of a two-year long strange trip. Funding was generated any way possible and the journey was peppered with eventful road trips back and forth to the Nuthouse Studio in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where the CD was recorded. Once completed there, the self-produced album was mixed and mastered at Blasting Room Studios in Ft. Collins. All of this fine-tuning process was accompanied by fellow musicians Justin Miller on keyboard, Chris Jaramillo on bass and Cale Hand on drums.
Hand and Vigil go back to their days together at BHS when they formed their first band, “Sandalwood.” As is the case with most artists, Vigil has supported his craft through the years with various forms of employment, but he’s now pleased to claim music as his only job description. Well-received and well-reviewed gigs at area clubs and events include recent shows at The Gothic Theatre in Englewood and Fado’s in Denver. A concert and party on November 11 at Denver’s Walnut Room to celebrate the launch of the CD was a sold-out success.
Vigil describes his music as “alternative pop rock,” a monicker that could encompass a multitude of sins but is remarkably accurate. When asked if that broad genre would appeal to an equally broad audience, Vigil replied honestly, “that would be the hope.”
Besides “Heart Gone Sober” other titles such as “Need Your Space” and “Hurts to be Without” indicate a personal investment and Vigil admits that firsthand experiences and emotions contribute to the writing. “A lot of time and energy go into the lyrical content,” he explains. And the words are given the same, if not more, attention as the music itself. Cited as some of his musical influences are Jeff Buckley, U2, Weezer and Rob Thomas. As with those performers, Vigil hopes his work will appeal to the 18-45 age range. Several of his songs are definitely reminiscent of Matchbox Twenty’s lead man, employing heartfelt lyrics that are easy to understand and perhaps even relate to.
Much of the Vigil family still resides in Berthoud and Jason visits often although he’s currently living in Denver. A gig on January 19 at the City Limits Lounge in Ft. Collins will bring him north, and this Thursday night he’ll perform at Scruffy Murphy’s in Denver. (The latter a pretty nice little Irish club despite its name, according to Vigil.) Some of his music has been getting airplay on stations that include 99.5 “The Mountain” out of Denver and Boulder and 88.9 KRFC in Ft. Collins, and the CD itself can be easily purchased at www.milehighmusicstore.com or downloaded from iTunes. You can also sample a few songs at his own thorough Web
site, www.jasonvigil.net where you can find a calendar of events, performance photos, lyrics and much more.
Vigil is a young man with a real love for music who isn’t afraid to wear his heart-gone-sober on his sleeve. While promotional stills depict the introspective, sensitive musician who writes from his soul, it’s clear from his exuberance in concert photos that he thoroughly enjoys sharing his gift with an audience. Homegrown as his career may be, Vigil eventually plans to take his act on the road, beyond the borders of Colorado. The self-taught strummer from Berthoud seems to have the proper luggage for the trip — talent, confidence, small-town roots and a work ethic. He’s paying his dues and modestly doesn’t deny that it would be nice if the the journey included a Grammy or two. You just might want to leave room in your suitcase, Jason.

THE FORT COLLINS COLORADOAN

Jason Vigil’s latest CD was a true labor of love — emphasis on the labor part.

Nearly two years in the making, not counting all the time it took to write, “Heart Gone Sober” had the fates working against it. Luckily, Vigil isn’t putting his money on fate.

“It was definitely much more difficult than I had anticipated it to be,” said the former Fort Collins singer/songwriter recently transplanted to Denver. “Not that projects are easy but this was just crazy.”

Two years ago Vigil and his band went into Nuthouse Recording Studio in Santa Fe. Three months into recording the digital files became corrupted and the tracks on them unusable

“We had to start all over again,” he said.

So back to the beginning they went. Several months later another computer glitch halted recording for a month while repairs were made. Then family illness befell the producer. For six months the band was in a state of stasis.

Recording finally begins again and another tragedy occurs. Vigil is hit by a drunk driver — luckily he’s not hurt too badly but his car, necessary to make the seven-and-a-half hour drives back and forth from Santa Fe to Fort Collins, is totaled. Vigil is stuck in Santa Fe for more than two weeks sleeping on the recording studio floor waiting for his car to be fixed and unable to finish any new tracks.

Finally the CD is recorded and Vigil takes it to Fort Collins’ The Blasting Room for final mixing and mastering. And gets in yet another car accident, a five-car pileup no less, on the way to the studio.

It was almost as if someone wanted to put him through the wringer to make sure this was really what he wanted to do with his time.

“There was a time or two where it didn’t feel like it was worth all of this hardship,” Vigil admitted. “But we had already been through so much that it became something that I had to see the end of or I’d never be happy.”

Luckily Vigil not only finished it but said it didn’t turn out half bad.

“Actually it turned out better than I had expected,” he said. “Which is weird to say because I obviously expected a lot out of it.”

Vigil often uses the ups and downs of his life in his writing, so maybe the trials and tribulations will make great songs for the next album. By then he’ll be able to laugh, and sing, about it.

During the process of getting “Heart Gone Sober” completed there was one song on the CD Vigil said he used to get himself through the difficulties.

“ ‘So Tell Me,’ is actually more of a conversation I had with myself,” he said. “It’s one of the few (songs on the album) that’s not about a relationship. I was in a rough place emotionally and I realized that I really need to decide whether I want to feel better about what I’m doing. And that I just gotta’ keep doing it. It helped get through a rough time.”

SCENE MAGAZINE

Winner of the 14th Annual Scene Magazine Battle of the Bands

The Jason Vigil Band
By Joseph Shipley

Immediately relatable, the Jason Vigil Band held the Starlight crowd captive for its entire thirty minute Battle set. Vigil’s deep, anguished voice fit perfectly over the stress and anxiety in his band’s playing, layering joy, guilt, love, sadness and pain on top of incredibly precise music. This is something, Vigil says, that the band has worked especially hard to perfect.
“I trust these guys with my songs, and that’s really important, because these songs are important to me. We’ve been playing together long enough where we can really focus on the emotion and what we want to convey with each song.”
The musicians with whom he surrounds himself amplify Vigil’s outstanding stage presence and performing. The band helps create a heightened energy level and allows for more edge to be brought into the mix, creating more of a rock ‘n’ roll sound.
Drummer Cale Hand (perfect name for a drummer!), keyboardist Justin Miller, bassist Skinny and percussionist Eric Garcia create an intelligent musical landscape that allows Vigil’s songwriting to truly shine. Each member has previously collaborated, in some shape or form, with Vigil, creating a sense of musical familiarity, deeply strengthening the band’s notable magnetism.
Miller’s drifting, melodic keyboard style weaves in and out of Vigil’s songs, adding rich texture to the compositions while Skinny’s mature, unassuming bass work solidifies Vigil’s guitar playing and enhances the band’s percussion section.
The percussion combination of Hand and Garcia is the spine stabilizing the band’s stage presence. Having played with Vigil for over seven years, Hand understands well the dynamic of the unspoken musical relationship he and his friend share.
“It’s not just a personal connection between us,” he explains. “It’s a musical connection we feel without even looking at each other.” This relationship has created an important level of acknowledgement among the band members.
“Jason’s songs are so over-wrought with emotion that if we don’t convey that for him when we get on stage, all we’ll be doing is wasting the audience’s time,” says Hand. “It’s our philosophy to really focus on the song, as opposed to just playing whatever on stage.”
It’s a philosophy that the JVB is able to covey to their audiences through sheer intensity and passionate live performances, like their Battle-winning November 20th set at the Starlight.
“They have a tremendous charisma,” says Chris K. of Hapi Skratch Entertainment. “Jason’s songs are extremely well-written and very appealing. I really like what they’re doing and think venues will take a chance with their stuff.”
Currently, The JVB is finishing work on their new album, Heart Gone Sober. The alternative, emotional rock songs of Heart Gone Sober (January 2006 release) “reflect and reveal that with time, a person can sober up from substances, relations or even life itself, and find direction.” It’s an album, according to Vigil, that will surprise (in a good way) many of the JVB’s fans.
“This album is incredibly dense, more so than our live performances. But we still had fun making it. We can’t forget why we’re playing. If it’s not fun then it’s not worth it.”
You can see for yourself why the Jason Vigil Band won the Battle of the Bands on December 23rd at Lucky Joe’s in Old Town.