Today we’d like to introduce you to Jake Burns
Hi Jake, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
The seed was planted in middle school when a group of friends and I formed a band. We played together throughout high school and, by the time we reached college, officially adopted the name Rockstead. During our time at Ohio University and Wittenberg University, we played countless college parties and local festivals. By the end of college, we had built a presence in the Ohio festival scene and began sharing the stage with both local and touring bands.
After college, most of the original members parted ways for various reasons, leaving me (Jake) as the sole remaining founding member. While it was difficult to see my friends go, it also motivated me to invest even more time and energy into the band if I wanted it to thrive. We brought on Nate Anuci, a drummer from the west side of Cincinnati, who is still with us today. Over the next few years, we cycled through several other musicians, all while continuing to play shows that spanned from Ohio to Florida.
In recent years, we were fortunate to welcome Stephen Woodard on bass guitar, completing our core lineup. Now a three-piece, we tour relentlessly across the eastern United States. With two studio albums already under our belt and a third on the way, we’ve been expanding our reach and stepping up our festival game each year. The future is bright for Rockstead.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
If anyone in a band tells you it’s been a smooth road they are lying. Just to name a few challenges: being broke, constantly losing band members, living in different states, being broke, vehicles breaking down, equipment getting stolen, being broke, family members passing. Most recently we lost a bunch of equipment to flooding from Hurricane Helene after playing a show in Asheville, North Carolina.
A good chunk of these are common challenges that most bands have to deal with. A few however were pretty unique situations and I’m proud of the way we persevered and kept this train rolling.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Rockstead is a rock/reggae group primarily. We’re all a bunch of metalheads that still enjoy the beach vibes of reggae music. We’ve got a pretty wide palate of tunes and we like to think there is a song for everyone tucked away in our recorded catalogue. We’ve got ripping guitar solos and heavy breakdowns. We’ve got chill vibes. We’ve got love songs. We’ve got party songs. We’re really just out here making music that we enjoy playing.
I play guitar and sing main vocals in the band. Depending on our lineup I may hop up on some keys as well. Even went a year playing bass in the group when we were in between lineup changes. I write most of the songs and take care of all the backend work for the band. We are a fully independent group which means my duties include booking, management, social media, accounting, merch…you name it. It’s a lot of work but I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
I’m most proud of our ability to keep pushing forward. Being an original touring act in today’s world is tough as it is and as I mentioned before, there have been some potentially career ending obstacles that the guys and myself have had to deal with. Instead of rolling over and giving up we have used these instances as fuel to keep the dream alive. I have a lot of respect for these guys for keeping that state of mind alive.
Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
The music industry is constantly evolving, and being an original artist requires the ability to adapt to these changes. If you’re not staying active on the latest social media platforms, you’re missing valuable opportunities to connect with new fans. If you’re not adding trendy modern sounds to your music then your art gets swept away in the decades of old tunes that no one listens to anymore.
In my opinion, the music industry has always been a challenging space, and I don’t see it getting any easier. While there are more resources than ever for artists to remain independent without the backing of a label, making a sustainable is still tough. Touring can be exciting, but the overhead is high, sometimes outweighing the profits. Streaming services like Spotify are paying artists fractions of a penny per stream. And now, with the rise of A.I. being used in songwriting, there’s the potential for the role of writers and studio musicians to disappear, if unchecked.
Music will always be a vital part of life—people need it. However, making a career in music requires a tremendous amount of hard work, the ability to adapt, and a realistic understanding of what success means for you.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.rocksteadband.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rocksteadmusic
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rocksteadmusic
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/rockstead
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5UJ9QYdkoUK721OuZKP7YJ?si=qFjw4sjrQUWLLvwDx7-mmg
