Jade Jackson gets personal on Jadine, her first new full-length album since departing from ANTI-Records. Filled with nostalgia and longing for home, the album’s songs reflect her deep affinity for her family, her hometown of Santa Margarita, and her rural upbringing. Growing up, her family didn’t have a TV or internet, but her parents had an extensive country music collection. Now in retrospect, what seemed at the time like an overly protective, cloistered childhood was idyllic.
On of my favorite tracks is “Wild Heart”: “I tripped and I fell running down memory lane/ It was dark and I could see in the window the dreams I let slip away/ I want to be a kid again, being swung in my daddy’s arms/ nothing under my skin but the blood of a wild heart.”
“I miss home. I miss a lot,” Jackson said during a recent call from her current home, Nashville. “I think about [moving back home] every day. They say [Nashville is] a 10-year town. I’ve been here for five years, so we’re just trying to make sure that we don’t leave any stones unturned out here, because once I come back home, I’m not going to go back to Nashville except for work. So, we’re just wringing out the towel.”
Jackson has enjoyed commercial and critical success. Her two albums on Social D frontman Mike Ness’ ANTI-Records—Gilded (2017) and Wilderness (2019)—were well received. In 2017, Rolling Stone put her on its list of “10 New Country Artists You Need to Know.” In 2021, she and Aubrie Sellers released a final ANTI- recording, but Jackson couldn’t escape the pandemic’s dirty tricks. Still, maybe going indie was what she needed.
Jadine, which is Jackson’s given name, is a wholly independent release, so it was recorded free of label pressure or time constraints.
“I’m really proud of it,” she said. “It was such a different process from other records I’ve made. They’ll give you a budget, and then they’ll throw you in the studio for two weeks and you’re supposed to complete everything in two weeks. It’s chaotic and you have to move quicker than what was ever comfortable for me.”
This time, she and her new husband, singer-songwriter Josh Wolfe, took their time. This new relationship also shifted the direction of her songwriting.
“I’m in a relationship now, so my songs are not about getting my heart broken anymore, and so that was a shift,” she noted. “I’ve just been sitting in different inspirations. I’ve had the time and space to mentally pull up a lot of feelings about the other parts of me, so this record is really personal, and it’s so special in so many ways. I got to coproduce it with my husband and just really take my time on it.”
Another favorite song is “Me & My Sister” that paints a picture of both Jackson’s rural roots and the close relationship she shares with her sister: “Smashing pennies on the tracks, selling them for 25 cents/ Must have gave momma a heart attack that we hopped over every fence/ Climbed every tree in the neighborhood/ Neighbors knew we were up to no good me and my sister.”
“I’ll say everything in that song is 100 percent true, except I actually sold smashed pennies on the school bus in middle school for 50 cents, not 25, but it didn’t sound as good in the song, so I changed it,” Jackson laughed.
Later she sings, “Just outside of town was a little pond to take us fishin’/ it has signs of lines through a picture of someone swimming/ but on days of a 110/ Nobody’s gonna tell us we can’t jump in me and my sister.”
“I’m like, who’s gonna call me out for this?” Jackson said. “But we really did all of it.”
“Yours to Grow” is a deeply sweet and personal song about her mother: “Momma, if I could turn time, I’d hold your hand more, help with the dishes/ Momma, if I could rewind, I wouldn’t talk back, no, I’d try to listen/ My memories are made of losing your jewelry and stealing your makeup/ And I want you to know I’m so thankful I was yours to grow.”
With the blessings of his estate, Jackson even reinterprets Merle Haggard’s classic “Momma Tried” into “Papa Tried” from a daughter’s perspective. Jackson opened for Haggard at a Pozo Saloon show years ago. This is simply a great record.
Jade Jackson plays an album release party for Jadine at The Rock SLO on Saturday, Oct. 17 (doors at 7 p.m.; all ages; $31.71 at my805tix.com). She’s bringing a full band with her and a few local surprises.
“Why am I going home to do my release show here, not Nashville? People have been asking me and, well, it’s because there’s the community that brought me up and breathed belief into this whole thing for me. So, I thought, how can I bake that into this show?” she said.
Instead of getting a single opening act, Jackson decided to enlist four performers to each play two songs, sort of like the classic Nashville songwriter showcases.
“It’s a really cool opportunity to see the talent that’s just hidden away on the Central Coast,” Jackson said. “I’m having this amazing girl, Ava Jane, who’s a younger local girl in her early 20s that I’ve been mentoring, and she’s been writing songs and she’s beautiful and just really good. Then I’m having Nate Sheetz play. He’s a marketing manager for 805 who just started his musical career and he’s really freaking good. Then I have Nate Zak, who was in a band called Cat Dad that did really well, but now he’s just doing his own stuff—a great singer-songwriter. And I asked my friend Sasha Carlson because I feel like everyone knows who Sasha is, and it might be good to have a local celeb in there.”
Sounds like an amazing night of homegrown talent.
Also this week at The Rock, SLO Brew Live presents Boston-based Juice on Thursday, Oct. 15 (doors at 7 p.m.; all ages; $27.21 at ticketweb.com). The septet “distills rock, R&B, and hip-hop into a signature sound with a distinct kick of electric violin, rich harmonies, honest lyrics, and festival-worthy choruses,” their bio explains.
Country tripleheader and classic rock
Good Medicine and Numbskull presents Hudson Westerbrook on his Hits Me Tour at Vina Robles Amphitheatre on Saturday, Oct. 10 (doors at 6:30, show at 8 p.m.; all ages; $84.90 to $103.25 at ticketmaster.com). This on-the-rise star from Stephenville, Texas, “was baptized by Red Dirt and raised on George Strait, Turnpike Troubadours, Parker McCollum, Koe Wetzel, and Tracy Lawrence,” his bio explained. According to Todd Newman from Good Medicine, this one’s close to selling out, and it also includes opening acts Kenny Whitmire and Ethan Burdick.
From Nederlander Concerts at Vina, see Pink Floyd tribute band Brit Floyd on its The Moon, The Wall, and Beyond tour on Thursday, Oct. 15 (doors at 6, show at 7:30 p.m.; all ages; $61.05 to $177 at ticketmaster.com). They celebrate Pink Floyd’s signature songs with precision, playing a “night of iconic songs, dazzling lights, immersive visuals, and world-class musicianship,” their bio notes.
Three from Good Vibez at the Fremont
Live music in downtown SLO starts with Ashley Cooke on her Baby Blues Tour on Friday, Oct. 9 (doors at 7, show at 8 p.m.; all ages; $36.02 at prekindle.com). The country singer-songwriter has an amazingly expressive and versatile voice. Think Kasey Musgraves. Super good! She’s touring in support of her self-titled sophomore record.
Organizers announced that “$1 of every ticket sold on The Baby Blues Tour will go toward the Ashley Cooke Fund to benefit The Onsite Foundation’s Creatives Support Network, which provides free mental-health support, education, and resources specifically designed for members of the songwriting community.” Just Jayne opens.
Australian indie rockers Last Dinosaurs are up next on Saturday, Oct. 10 (doors at 7, show at 8 p.m.; all ages; $30.87 at prekindle.com). Brothers Lachlan and Sean Caskey, with Michael Sloane, have played sold-out headlining shows and festivals across the U.S., U.K., Europe, Southeast Asia, South Africa, and Australia.
Finally, if you move fast on the tickets, you might still see The Wallflowers on their Bringing Down the Horse 30th anniversary tour on Sunday, Oct. 11 (doors at 7, show at 8 p.m.; all ages; $60.74 to $73.10 at prekindle.com). This one’s nearly sold-out, and their current tour marks three decades since the release of their four-time platinum-selling sophomore album Bring Down the Horse that peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 and yielded four hit singles and two Grammy nominations. Aaron Lee Tasjan opens.
Four on the dance floor
The Siren’s got a full slate of shows this week. Rastan plays on Friday, Oct. 9 (7:30 p.m.; 21-and-older; $18.47 at tixr.com). Born to Jamaican parents in Oakland and influenced by his father, Tito Caleto, Rastan began recording at 5 years old, singing background vocals for his father. By age 15, he’d opened for heavyweights including Burning Spear, Damian Marley, Gregory Isaacs, and Beenie Man. True Zion and Looking East open.
Local reggae band Baywood Famous plays on Saturday, Oct. 10 (2 to 5 p.m.; 21-and-older; free). The high-energy roots reggae rock quintet is fronted by songwriter Shawn Ellis.
Rapper Mickey Avalon has had a rough life marred by addiction and death, but he’s always bounced back, and his songs reflect it all. See him on his 20th Anniversary Tour on Saturday, Oct. 10 (8 p.m.; 21-and-older; $29.59 at tixr.com).
See rustic singer-songwriter Willie Tea Taylor on Thursday, Oct. 15 (7:30 p.m.; 21-and-older; $11.62 at tixr.com). He calls John Hartford, Roscoe Holcomb, Bob Dylan, KISS, Weird Al Yankovic, and Willie Nelson his biggest influences. The Alex Lucero Band opens.
World music
Musician and ethnomusicologist Alejandro Graciano performs a solo show at Linnaea’s Cafe on Friday, Oct. 9 (6 to 8 p.m.; all ages; free), playing Afro-Mexican, Latin, blues, rock, and world music.
“I grew up here and attended high school in San Luis Obispo. After being away for 20 years, I’ve come back to reconnect with the community and contribute to the local music scene,” he said. “I come from Mexico’s Costa Chica region of Guerrero, a part of Mexico with a deep Afro-Mexican history and musical culture. Growing up, I was surrounded by cumbia, boleros, corridos, and other Mexican and Latin American traditions, while also developing a strong connection to blues, rock, reggae, and African music.
“My approach to music has always been about finding the connections between cultures,” he continued. “I’m particularly interested in how rhythms, melodies, and musical traditions travel across borders and generations and how African, Indigenous, Mexican, Caribbean, and American musical traditions can meet in one musical language.”
You can follow him on Instagram @alejandro_graciano_music. ∆
Contact Arts Editor Glen Starkey at gstarkey@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Oct 8-15, 2026.
