How can a guy from an Amish - Mennonite family, grow to become a cutting edge acoustic guitar player that utilizes technology in every facet of his work? Just ask Jerimae Yoder, he has done it. From a rousing concert for High School and College people where he tweaks and loops every sound that could possibly emanate from an acoustic guitar, to collaborating with a producer over the internet for his new CD, Jerimae is creating a sound and a buzz in the Indie music community.
"Music and art are not an end in themselves, they are only the means to reach the heart of people with a message. Sometimes the message is spoken by lyrics, sometimes spoken after the music is played or performed and sometimes the message is found within the art itself," says Jerimae. What sets Jerimae Yoder apart from the rest of the music scene is that he cares about the message. He cares about people. He cares about God. He cares about how people respond to God.
Jerimae Yoder's personal revolution began in 1995. A "radical self- turning" is how Jerimae describes the transformation that began on that summer evening on a bench in Northern Michigan. Nothing would be the same from that point on. As he packed up his red VW bus bound for California from his home in Goshen IN., God began to work in all his situations. A few weeks stop in Indianapolis turned into 9 years, 1 wife and 2 kids.
His self described style of music is "Modern Acoustic" melding together acoustic guitar with electronic elements that he gleans from influences like Beck, Wilco, Derek Webb, Ester Drang, the Flaming Lips, MuteMath, Phil Keaggy, Jars of Clay, and Nick Drake. The new EP "Personal Revolution" is a mixture of fully produced songs, a acoustic and vocal solo and two "one take" jams. "Acousti-digit" and "Sole Son" are both one take acoustic jams that Jerimae recorded in his home studio in Indianapolis, with a loop station, a digital delay pedal, a Vox Cry Baby, and a drum machine. The whole CD was produced by Pam Clark (http://pamelaclark.tripod.com/) at Salt Mine studio in Panama, Central America. Jerimae and Pam's technological collaboration began by their mutual friendships through Indieheaven.com, a web home to many independent artists around the globe. By recoding in his home studio and using a file transfer method over a popular instant messaging program, Jerimae was able to complete the whole CD in "record" time.
"It's been a long time coming, but I finally feel like I'm being released into something I've always wanted to do" Jerimae says. "Maybe I'm stubborn, or slow, but I know that God has me right where he wants me, this is getting really exciting."
No doubt that Jerimae and his music will be around for a long while.