Jessie Jacobson (Second Language)

The Arwen Lewis Show

Second Language is an American alternative rock band formed in 1981 in Los Angeles. The band’s name derived from their view of music as a universal second language. They performed and recorded together from 1981 to 1996 and gained recognition with their debut record in 1984, the Souvenirs EP, which garnered college radio play and even commercial airplay, unusual for an unsigned band. The band gigged regularly at venues in Los Angeles and opened for notable bands like Love And Rockets. Blancmange, Howard Devoto, Berlin and Oingo Boingo. In 1996 the band independently released their first album WrongSpeak. The core of the band since 1984, Jessie Jacobson (lead vocalist, songwriter, guitarist), Jarrett Lesko (bass) & Brian Bielski (drums), along with a host of other talented multi-instrumentalists and vocalists sharing multiple influences, created post-punk, new wave and indie rock music utilizing an improvisational composing style and powerful stage performances. The band went on hiatus in 1996. In 2001, Jessie, a trans woman, underwent a personal transition in order to manifest her authentic self. She briefly left music behind, went back to school and earned an MA in Psychology and worked as a therapist, but soon found herself drawn back to singing, songwriting, improvising and recording from a whole new more feminine/feminist perspective, literally with a new voice, and back to working with her former bandmates, in particular Brian and Jarrett. Second Language reformed in 2014 on a part-time basis to improvise together culminating in producing new studio recordings 2022-2024, that are ongoing. During 2023-2024, Second Language will release seven albums of back catalog and unreleased material as well as a new album, recorded with a legendary group of producers: Tony Berg, Ron Fair, Michael James, Earle Mankey, Frank Wolf, and Ken Jordan, along with the band itself. The result is the first in a series of Second Language archival and contemporary stereo & Atmos single releases on Alternator Records, mixed by Michael James in 2023-2024. Alternator Records is a modern label founded by legendary producer/mixer Michael James. The label specializes in immersive audio, with every frontline release being conceived from the ground up—and mixed in—Dolby Atmos. Host | Arwen Lewis Executive Producer | Jeremiah D. Higgins Producer - Sound Engineer - Graham Palmer (Surprise Studio) arwenlewismusic.com/ On Instagram, Follow Arwen Lewis Here: @thearwenlewisshow @arwenlewis www.thejeremiahshow.com On Instagram @jeremiahdhiggins linktr.ee/jeremiahdhiggins

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