Bakersfield-raised singer-songwriter Junior Mesa releases his debut EP Peace today on Nice Life Recording Company. Listen/Share here.
On the significance of the project title, Junior states that “Peace is something I dream of. It’s something I wish for.” Junior has also chosen to share a poem by his sister, Selena Francis, which conveys a message similar to the themes expressed throughout the EP:
I can only tell stories about peace / It’s been so long I forgot how to make a home inside the tender beast that is tranquility / I can only paint the image of my mind at ease / As though my thoughts are the sun and they burn and shine under pressure / That my mind gets to rest every evening and set easily on scathing eyes… / Blushing hues of lilac and pearly white / And when the worries escape my DNA as if I am what they made / I get to be cool like the moon caressed by midnight / Wishing on stars, to make my shine strong / Strong enough to lighten the dark / Soft enough to gently kiss the skin / Enough to leave a glow / And no longer burn the cold.
The EP features singles “All Or Nothin” (video directed by Ian Galdy and Junior Mesa) and “3 AM” (video produced and directed by Dylan Calder Stein).
Junior Mesa will be supporting Michael Seyer in San Diego on Nov. 7 at the Voodoo Room at the House of Blues. He supported Victor Internet in San Francisco at Cafe Du Nord and Los Angeles at The Paramount. He also recently opened for The Marías at DJ Jose Galván’s Chido Chevere Cool’s event celebrating Cosmica Artists’ 15 Year Anniversary.
Junior Mesa channels a timeless sound by way of modern means. Rather than comb stacks of record stores, the 20-year-old Bakersfield, CA singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist culls influence from a YouTube search history spanning everyone from Wes Montgomery and Ella Fitzgerald to Jimi Hendrix and Sly & The Family Stone.
Under this digitized classic spell, he not only sings with shuddering soul, but he also plays guitar, drums, piano, and bass with understated and instinctive virtuosity.
“It’s crazy, because the internet introduced me to all of this old school music,” he explains. “There’s a slower pace that my generation sort of needs, because our lives are so fast and frantic. For me, music is peace. It’s what I want to share.”