Here’s a great track and video from South Africa’s Jeremy Loops. It’s “Sinner” from his upcoming album Trading Change, due out January 1, 2015.
It’s a sad song of loss with a hopeful ending (I won’t spoil it for you).
With a striking blend of Loops’ swampy vocal delivery, tight vocal harmonies, acoustic guitar, harmonica and a down-home groove, “Sinner” is just downright good music. The kind you'd listen to as you pour a pint and hang with good buddies.
Loops shares, “Writing this album has been one of the biggest undertakings of my life. Things have changed so much in the last few years, not just with my music, but in my life in general. Trading Change is all of that wrapped into one. The song 'Sinner' was written in anticipation of a crisis yet to unfold. A prediction of sorts."
Watch it here:
Trading Change is inspired by Loop’s experience of growing up in a small town in South Africa, and the universal desire to break free from society's limitations to forge your own path. After graduating from business school, Jeremy decided to forgo a career in finance and travel the world, where he began writing songs with his guitar, harmonica, and loops pedal.
Loops - a South African born modern folk artist - will bring his music stateside with a U.S. tour this fall and the January 2015 U.S. release of his debut album Trading Change. With the help of his signature loops pedal, which allows him to layer multiple instruments and melodies in real time as he performs, Jeremy becomes a "one man folk band," blending urban inspired rhythms with lilting folk.
Originally a stand-in for his bandmates during his time spent on a boat, the loops pedal gave Jeremy the freedom to break rules with his music, mixing and matching rhythms to create his own unique sound. Jeremy's decision to travel, make music, and give back to those in need inspired the album's title, Trading Change.
Loops explains, "The word 'change' can refer to money, but it also refers to making a positive difference in the world. I choose to live life with the latter as my currency."
In keeping with this ambition, Loops co-founded Greenpop, an organization that educates students in southern Africa about their environmental impact and facilitates tree plantings in small communities throughout the region. Greenpop was hatched as a small effort to educate underprivileged schoolchildren about the importance of protecting the planet, and rapidly exploded into a movement backed by hundreds of volunteers.
Jeremy Loops' US Tour dates will be announced in the coming soon. Find out more at http://www.jeremyloops.com