Jeff Crosby is a critically acclaimed Northern Idaho-born, Nashville-based singer/songwriter, whose work generally bounces around the boundaries of folk, rock and Americana. Dropping out of school when he was 17 to purse a music career with a touring West Coast-based band, Crosby has spent a significant period of his life on the road — playing night after night, show after show, from load-in until the last drink is poured and the house lights are turned on.
Crosby’s material draws from the rare beauty found in his travels and the unconventional stories of the people and places he has encountered along the way, giving his work the feel of being like a page ripped out of an intimately personal diary of someone who has loved, lost and has relentlessly kept on the move. While his work has been compared by some to the work of legendary and beloved singer/songwriters like Bob Dylan, Townes Van Zandt and Steve Earle — and as a result, the Northern Idaho-born, Nashville-based singer/songwriter has shared stages with a diverse array of artists including Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real, Charley Crockett, Widespread Panic, American Aquarium, Niki Lane and a list of others.
For a five year period, Crosby resided in a small apartment off Los Angeles‘ Sunset Boulevard. Giving up coffee so that he could pay rent, Crosby played with The Homeless and the Dreamers — and while struggling get to get by, he found a way to thrive and make poignant music. Through a chance encounter, he met and befriended a music editor for the critically applauded TV series Sons of Anarchy and wound up with two of his songs being featured the show. During that same period, Crosby split his time touring with his band and later with Widespread Panic’s Jerry Joseph, which found Crosby traveling abroad to tour the UK, Iceland, Mexico, Colombia and Nicaragua. His experiences in each of those countries helped influence the material off his Gregg Williams and Geoff Piller co-produced album Postcards from Magdalena, an effort that received praise internationally
Crosby’s latest single , the Geoff Piller-produced”Laramie” is a carefully and deliberately crafted tune that sounds as though it draws from 70s AM rock, 80s Tom Petty and Americana as it’s centered around an arrangement of shimmering acoustic and electric guitars, a soaring hook and incredibly thoughtful, earnest songwriting that seemingly comes from lived-in personal experience. In the case of “Laramie,” the song’s narrator reminisces about an old and very fond memory of a relationship that quickly went wrong. Haunted by the ghosts of that relationship, the song finds its narrator questioning his role in what went wrong — and wondering if there was anything he could have done to prevent it. Certainly, if you’ve had a particularly bitter and heart-wrenching breakup at some point in your life, the song captures something both personal and universal.
Crosby is currently working on a full-length, which is slated for release in 2020. Be on the lookout for more.