Jake Xerxes Fussell

BIOGRAPHY

Jake Xerxes Fussell was born in 1981 in Columbus, Georgia, the son of folklorist, curator, and photographer Fred C. Fussell. His unusual middle name honors Georgia potter D.X. Gordy. As a teenager he apprenticed with Piedmont blues legend Precious Bryant, touring and recording with her, played in a Phenix City, Alabama country band schooled by Jimmie Tarlton, and accompanied Etta Baker in concert. Before his own recordings, he documented vernacular Southern music in the field alongside historian George Mitchell and folklorist Art Rosenbaum. His recording career began with a William Tyler produced debut showcasing fingerstyle guitar and a laid back approach to traditional blues and folk. Subsequent albums, What in the Natural World (2017), Out of Sight (2019), Good and Green Again (2022, produced by James Elkington and his first with original songs), and When I'm Called (announced 2024), trace a steady evolution of his sound.

WHY THEY'RE COOL

Fussell is a rare figure: a working folklorist's son who learned Southern vernacular music directly from its master practitioners, Precious Bryant, Etta Baker, and musicians tied to Jimmie Tarlton, before ever making his own records. Critics have called him nearly as rare as the material he performs, praising his idiosyncratic, gently mirthful reinventions of traditional song. Jacobin has framed his work as an effort to sustain working-class musical traditions while making them feel vital and modern.

GEORGE'S PLAYS

First time on the station.

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