ABOUT

Award-winning California singer-songwriter Jesse Loren Strickman is known for potent lyrics and powerful, acoustic-based music. Emotionally charged vocals sail over jaunty chords in songs about heartache, healing and peace.

Annually touring the Pacific West Coast as the frontman of indie folk bands, Strickman has played everywhere from intimate cafes to outdoor amphitheaters and festivals. He’s opened for national and world acts such as Damien Jurado, Jay Brannan, CAKE, The T Sisters, Aaron Ross (Hella), Night Riots, Sunny And The Black Pack, and Jhameel (American Idol).

Strickman’s versatile songwriting is accentuated with the full band, merging everything from guy/girl vocal harmonies to rock guitar solos, and from swooning violin to quirky glockenspiel. With the help of skilled multi-instrumentalists made up of SF Conservatory of Music graduates and a guitarist who toured in Yo-Yo Ma & the Silk Road Ensemble, each song dictates the mood and instrumentation to tell its own story.

Insightful themes recur throughout Strickman’s music. Personal stories of intimacy and heartbreak color a lot of his repertoire. He also writes of depression, highlighting darker chapters of his past to offer a bridge to those who are currently struggling. “In our deepest pain we grow the most and in darkness light is most potent. I make music to guide people back to the light because that’s what music has always done for me.” He recently won “Best Song” in the Song Contest presented by Songwriters At Play on Feb. 26th, 2024 in Solvang, CA.

With a passion for the craft of songwriting, Strickman studies from famous and award-winning songwriters annually at the Rocky Mountain Song School in Colorado. He also attends ongoing sessions with Songwriters-Hall-of-Fame multi-nominee Steve Seskin.

In 2020, Strickman began livestreaming. He streams twice a week from his home studio with over 1,600 followers around the world. He chats with viewers and takes song requests from a list of over 450 covers and originals.

Strickman is currently self-producing his debut full-length studio album Falling Back to Earth with co-producer and drummer, McKay Garner. The record will showcase Strickman’s diverse songwriting by featuring everything from distorted electric guitars to nylon string banjo, intimate breathy vocals to full string orchestras.

The first single “Falling Astronaut” came out in 2022 under Strickman’s indie label Hippie Heartbreak Records. It includes a Dolby Atmos/Spatial-Audio version, immersive mixed by Garner and immersive-mastered by triple Grammy Award winner, Michael Romanowski. “The song honors leaving my hometown in search of mending my broken heart. I felt like a space explorer blasting through the cosmos, lonely but excited. What I found was a deeper connection with myself through making this record.” Since it’s release, the song has received airplay on FM radio stations in five major cities across California and over 10K Spotify streams.

By Summer of 2023, two more songs dropped with single release shows in San Francisco, Nevada City and Albany, CA. “Deadly Chemistry” is a rock tune about the thrills and dangers of falling in love, while “Belong to the Night” is a folky anthem for night owls everywhere. The latter was featured in Music Connection Magazine.

Along with finishing his record, Strickman is currently working with LA companies Carbon-Based Media and Overactive Imagination on the production of a music video to accompany the release.

Singer, Jesse Strickman, has a sweet air about him that mirrors the organic, honest lyrics within each song.
- The Examiner

There are a select few that understand how simple it is to create compelling music...Jesse Strickman cares about the process and it shows in his work.
- Nanobot Rock Reviews

Emphasis on craftsmanship suits Strickman's personality…He's a closet perfectionist, and a songwriter who insists that every tune be its own self-contained narrative — and, moreover, that the lyrics convey the emotion from which they spawned.
- East Bay Express

The power he delivers with minimal acoustic music is awe-inspiring.
- EntertainMuse Media

The lyrics are really personal, which is good. You don’t get that enough these days. Everything’s flash and complaining about stuff, rather than talking about what really matters in life.
- Larry Kelp, Host of “Sing Out” on KPFA 94.1FM Berkeley

Strickman’s lyrics weave through the melodies telling a specific story referencing the unavoidable joy and pain of growing up and growing strong. Strickman does say that each person or place he mentions is real and has an undeniable connection to his life.
- Alameda Sun

Jesse Strickman has no filter on his emotions and pours his heart out in every thought out lyric.
- Awaken Cafe, Downtown Oakland Music Venue

For all its pathos, most of his music is swaddled in warm melodies and jaunty rhythms, which serve as a kind of hygienic varnish.
- East Bay Express

These aren’t your run-of-the-mill “this is a sad song” lyrics. They made me think...I appreciate the honesty in these lyrics.
- Relate Mag

The painfully real track [Kicking Soot] beautifully divides itself between captivating harmonies and punctuating lyric.
- Nanobot Rock Reviews

It’s the strong emotional impulse driving this song [Lovers Recipe] that sells me on it and gets me listening over and over. I love a song that makes me feel something, and this one does. It’s a melancholy and nostalgic feeling, reinforced by its lyrics.
- SF Critic