The term working class hero has long been used to define those who give up their dreams for the stability of a nine-to-five job. The social and economic upheaval of the past generation however has flipped the script. The true heroes of the working class are the ones who walk away in the pursuit of something better. If we accept this new definition, then Jesse Brewster is the new breed of working class hero. Not that he’d ever admit it, of course.

The San Francisco singer/songwriter spent the first decade of his childhood with his mom living in ten different naturalist households between Humboldt County, CA and Hawaii. Naturalist means, among other things, he didn’t have a phone or electricity until he was ten years old. In spite (or possibly because) of this, music was always a part of Jesse’s life. Life changed and stabilized for Jesse in middle school when he moved in with his dad in Berkeley, and modern amenities and modern music flooded his life. The records Jesse’s mom played were formative: The Eagles, Willie Nelson, Bob Marley, Neil Young, Bonnie Raitt, The Beatles and The Stones. His formation continued with Guns N’ Roses and the hubris of the Beastie Boys, as his rural and classic rock roots blended urban/contemporary styles and began to stew into something new.