Sydney Dale

Lake City High School freshman Sydney Jacobson, who goes by the stage name Sydney Dale, is releasing her first single, "Simple Little Things," on streaming services tonight at midnight. She's seen here with her ukulele in the back yard of her Hayden home on Wednesday afternoon.
DEVIN WEEKS/Press

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By DEVIN WEEKS
Staff Writer | April 30, 2021 1:00 AM
A world of opportunity is opening for Lake City High School freshman Sydney Jacobson.

The 14-year-old singer-songwriter, who goes by the stage name Sydney Dale, is releasing her first single, “Simple Little Things,” at midnight tonight.

"It has kind of an ’80s pop fusion kind of feel,” she said Wednesday, sitting on the back patio of her Hayden home. "That’s my favorite song that I recorded.”

After the first single drops, Sydney smartly plans to release one song a month from her first album, which is named for the titular track.

"We didn’t want to put the whole album out there at once,” she said. "Songs can get lost, and people pick out their favorites and don’t listen to the rest. We wanted to make people wait for them, and only the people that come to my release party are getting my CD, which has all of the songs."

Sydney has been singing as long as she's been talking. She began writing songs in her head when she was 10 and putting them to paper at age 12. She thinks of chord progressions that go with what she's feeling, then she thinks of words and melodies soon follow. She describes her style as "alternative/folk/indie/pop." Her influences and musical favorites include Adele, Norah Jones, Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, Bruno Mars and John Denver.

She plays piano and guitar, but she's quite fond of the ukulele. She found herself gravitating to a toy ukulele when her brother bought one in Hawaii. Then her grandpa Mike Boeck made a special one just for her.

“I love ukulele because it’s so easy,” Sydney said. "With instruments, if I can’t express myself through them, if they’re hard, it’s hard to keep it up. I like just playing and letting all my emotions go into my music. If I can’t do that it really bugs me."

The teen enjoys musical theater, singing and a little bit of dancing. She recently won first place soprano in the district Solo and Ensemble Competition, and she just submitted her entry for the Idaho Music Educators Association's state contest.

“Lake City was pretty excited about it too, that their school had the winner," her mom, Alyssa Jacobson, said.

Songwriting is where Sydney really shines. She submitted two songs for the National Association for Music Educators songwriting contest at the recommendation of one of her teachers.

One of her mentors, Dan Powers of the music group The Powers, said Sydney "is truly brilliant."

"She's just one of these young people that's functioning like she's been doing this for 50 years, but she's only been doing it a year," he said. "Her songwriting is through the roof, very mature. There's some depth in her lyrics and melodies. And she’s eager, she wants to do this."

He's so impressed, he invited Sydney to take the stage Friday, May 7 at the Athol Farmers Market Spring Fling Music Fest. The event goes from 2 to 7 p.m. Sydney will perform from 4:50 to 5:15 p.m.

"I’m thrilled to bring her into the fold," Powers said. "She's 14, and I have kids the same age, or close to. Me as a dad, I would be so thrilled to see my kids do something like that … I can't wait for my kids to experience someone who’s their peer move forward and make waves and do something that other kids and other adults aren't doing."

Sydney's mom is incredibly proud of her, as is her dad, Jeremy, who is in the Air Force and deployed to Iraq. He was with Sydney when she recorded her album with professional musicians in December.

“He loved that. That was his favorite thing ever," Sydney said. "He showed his whole Air Force base all of my songs already."

"Her release party is on the base calendar,” Alyssa said. "So she’s feeling the love, all the way out there."

The launch party for Sydney Dale's "Simple Little Things" will be from 4 to 7 p.m. May 16 at Jeremiah Johnson Brewing Company, 826 N. Fourth St., Coeur d'Alene. Attendees will have opportunities to meet the artist and snag a free copy of her album. Donations will be accepted.

Tune into any streaming service such as Spotify and Amazon Music and search for "Sydney Dale" and "Simple Little Things" after midnight tonight to hear this rising star's first track.

photo

Photo by Noël Brower

An album release party for Hayden teen Sydney Jacobson, whose music name is Sydney Dale, will be held at Jeremiah Johnson Brewing Company in Coeur d'Alene on May 16. She is releasing her first single, "Simple Little Things," online at midnight tonight. - Coeur d' Alene Press

By Cindy Hval
For The Spokesman-Review
If You Go

If you go

“Simple Little Things” release party

When: 4-7 p.m. Sunday

Where: Jeremiah Johnson Brewing Company, 826 N. Fourth St., Coeur d’ Alene

More: Attendees will receive a copy of Sydney Jacobson’s new CD “Simple Little Things.” For more information, visit sydneydalemusic.com.
If you’re a Gonzaga University sports fan, chances are you’ve heard Sydney Jacobson sing. Jacobson, who performs as Sydney Dale, is one of the national anthem singers featured at GU sporting events.

Lately, due to COVID-19 restrictions, you’ve heard a prerecorded version.

“Before COVID, I did a lot of volleyball, baseball, soccer and men’s and women’s basketball games,” Jacobson said. “The anthem’s a hard song to sing because of its vocal range.”

This month, the 14-year-old freshman at Coeur d’ Alene’s Lake City High School released her first album, “Simple Little Things.”

“I’ve been singing ever since I can remember,” she said. “I started voice lessons at 6 because I was always singing.”

Born into an Air Force family in Fairbanks, Alaska, Jacobson remembers belting out John Denver’s “Leaving on a Jet Plane” and Justin Bieber’s “Baby” for her family.

Her dad, Jeremy, serves in the Air National Guard, and the family moved to the area in 2014 when he was assigned to Fairchild Air Force Base.

Jacobson joined Christian Youth Theatre North Idaho and plunged into musical theater.

“It’s given me lots of room to grow my singing,” she said, citing her roles in “Shrek,” “Annie” and other musicals.

She’s also part of two choirs at Lake City High and recently earned first-place soprano for District 1 in Idaho.

“Simple Little Things” had its genesis when the teen turned to songwriting last year. Drawing inspiration from Taylor Swift, Adele and Norah Jones, Jacobson said she’ll get an idea for a chord progression and pick out the melody on the piano or her favorite instrument, the ukulele.

“My brother bought me a cheap ukulele four years ago, and I taught myself to play it,” she recalled.

She played it so much it finally broke.

Jacobson laughed.

“Now, I have five, including a tenor ukulele my grandpa built for me.”

The lyrics flow from the melody, and the seven-track album features five of her original songs, including the title track “Simple Little Things.”

“That’s probably my favorite song,” she said. “A lot of thought and emotion went into that one.”

The album was recorded at Cider Mountain Recording Studio in Athol and produced, mixed and mastered by sound engineer Jarin Bressler. It features local musicians Dan Powers, Tristan Hart Pierce, Quindrey Davis Murphy, Chris Booher, Matt Henson and Davi Raubach.

Jacobson describes her musical style as “mostly indie, pop and alternative” and said the album includes a mixture of ballads and upbeat songs.

“The studio musicians were wonderful,” she said. “It was really cool to hear them play my work.”

She plans to pursue a career in music, and this album is the first of what she hopes will be many.

“It all became so real when I heard the musicians playing my songs,” she said.

“Simple Little Things” is available through streaming platforms including YouTube, Apple Music and Spotify. Those who attend the album release party, at Jeremiah Johnson Brewing Co. in Coeur d’Alene from 4-7 p.m. Sunday, will receive a copy of the CD.

“I just want people to hear my music,” Jacobson said. “That’s my dream.” - Spokesman Review

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