Pi Jacobs

The new six song EP from Pi Jacobs, Hi-Rise Ranch, is a masterpiece. Set for release on April 14, this EP is packed with toe-tapping, high energy songs from start to finish.

From the first notes of "Want to Want to," the listener will be overwhelmed by the soulful, rootsy voice of Jacobs, the incredibly strong beat of the music, and the powerful lyrics of the song. The style brings back memories of 60's rock idols The Doors and 70's era Doobie Brothers, with a down home southern rock groove.

The song flows naturally into track 2, "Starting Now,' with its southern rock sound of Lynyrd Skynrd, coupled with those poweful vocal chops that Jacobs brings to the music. Her voice is unmistakable and memorable in texture, similar to Sara Bareilles and Heather St. Marie, lead singer of Dauzat St. Marie, who's EP was recently reviewed by AXS.

"Icy Road," the third track, has that strong beat that sets great southern rock apart from other types of rock, with a strong rootsy americana feel. Her background singers fill in the sweet spots, resulting in a very enjoyable tune.

Track 4, "The Train," pulls back on the music, allowing the true essence of Jacobs' voice to come out. In addition, the lyrics tell a story in ways that most of today's music neglects.

The EP closes out with two songs, "Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You," a Led Zeppelin cover, and "All for you" that return to the soulful, americana sound of the earlier tracks. "Babe" has a strong bass-thumping beat coupled with extraordinary keys that make this track the perfect groove for evening relaxation time, while "All" has a more southern rock quality that brings the listener full circle on this totally listenable collection of music.

Produced, recorded and mixed by Eugene Toale (Kanye West, Brandy Mya), the EP features acoustic and electric guitar, bass and vocals by Jacobs, along with keyboards from Peter Adams and Toale, bass from Jaime Bishop and drums from Beastie Boys' own Fredo Ortiz, topped off with the perfectly complementing background vocals of Kel Pritchard and Rita Soultanian. The EP was mastered at Capitol by Evren Groknar.

AXS is proud to recommend this EP and artist Pi Jacobs. Hi-Rise Ranch is a must-have for all serious audiophiles, especially those who miss old fashioned rock and roll. - AXS.com

PI JACOBS
Hi-Rise Ranch
TCC Music
Pi Jacobs offers six songs of electrified Americana on Hi-Rise Ranch, which was crafted under the guidance of super-producer Eugene Toale. In her press release, Jacobs credits Toale—whose diverse previous work stretches from early bangers with Kanye West to more recent albums with the manifestly talented Mexican American polka genius Fernanda Ulibarri—with helping her find her “truest voice.” That voice propels gritty opener “Want To Want To,” which celebrates primal desire as she asks a lover to “pretend we have confidence, like a drug running through our veins.” If Jacobs’ confidence is pretend, however, she sure is a great faker. She sounds anything but pretend while putting her voice on full, robust display with songs including the galloping “Icy Road” and “Starting Now,” an empowering tribute to survivors of harrowing sexual violence that resolves with the self-affirmative lyric that “life is tough, but I am tougher.” Later, she presents a crooning, pensive, and soulful cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Babe I’m Gonna Leave You” that is not only shorter, more urgent, and far less rambling than the original but somehow more expansive as well. Jacobs is known for her slick guitar playing and prowess as a multi-instrumentalist, but her singing is the most potent element of this collection of funky, tight, and driving roots rock. She’s had tremendous success with licensing her songs in the past, and it’s likely that the songs on Hi-Rise Ranch will find high-profile placements as well.
—Geoff Geis - LA RECORD

Pi Jacobs has come a long way since her first time singing on stage, when she was only three.
The San Francisco native has been a part of the music world for a long time, starting as a choir member when she was only three, to playing various instruments in high school.
After a break from being a singer, Pi worked on her first album, which included songs that ended up in some of MTV’s famous shows, like the Real World. Even if you didn’t know who Pi Jacobs is , you probably have heard her on various television shows, including Pretty Little Liars, Road Rules, and other shows from famous networks.
However, Pi enjoys playing in live shows too.“To be a true artists, I have to go and play those songs for people,” she explains.
Her fifth and most recent album, Urbanicana, was written by Pi herself, who believes the writing process to be a very personal experience. “It’s really, really personal for me, I actually find collaboration really hard.”
Although she finds writing with other people difficult, she does enjoy singing in harmony. “Of all the elements of music, if I could only have one, it would be people singing together,” she explains. Her show at Lestat’s in San Diego featured beautiful harmony along with two members of the Silverlake Chorus, which Pi was previously a member of. She described her show as a strip down, and it was. Pi Jacobs played guitar beautifully and brought the personal touch her lyrics have to the stage. She is a raw, talented singer that can transmit her audience to a place of realness and emotion, a place where the audience can feel.
Keep your eye on Pi, who is not only doing live shows in the United States, but is looking to go back to the UK soon, and hopefully hit Europe in the near future. Meanwhile, keep your ears open when you watch television shows, but make sure you catch her live when you can, it’s quite a harmonious experience.
Her latest album, Urbanicana is set to be released this fall. - Music Unity Sports Entertainment

Pi Jacobs: "Urbanicana" Release Party
Pi Jacobs grew up in the musically rich environment of San Francisco and started singing at the age of three. Over the course of her career as a singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, Jacobs has independently released five albums, toured extensively in the US and UK, and has had more than 60 songs placed in TV, film, and advertising. The songs on her latest album "Urbanicana" touch upon topics like sex and double standards; loss, unfulfilled potential, friendship, youthful longings, spirituality, life on the road, and relationships. The tracks are sometimes wistful and other times sung with anthemic exuberance. Although Pi says her music isn't aimed at young adults or teens, her stories and authenticity resonate with both adolescent and adult listeners. "Urbanicana" is a collaboration with renowned producer Eugene Toale, whose hip-hop sensibilities combined with Pi's rootsy, rock-diva vocals, deliver a fresh sound that is both urban and Americana. This new genre captures the heart of the homesick city-dweller yearning for simpler times, as well as sore-thumb artsy-types, alone in the boondocks.
- Shannon Constantine Logan, Flavorpill - FlavorPill LA

Aptly titled, Jacobs plays her own distinct version of urban folk music with a rustic americana slant, broaching topics like spirituality, loss and friendship with much sophistication and playfulness. A good mix of breezy, roots rock and heartfelt ballads, Jacobs’ powerful and smooth voice suits the punchy pop-rock and Southern influenced music, and is anchored by The Beastie Boys’ drummer Fredo Ortiz.

Tom Haugen June 4, 2013 - In Fourty Alt Music Zine

The title of singer/songwriter Pi's new album gives a lot of insight into what you can expect from her music.
According to Chinese astrology, women born in the Year of the Fire Horse" are said to consume everything in their path and wreak havoc wherever they go. They are considered dangerous, headstrong, and are seen as deadly to men." Well, then, so much for the usual alt-folk indie pop fare. The record is shot through with minor chords, slow-burning harmonics, and arching hooks, all supporting Pi's powerful, low-slung, achey-breaky, wistful vocals that charm in a strange, been-around-the-block, but still innocent kind of way.
– Shana Nys Dambrot
- FlavorPill LA – Shana Nys Dambrot

Pi Record Release Party This Weekend
Wednesday October 14, 2009

Looking to check out new musical artists on the weekend? This Saturday (October 17th), singer/songwriter Pi is throwing a record release event at Room 5 Lounge at 143 N. La Brea. Her album "Fire Horse Girl," produced by Randy Wine (U2 and Aretha Franklin) came out yesterday.

The straight-from-the-heart songstress channels the vibes of the classic singer/songwriters of the '70s, covering a range of topics from love and obsession to friendship and abandonment. Todd Ivy and Melissa Fahn will open for Pi. The evening's musical festivities are set to take place between 7 and 10 p.m., but Pi goes on at 9 p.m. Admission is $8. Admission + CD is $13. - About.com - Shayna Ting Lipton

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17
Pi at Room 5
Singer-songwriter Pi’s got this very nice long-player out called Fire Horse Girl, produced with high style and taste by Randy Wine (U2, Aretha Franklin). Very nice? Well, in a way-overcrowded field of singer-songwriters who trendishly seek to evoke the depth and charms of their great forebears from the ’70s, Pi somehow carries it off, and she does it with the most deceptively simple tools: She writes memorable tunes, and she sings them with a satisfying alto sweetness that’s free of “singerly” gimmickery. That simplicity also applies to her lyrical matter, which, like so many others’, addresses the trials and tribulations of love, loss, liberty and life itself; yet on songs like “Santa Ana,” which weaves gingerly finger-plucked acoustic guitar around Pi’s unadorned voice, and especially the chart-topper-in-a-parallel-universe “Brand New Shoes,” with its strolling bounce and sunshiney harmonies, that ’70s vibe gains an addictive new relevance. (John Payne)
- LA Weekly by John Payne

What do you get when you cross a Haight-Ashbury born singer songwriter with a fire-breathing equine creature of mythological proportions? A horse of a different color? The kind of girl you don’t ride home to mother?

The lovely brunette, Pi Jacobs, sitting across the café table from me smiled mischievously, sipped her coffee. She’s spent a lifetime trying to live down the terrible reputation of the Fire Horse Girl. A headstrong, willful vixen according to the Eastern astrological stigma. Also the title of her latest album.

Basically an introvert at heart, Pi laughed. It’s been tough. This fire horse wasn’t a natural born show pony, after all. Pi recalled her first performance. Age three, she stood on stage with her preschool choir, a San Francisco hippy child with a solo to sing. She opened her mouth. “Come on, baby! Come on!” her mother cheered.

Pi grimaced. “And that was it. Nothing came out. I just sat there with my mouth open.”

Well that’s what they told her, at least; luckily she blocked the whole memory out. Every performer has their own obstacles to greatness, and Pi’s had to face her fears and personal hurdles. But she’s finally cleared the jump.

“I used to hate being onstage, giving interviews, doing TV shows and photo shoots. But right now I’m doing so much of that, that I just don’t care anymore. I know I’m not going to look perfect. It’s very freeing.”

“And I’ve gotten much better at being calm.” She said, then laughed and raised her cup. “Of course this coffee isn’t going to help.”

But don’t underestimate this fiery filly; nervous as she claims to be, Mrs. Jacobs is no lightweight. Pi has been busily living up to other terrifying reputations, while simultaneously living down her astrological one. In fact, when researching the singer before our interview, the first thing I noticed was the long list of strong female voices she was being compared to.

Joni Mitchell, Chrissie Hynde, Jewel, and the list goes on. Which is the most flattering, I asked her?

“Well, Chrissie Hynde is pretty flattering,” she said. “That was Randy Wine. The first day I met him he said that. It’s a great compliment because he actually recorded her.”

Now that’s flattering. Are you kidding me?

“But I always like to hear I sound like Joni Mitchell, because I grew up listening to her,” Pi said. “She’s iconic.”

And I’d have to agree that the seventies pop icon comparison fits well. Especially on Fire Horse Girl, where the resemblance and influence is unmistakable. Pi pays homage to the fascination we had with our parent’s record collections, without losing us in nostalgia. And I’m honored to have the pleasure of owning this album, with hopes of yes, passing it on.

Fire Horse Girl’s lyrics are happily frank, smart, and modern, with clips of clever absurdity. From Reverie: “What would Jesus do if he were me?” Pi’s definitely feminine, but not feminist, and California is all over the album, in a natural, carefree style. Pi’s smooth voice summons the Santa Anas for us, stretches in the sunlight, taunts and daydreams, takes us for a walk in new shoes.

Speaking of shoes. One song stood out, a sweet little tune called New Shoes. It’s ‘pop’, the way it should be—irresistibly satisfying. Like the sound bubble gum makes when you blow a nice tight bubble past its max. It just makes you smile. I had to ask where she got the inspiration.

“My husband says I have this shoe thing, because I’m half Filipino,” Pi joked. “But I just think it’s a great metaphor. When I wrote it, I was going through a time where I felt stuck. I wanted change. New duds.”

Pi feels she’s finally struck a great balance with the album Fire Horse Girl. Her first record she hired a talented, but heavy-handed producer who steered the record towards commercial viability. “And it was great,” Pi said. “But we had a tough working relationship. We fought a lot. And it took a toll.”

“The record after that, I did the whole thing myself. I played all the instruments, and engineered it. It was crazy, but I learned. That record, I like the songs, but it definitely sounds like I did it by myself.”

The next two albums, she brought in some amazing musicians, and the addition of producer Randy Wine (Aretha Franklin, U2) who also co-wrote some of the songs. The best part about it—working with people.

“Otherwise, I spend days and days alone,” Pi laughed. “It can get a little cuckoo.”

Now that she’s finished Fire Horse Girl, she’s enjoying going out to her friend’s shows, getting fresh inspiration. But it’s harder to find a scene in LA. The live music community, it’s hard to create in any city.

I wonder why?

Pi admits that some of the problem is economic. Money always makes it hard for people to show up and make it happen. And the way music is monetized doesn’t work for musicians. She used the example of the Killers show at the Hollywood bowl the other night.

“Here’s a show where so much money is being generated, but the maj - Music Union - Shannon Logan