Music, Expression & Desperation: The Jeremy Gross Interview
Live music has become an integral part of the bar, brewery, and distillery scene in Central PA. So much so that local venues seek out musicians who can draw a crowd and speak to their real emotions. Jeremy Gross is one such songwriter. Jeremy can perform at the Dead Canary in Phillipsburg to a captivated audience. He can work out the nuances of writing lyrics from his living room. Regardless, Jeremy wants to make music that helps people process their feelings. With an acoustic and a voice built for Broadway, he gives us a glimpse into his process in his performance of "I Remain" for Eighty Unplugged.
Stories Untold
The Woodland, PA native is a favorite of the local singer-songwriter culture. He grew up loving music and started writing songs in high school while teaching himself guitar. He's experienced a lot, and that experience informs his process. 12 years in the Army took him to both Iraq and Afghanistan. He's been married three times. But through all the time, he'd been songwriting on and off for 27 years. Jeremy doesn't describe himself as a generally happy person, but he believes in holding on to the positive things. People inspire him, refuel him when he feels empty. It's that connection that keeps him writing and bringing energy to live shows. Paradoxically, his personal experiences are what make his listeners feel validated.
Clinging Desperately
He records under the name "Desperate Sounds," a moniker that was originally meant for a band. That's what Jeremy believes his songs are, what he's doing as an artist. It's this desperation that connects the listener to the artist he is. Being the one to write those songs is a burden he's willing to bear. But Jeremy's music is just as much for him as everyone else. He's written songs so personal he's never performed them. It's the desire to express himself combined with his feeling of responsibility to his listeners that keeps him writing.
In These Hands
Jeremy Gross is an artist best enjoyed live. Nicknamed "The Voice," his singing is only outdone by the power of his acoustic electric guitar. The music he's most proud of he's written more recently. He feels the music scene in Central PA doesn't address some of the desperate emotions and experiences of life. His lyrical choices have created a style of acknowledgement, in a sense. The musicians who inspire him like Cory Branan, Chuck Ragan, and Tony Sly project the same eloquent and melodic grittiness.
“I Remain”
Digging into the grit and holding on is the foundation of the song "I Remain." Life takes you where it takes you, and it often takes from you. Jeremy believes in holding on to the parts of you that are left. These parts, the positive things and what they mean to you, have the power to keep you where you are. It's often the sentiment of the world that a person is only whole when they've achieved a so-called "future version" of themselves. Sometimes, staying where you are in spite of the things that get taken away is an achievement in itself. "I Remain" is not a passive state. It is an active stance when life is difficult.
-
Written by Jeremy Gross
I used to have dreams
'cause I was told I could achieve anything.
But I've learned
That life's a collection of times you get burned
And I won't
Watch all I've built go in ashes and smoke
While I stay
Stuck where I am here until I decay
So I'm clinging desperately to what I've got
Through pain and the sorrow, the heartache and loss
While I still have breath and blood in my veins
I remain....
I remain
I can't accept
That what little I have is all I can expect
'cause I gave
So much of myself now so freely away
Just to find
So little to replace what I left behind
While I fade
Into obscurity further each day
So I'm clinging desperately to what I've got
Through pain and the sorrow, the heartache and loss
While I still have breath and blood in my veins
I remain....
I remain
I remain steadfast and I remain sure of the ground that I've chosen to stand
And I'm holding on to what little I've got
Till I've got no more strength in these hands
In these hands...
In my hands
I can't move on
'cause the things I would leave don't deserve to be gone
And I hold
The weight weight on my shoulders of stories untold
And I bear
The words of the ones who thought no one could care
If I fall
Then what was any of this worth after all?
So I'm clinging desperately to what I've gotThrough pain and the sorrow, the heartache and loss
While I still have breath and blood in my veins
I remain....
I remain...
I remain
Follow Jeremy!
Support Desperate Sounds by following her on these platforms!
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/desperatesounds/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DesperateSounds
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/29WL4JgDq2IV7UTbH0BnL4?si=h_PiOWXJSp2N_Tz0ps3TUQ
Sound Cloud: https://soundcloud.app.goo.gl/Ros5T
Stay plugged in to Eighty Unplugged by subscribing to the podcast and following on all socials. I want to give a big thank you to Jeremy Gross and all the fans for making this episode possible.