ABOUT US
JACOB’S SAW BEGINS WITH JAMEY BAILEY AND HIS SON, KAINE-STORME
But before Jacob’s Saw there was a young boy… Jamey started his journey in the world of music at the age of 12. Studying under the genius of South African guitarist, Syd Kitchen, he would go on to form and lead numerous bands along the east coast, performing regularly and growing his talents as a guitarist and singer. By 1995, he was part of an innovative two-piece band called “Busman’s Holiday” with co-writer Marc Maund. They played the circuit from Johannesburg to Durban, captivating audiences with their passionate, spell-binding performances of original music. The pair recorded their one-and-only full-length album titled Desert Chapter in September 1997, a few weeks after the birth of Kaine-Storme. With a growing fan base and radio airplay, the duo’s future was looking bright. But tragedy would cast a dark shadow over such aspirations when band-mate, Marc Maund, ended his own life later that year.
FORTUNATELY, JAMEY WOULD NOT LET THE TRAGEDY CAUSE HIM TO BURY HIS TALENTS AND DREAMS.
He continued to perform and began to share his gift by becoming a teacher in the art of music. In 2003 he started his journey in worship and gospel music, joining the Grace Fellowship Church Band.
Jamey continued to play for Grace Fellowship until 2008, when on the 13th of September, the day before his 31st birthday, he was in a near-fatal motorcycle accident. His left arm suffered the most severe damage. Thankfully the country’s best surgeons were called in to do what they could, but their verdict was sobering. Though they would not have to amputate the arm as expected, Jamey would never be able play the guitar again.
Such adversity could still not extinguish his passion for music, and the guitar in particular. Not long after the life-changing accident, Jamey came up with the idea to convert his guitars into lapsteels (guitar placed on one’s lap and fretted with a metal bar). And so he did, taking to the lapsteel/slide guitar like a bird to the air, drawing inspiration from masters of the style such as Ry Cooder, Blind Willie Johnson and Mick Taylor. He now builds his own hand-made and one-of-a-kind lapsteel guitars that go hand in hand with his unique and authentic style of playing.
BY THIS TIME KAINE-STORME WAS 12 YEARS OLD AND HE WAS BECOMING MORE AND MORE DEDICATED TO PLAYING THE GUITAR.
Being surrounded by music all his life, he was bound to carry the flame. He was naturally inspired by his father and all the “guitar” music he grew up listening to, from rock and roll, blues, jazz, grunge, classical, and country music. With all these different styles of music ringing in his head through the years, and having a musical father, Kaine had all the right ingredients to develop his own unique way of playing the guitar.
Jamey nurtured Kaine’s talents to become his perfect musical counterpart. The two of them would spend countless hours creating music together, cultivating their artistic relationship, with no other reason beside the joy that came from it. In 2011 they played their first gig together.
COME ON INSIDE
IN 2014 JAMEY AND KAINE-STORME LEFT GAUTENG AND MOVED BACK TO THE EAST COAST WITH THE REST OF THEIR FAMILY, WHERE THEY WOULD BE MAKING THEIR MARK ON THE LOCAL MUSIC SCENE WITHIN WEEKS OF ARRIVING.
Their very first performance on the coast took place at the popular Rock Bottom Music Bistro, a performance that earned them an immediate entry into the line-up for the 2014 Annual Folk Music Festival. Soon after the festival the father and son duo became known collectively as “Jacob’s Saw”. Towards the end of that same year they were joined by acclaimed drummer Brian de Kock and the talented singer-guitarist Oscar Swanlund who would take up bass guitar for the band. As a 4-piece power house they were mesmerising audiences with Jamey’s signature growling vocals, overdriven Marshall amplifiers, grooving baselines, infectious drumbeats and bucket loads of passion. They were soon sought out to perform at South Africa’s biggest motorcycle festival, Harley-Davidson Bike Week (2015), alongside the country’s top musicians. At the festival they had received rave reviews, and were hailed as the “highlight of bike week” by local news outlets.
Shortly after the rush of festival-fever the band got together to record a live 6-track demo which they independently distributed at gigs.
In the winter of 2015 the band’s growing momentum was temporarily halted by a hiatus that would see Kaine-Storme leaving the coast for 6 months, as well as De Kock and Swanlund going their separate ways from Jacob’s Saw.
During this season of silence the miraculous occurred. Exactly seven years after Jamey’s accident, he picked up the guitar and was able to play in the conventional manner once again, tearing in half the verdict of the most qualified doctors and surgeons. A testament to the power of faith. No longer confined to the lap-steel, Jamey was struck by inspiration that would soon materialise.
AFTER COMING BACK HOME FROM THE SERENE FARMLANDS OF BETHLEHEM TO THE ENCHANTING HILLS OF THE SOUTH COAST IN THE APRIL OF 2016, KAINE-STORME HAD FOUND HIS VOICE AS A SINGER AND WAS READY TO HEED HIS FATHER’S CALL: TO RECORD A FULL LENGTH ALBUM.
The two started recording right-away in their basement studio, spending sleepless nights creating what would become their debut LP, Lay Low the Mountains. The self-produced album was released independently on the 9th of July 2016, featuring 13 songs written by Jamey and/or Kaine-Storme.
READY TO TOUR THE ALBUM, JACOB’S SAW WAS IN DESPERATE NEED OF A DRUMMER AND SO THE SKILLS OF MATOME PHALA WERE ADDED TO THE BAND’S DYNAMIC SOUNDSCAPE.
The tour took them from KwaZulu Natal to Gauteng and the Free State during the winter of 2016. New fans were quickly made beyond the barriers of their hometown, and even their country, as the album was reaching listeners across the nation’s borders, thanks to platforms like iTunes and Bandcamp.
Matome Phala would become a permanent member of the band until he left SA the following year to study music at Berklee.
In December 2017, Dezelan Appelsamy joined Jacob’s Saw as drummer and multi-instrumentalist taking the band’s sound to new levels with his groove-laden style and diverse musical background. After no more than two last-minute rehearsals, Dezelan was performing his first gig with the band for a New Year’s Eve show and soon joined them in the studio to work on their second full-length album due for release in 2019.
In the midst of producing their second album, Jacob’s Saw has been performing regularly throughout the year 2018, opening for leading South African act, Matthew Mole, at South Coast Bike Fest (formerly known as Harley-Davidson Bike Week) and earning themselves the first residency at one of SA’s finest music venues, Rocky Ridge. Their primary focus of the year has been pouring their soul and spirit into making the long awaited sophomore album, Ever Faithful.
THE BAND
JAMEY BAILEY
Vocals, Guitarist, Song writer
KAINE-STORME BAILEY
Vocals, Guitarist, Song writer
DEZELAN APPALSAMY
Drummer