“Wait, they don’t love you like Baby Jake loves you.”

Those were the words written across their T-shirts as the band made its way to the stage.

With support from Peech and Will Swinton, BabyJake (Jake Herring) brought “Beautiful Blue Collar Boy” to The Urban Lounge on Nov. 3. This performance was his second time in Salt Lake City, first playing a minimalist rooftop show atop Sky SLC. One year later, he’s hitting larger crowds.

Before the music started, he mentioned he had lost his voice from a previous show just the night before. Throughout the set, the audience praised him as he apologized for his lack of vocal ability. Whatever was lacking was made up for in stage presence and performance from the band.

“You guys know this song right? Are you sure?”

Being a part of the industry for five years, he gained popularity through TikTok fame of “Cigarettes on Patios” and “Head In The Clouds.” However, the new direction he’s taken is what’s become the pull factor for audiences.

His sixth studio album, “Beautiful Blue Collar Boy” is unlike any other. Straying away from his previous pop sound, Jake is moving towards an experimentation of ’90s alternative rock.

“I never studied music, I’ve only ever learned everything by just doing it,” Jake said. “I think it allowed me the opportunity to experiment and that’s just stuck with me. And now the only thing I know is I want to stay in the alternative, indie world.”

The change for him almost came naturally. Having grown up around music and with parents who are involved in music as well, Jake experienced a high volume of musical backgrounds. When listening through each track, there is an obvious tone of classic and new age rock but his inspirations come from many backgrounds including bands Wilco, Gorillaz, Blur, Bob Marley & The Wailers, IDLES and many more.

“Jump, jump, jump”

“When I started playing music live, it started allowing me to realize what I wanted it to sound like live. And I think that’s what steered me away from a lot of the more pop stuff towards the alternative lands because of just the structure of playing live,” Jake said.

His performance on stage instantly brings the room to life. Being a smaller venue, Urban Lounge allowed for the crowd to be closer to the band, adding to the intimate wow factor. He mentioned that he loves touring and bringing music to people unfamiliar with the music his band produces.

“As long as we can keep growing, like, it’s crazy. You go from a market like yesterday, where there’s 400 people, to here, where I haven’t played that much, and it’s like 80,” he said. 

This tour was the first of its kind where Jake played in cities that don’t have similar selling points as the big cities like New York or Chicago. Destinations have included Spokane, Washington and Billings, Montana which are themselves smaller musical outlets. He said that all he wanted to do with this album was to share it with new audiences and create new relationships with listeners. One of the things Jake mentioned that has allowed him to reach this new status has been through the help of his label at ALTER Music.

“All I wanted was for somebody to care about the album, and real big props to ALTER for caring as much as I do, if not more so. And that says a lot. It’s not often that you get the opportunity,” he said.

The final destination for the tour will be Nov. 16 in his hometown of Nashville, Tennessee. Following this will come a deluxe album, followed by a full acoustic project.

“I’ve felt like I’ve found a good home, and now it’s my responsibility to work on building that.”

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@laneypauline_