About
Jack Van Cleaf was still an independent artist when “Rattlesnake” became a viral hit in 2023, earning praise from songwriters like Noah Kahan (who hand-picked Jack as the opening act on his sold-out Stick Season Tour) and Zach Bryan (who began covering thesong online). For Jack, it felt like a pivotal moment in…
Jack Van Cleaf was still an independent artist when “Rattlesnake” became a viral hit in 2023, earning praise from songwriters like Noah Kahan (who hand-picked Jack as the opening act on his sold-out Stick Season Tour) and Zach Bryan (who began covering thesong online). For Jack, it felt like a pivotal moment in a career that had been building since his teenage years.
Jack Van Cleaf now makes his Dualtone Records debut with the sophomore release JVC, an album that does more than plant its flag halfway between the worlds of indie rock and Gen Z folk. It also asks big questions about home and identity. Years after penning his first song as a high school freshman in San Diego, he headed east to Nashville, where he studied songwriting at Belmont University and released his debut album, Fruit from the Trees, after graduation. “I met many of my closest friends during my very first week at Belmont,” says Jack about his formative years in Music City. “All talented artists in their own right, they went on to help me make my first record everything that it is, and have remained my most trusted collaborators to this day.” “Rattlesnake,” with its introspective lyrics and a tmospheric acoustics, earned him a spot on Spotify’s 2024 Best New Artist list with tastemaker playlist “juniper”.
With JVC, Jack Van Cleaf turns personal experience into something universal: a soundtrack to the year s we all spend in existential free-fall, trying to find a new sense of gravity after the rules and regulations of youth have faded into the past.
