Jacob Jolliff

Jacob Jolliff has been playing the mandolin since he was seven years old. Growing up in a musical family, he got his start taking lessons from his dad, Bill, a well-known Oregon banjo player. By the time Jacob turned 11, the two were gigging heavily together, and their band was a mainstay at bluegrass festivals around the Northwest. By then, he was gaining most of his instruction from master lessons with some of the best players in the business, including David Grisman and Chris Thile. At age sixteen, after hundreds of gigs and four full-length recorded projects, Jake decided to take a break from working with his dad to explore performing in a variety of other contexts. He played consistently in a swing group with violin prodigy Alex Hargreaves, worked in several folk and pop duos, and has recently been playing with the rock band Mutual Kumquat—always on the mandolin. Over the years he has also had the opportunity to perform with many other major artists. He has sat in with the David Grisman Quintet on numerous occasions starting when he was 15. When he was sixteen he performed on CBS during the network Christmas Eve Special. In 2007 he traveled to Lunel, France with a group of young musicians led my Mike Marshall to perform at a mandolin festival. Some of the other artists Jacob has performed with include Ronnie McCoury, Chris Thile, Ricky Skaggs, Joe Craven, Bryan Bowers, and Tim O’Brien. He has also played sessions for 12 recording projects and been featured on multiple national radio and television programs. Currently he is studying at the Berklee College of Music in Boston.