Arts & Entertainment
Fourteen and Talented
A profile of Rumson's Jake Tavill, a musician pursuing his dreams at age fourteen.
Jake Tavill of Rumson is a passionate aspiring musician who has more than 200 likes on his Facebook page and more than 500 fans registered on his Reverb Nation account. The catch: he’s only fourteen.
“I was eight or nine years old when I really got into music,” Tavill says. “It has always been something I’ve been interested in.”
Tavill started immersing himself in music at age five when he began playing the classical piano. By age eight, he was also singing and writing songs of his own.
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Now at age fourteen, Tavill loves writing music, has very mature goals as a performer and is gaining fandom.
One may believe it is difficult to write meaningful music at such a young age, but Tavill achieves this through his old-soul mentality and mature outlook. “I write about all kinds of things,” Tavill says, “Life, morals, girls, experiences, and stories.” He has written all of his recorded music with the help of his guitarist Matt Callahan, a sophomore at Ranney High School.
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Tavill also has very sincere goals as a performer. “I really want to have a career in music because I want to change lives and help people out. I think that they can relate to the things I write about,” said Tavill.
Another ambition Tavill has is to be discovered, something every passionate performer hopes for. “I really want to get my music out there,” he said. So far, he has an EP (extended play) on iTunes called “Out of Desperation” which consists of three songs, and his Reverb Nation page has hundreds of hits.
Shorefire Recording Studios in Long Branch helped Tavill produce his most recent EP. Also helping him develop his music career is his vocal coach, Stacey Smith of Red Bank and his keyboard teacher Gregg Zubowicz of Asbury Park. “Stacey has coached huge artists like Shontelle and she has helped me become a much better singer,” Tavill says.
On March 6th, he played his biggest gig so far at The Stone Pony in Asbury Park. He was showcased along with nine other bands and played a twenty-five minute acoustic set with Matt Callahan, his guitarist. “There’s no greater rush than performing. That’s what you live for in music,” said Tavill. He says that he hopes to perform on the iconic stage again.
There is no doubt that Tavill will continue to gain popularity. He is working on his first full album, which should be released sometime this summer. “I have a whole bunch of stuff coming up this summer so look out for me!” Tavill exclaims.
