Jackson Pines

History

Joe Makoviecki and James Black make up Jackson Pines, an indie folk duo hailing from Jackson, New Jersey. Before forming this project, the two played together in Thomas Wesley Stern. Their first full-length album, Purgatory Road, features ten original songs recorded in a barn in Palenville, New York, with Simone Felice at the helm.

A review from Speak Into My Good Eye described the record as a beautiful set of songs that showcases the duo's warm, natural sound, with Makoviecki's vocals paying homage to classic songwriters. The title track weaves together the story of a pregnant woman and a preacher who fears the end of the world; Makoviecki told The Aquarian Weekly that every song he writes is rooted in his own real-life experience. Billboard compared their Lost & Found EP to a blend of James Taylor and Tom Petty, highlighting a strong emphasis on acoustic guitar.

In 2019, they released the EP Gas Stations Blues & Diamond Rings. Bob Makin of New Jersey Stage praised the duo as one of New Jersey's finest purveyors of American roots music.

That same year, PBS featured them on State of the Arts, following the pair from Jackson to Asbury Park. During 2020, Jackson Pines contributed Half Light, a bedroom recording, to the Co-Mission Compilation, which raised funds for touring musicians left without work early in the pandemic. They also performed a live virtual set from Jackson, New Jersey, for the 59th Philadelphia Folk Festival.

Their second full-length album arrived in the summer of 2021, produced by Ro Karunaratne, who also played in the backing band alongside Santo Rizzolo. The album produced the singles Anna Lee, Cry All The Time, and Never Gonna Bury Me.

It premiered that September at the Sea Hear Now Festival, where the duo opened for Dr. Dog and Ani DiFranco on a main stage. In 2022, Jackson Pines embarked on the Close To Home tour and started exploring the Ridgway family repertoire and other folk songs, material that would eventually become Pine Barrens Volume One. That December, they brought in a new backing band featuring Cranston Dean, Max Carmichael, and James Herdman to record that album.