After nearly five years of writing and playing music in Athens, Jake Householder needed a break.
I felt really burnt out
he said. You can only play at the same places and the same songs so many times.
But after getting married and moving to Columbus upon graduating from Ohio University in 2007 with a bachelor's degree in audio production, Householder decided that writing and performing music was still his passion.
Leaving Athens and then coming back was a really good experience and it allowed me to dive back into songwriting he said.
Householder, a native of Athens County, got his start performing and working on his songs in 2002 with Bruce Dalzell, who for the past 25 years has been hosting open stages and songwriting workshops around town.
After learning the local scene, Householder set a goal of playing as much as possible, which he found to be both enjoyable and taxing.
I figured out that at the time
there was an open stage at a different place every night of the week
he said. It was great
but it was so demanding that I never made a full week.
Householder admits that while he has continued to grow as a songwriter, his stance on writing and his connection to his work are also changing.
There are certain songs that I wrote two years ago that I have no connection to
and others that no matter how much time passes I will always love
he said.
After taking some time away from the stage, Householder joined local band Kaslo in 2008 and has been playing bass ever since. He said the group atmosphere of the band rekindled his interest in performing.
When I was playing solo
there was a lot of social pressure of being alone on stage with everyone looking at you
he said. With Kaslo
it's all about the collection of musicians
