Jump, Little Children is a band that consists of 5 guys from North Carolina. They formed at the North Carolina School of Arts in the early 1990's. They started out playing mainly Irish folk stuff, but soon started writing their own more impressive music. With a surprisingly
diverse fan-base, and music which is often referred to as "acoustic-funk pop", it's pretty hard to peg these guys down. They've also been called
alternative/rock, along with
punk-pop, and grouped in with artists like
Ash,
Kenickie, and
Radiohead.
Jay Clifford is the
lead vocalist, composes the majority of the
lyrics, and plays
guitar as well.
Ward Williams is one of the main reasons this group can put out such sweet,
sorrowful stuff. He has a Bachelors' of Music Degree in Cello Performance, and it's painfully obvious. Beautiful, amazing instrument.
Jonathan Gray, well, he plays
upright bass, and was a later addition to the group, one they made after travelling to
Ireland for a year or two.
Evan Harper Bivins, mad leet drummer, composer of
insanely beautiful rhythm.
Matthew MacNab Bivins, responsible for the brilliantly sweet
mandolin,
harmonica, and
accordion.
The name of the group,
Jump, Little Children. They picked this up from a song by
Sonny Terry and
Brownie McGhee, and it seems to have stuck with them. I think there was some
confusion early on, when people thought of it as "
Jump Little Children", they in no way condone
"jumping" little children.
I'm not completely sure what they've even
officially come out with, other then their "
Licorice Tea Demos", and "
Buzz". They also have one album out on
Atlantic Records, that is, "
Magazine". They only signed on with Atlantic in the late 90's, before that they were just
independent artists. Their most recognized song,
Cathedrals, has this amazingly
haunting sound, every note is so
achingly beautiful.. there is some nice
cello in there, as well.
Close your eyes is another beautiful song that I absolutely adore, it's off of
Magazine.
The really great thing about these guys is that they have managed to build a huge fan base most entirely by word of mouth. Their live show is impressive to say the least, they are a good example of where pure talent and determination can get you.