Jacob Groopman '00: Pursuing His Passion

    Those who knew the 2000 Collegiate graduate back in the day aren’t the least bit surprised.
    In fact, the surprise would have been if he’d chosen any other career path.
    “Music’s always had a strong impact on me and my life,” said Jacob, an accomplished guitarist who’s also quite adept on both the mandolin and banjo.  I’ve always been good at it.  It comes naturally.  It’s what I like to do. I never really wanted to do anything else.
    “Nothing brings me more joy than playing music in front of a lot of people with everybody interacting and having a good time.”
    From Collegiate, Groopman went to the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, studied jazz guitar, and graduated in 2004.
    Along the way, he was exposed to a variety of genres including rock ‘n’ roll, bluegrass, American folk, and jug band music.
    He played in several bands during his high school and college years, then, on a whim, moved to the San Francisco Bay Area.
    There, he toured with Albino! (an Afrobeat group) and The Real Nasty (country rock), and taught guitar and band at summer camps and at the Marin Country Day School
    As he played festivals and any other gigs he could land, his enjoyment for and commitment to his life’s work – actually his calling – intensified.
    In 2010 when he was preparing for a show in Arcadia, CA, he met Melody Walker, and his world changed forever.
    “Melody had an all-girl a cappella ensemble (AkaBella) that opened for a band I was co-managing,” Jacob said. “I wasn’t real happy about having them open for us and tried to nix it but failed. Luckily.
    “That’s how we met.  A mutual friend (Aaron Bortz) was playing bass for my band, and he introduced us.”
    Melody and Jacob have been together ever since.
    From Martinez, CA, near San Francisco, Melody also grew up with a passion for music and studied percussion and voice at Humboldt State University and in India and Brazil.
    Besides having a beautiful voice befitting her name, she’s an accomplished songwriter whose main influences were her father, Brian Walker, and her Northern California roots.
    “My dad is just a working class dude who happens to write songs,” she said. “Growing up in the Bay Area was great.  It’s very open-minded, pretty culturally diverse.  Martinez is a little bit country, a little bit city.  Good mix.”
    Touring as a duo and with the progressive bluegrass band Front Country, Melody and Jacob perform about 150 shows a year.
    This past fall, their travels brought them to Collegiate where they performed before the Middle School and visited Connie Tuttle’s music classes.
    The chemistry between them is obvious.
    Their musical strengths and personalities mesh beautifully.
    They easily communicate their joy and passion to their audiences, the larger, the better.
    It’s hard to imagine one without the other.
    As musicians and people, they clearly make each other better.
    This past October, they released their first album We Made It Home, which has already received noteworthy acclaim.
    “(Performing is) great,” Jacob said, “because you’re always collaborating with the audience. They give you a lot of energy.  
    “Playing in front of a big crowd, making everyone excited, and getting the kind of feeling you get from what I call ‘blowing up a big room’…that’s why I do it.  It’s the best feeling in the world.
    “I love making people happy. I love making a difference with songs and changing kids’ lives by teaching them music.”
    So where are they headed?
    “Melody and I are in it to win, as they say,” Jacob said.  “We’re getting a lot of strong response, so we’ll keep (playing music) either as a duo or in our bluegrass band and see where it takes us.
    “This feels really good.  We’re definitely having a ball.”
                            --  Weldon Bradshaw

(To learn more about Melody and Jacob, please check out www.melodywalkermusic.com)