Jesse Rubenfeld

JESSE RUBENFELD

Jesse Rubenfeld was still a student at the University of Pennsylvania in 2001 when a once in a lifetime opportunity came his way. Aspiring singer-songwriters everywhere would love the chance to take a master class from one of their musical heroes-in Rubenfeld's case, the legendary Billy Joel-but few possess the kind of courage the young singer and pianist summoned when he took the stage before Joel and 1,200 others and performed "A Friend In Bill" as a tribute to the Piano Man. Joel dug it, everyone stood and cheered and Rubenfeld thought to himself, "I could definitely do this every day and get used to it!"

A few short years later, the Houston bred, New York based artist is fulfilling the great potential of that moment, performing regular gigs with his band all over Manhattan, from legendary venues like The Bitter End to The Triad, Don Hill's and Rockwood Music Hall. Recently, many fans have been receiving a special gift with their cover charge: a copy of his new four song EP Let It Go, a powerful and emotionally honest, piano and retro keyboard (Rhodes, Hammond B-3) driven portrait of the emerging singer-songwriter as he continues working on his upcoming full length debut album, tentatively due in mid-2008.

Let It Go is currently available via outlets like iTunes, CD Baby and emusic, and will also be featured on Lime Wire's currently-in-development online music store. Rubenfeld's ultra cool "day job" for the past two years has been Chief Financial Officer for the file-sharing software giant. It's the perfect place to merge his musical passions-which began with an incredible 12 years of classical piano training-and his strong business acumen, while also putting his business degree to work. "It's a day job that plays well into my artistic interests ," he says, "but clearly I'm focused on being able to write, record and perform music full time."

While the Joel influence is prevalent throughout Let It Go, Rubenfeld draws inspiration from a multitude of legendary and contemporary singer-songwriters (from The Eagles to Maroon 5, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young to John Legend) in crafting infectious, lingering melodies and straight from the heart lyrical statements about romantic relationships and the pursuit of dreams. "Love is certainly a dominant theme in my songs, love and women and trying to figure things out on an emotional level," he says. "There are intimate moments in all of our personal relationships that tap into universal feelings that everyone shares, and those are the emotions I love to express.

"I actually write a lot more songs than I record and perform," adds Rubenfeld, who says his full length debut will have an exciting mix of styles, from slow and fast pop songs to a horn drenched swing tune "Somethin' Else." "When I finish writing the lyrics, if I feel I've missed the point, been dishonest or not said all I set out to say, I'll rewrite the words or put that song aside and focus on something that more directly hits it. In studying other songwriters, I have found that many stop short of being complete because what they have rhymes and sings well. But I always examine what I'm trying to capture and ask myself if the song truly reflects it."

The wistful piano and vocal title track directly reflects Rubenfeld's feelings about his craft and career, but could easily apply to a romantic relationship at a crossroads; it ponders the eternal question, are we in over our heads? Should we hang on and fight or give up and let things go? Fortunately for a musical world in need of originality and truthful songwriting, Rubenfeld sticks with it, confirming his powerful work ethic on the dynamic, uptempo pop tune "Nose To The Grindstone," which features the kind of lush, Eaglesque, CSNY type harmonies that will continue to pepper future recordings. Those harmonies also drive the chorus of "Elinor," a more acoustic based tune that typifies Rubenfeld's sweetly romantic side, complete with cello and mandolin touches. Finally, the passionate ballad "I Know" is about the frustration of dealing with a lover who's not communicating her true feelings and trying to overcome that emotional distance.

While Rubenfeld loves the thrill of communicating with his audience in the live setting, his ultimate goal is to write songs like his musical heroes do, ones that resonate on such a universal level that everyone in the world knows them. To that end, he is always seeking other quality songwriters and performers to collaborate with on pieces that will resemble his previous work but also help him grow as an artist on future projects.

"The most difficult part of being a songwriter is not that it requires a lot of self-exploration and intimacy with the subjects of the songs (which is certainly not easy), but that you must universalize that and render it unshakably sticky," he says. "But there's no greater feeling than overcoming creative obstacles and conveying everything I set out to say. Being a songwriter makes you a true voice of humanity, and that's a wonderful responsibility I try to live up to every day."