NON-COMM Recap: Jade Jackson closes out the afternoon with California country rock

Jade Jackson | photo by Makena Duffy for WXPN

Jade Jackson flew in from California just in time to play the last set of NonCOMM this afternoon. But you’d never guess the singer-songwriter was a bit jet-lagged — and struggling with a guitar that had just endured a cross-country flight in the cargo hold — if she hadn’t told us.

Jackson is getting ready to release her second record, Wilderness, next month, and she and her band came prepared with a seven-song set of catchy country rock tunes. Jackson was an XPN artist to watch two years ago when she debuted with Gilded, and has proven up-and-coming voice in country music since she broke out of her local coffeehouse scene. Jackson pushes the boundaries of that genre label in any way she can, citing influences from Lucinda Williams to Mazzy Star and The Smiths, and enlisting seasoned punk rocker Mike Ness of Social Distortion to produce her records.

Jackson opened her set with “Bottle It Up,” the only single she’s released from the forthcoming record so far, so she warned the audience that if she played a song they hadn’t heard before, it was probably a new one. Her older songs have a lasting familiarity, like the foot-stomping “Good Time Gone,” and the personal stories she includes in her lyrics add depth. Introducing one new song, Jackson emphasized that it’s very personal content made it the most difficult one on Wilderness to write, while another she wrote in her car on the way to the gym. Regardless of how easily her songs come to her, Jackson shares them with the audience with the seeming effortlessness that comes with the true talent of a rising star.

Wilderness comes out June 28 on ANTI- Records. Jade Jackson plays Dawson Street Pub tonight; tickets are available at the door.