(PR) While most kids his age study for midterms, singer-songwriter Jer Coons studies pop. While most twenty-year-old guys attend shows to sneak drinks and hit on girls, Jer Coons watches from the back, observing the guitarist's pedal board and the singer's in-ear monitors (the girls then approach him - an old trick). While most young people pick the music they listen to because it is trendy, Jer Coons listens asking, "What makes this popular" and "Are my songs as memorable?" Despite his idiosyncrasies, from every tweet he posts to every lyric he writes, Jer Coons is instantly familiar and engaging.Two decades into life, it seems Jer's studies have finally paid off. The young Vermonter will release his debut CD Speak on September 29. From the graceful power chords of the title track that open the album to the closing, endearing ballad "The Only Trace," listener's can hear Jer's persona captured within each song. There are no "album tracks" or "filler tracks" as they all stand alone as well-executed pop songs, crafted with maturity well beyond Jer's years. His backing band of musicians - all Vermonters as well - keep the songs radio friendly without playing anything they can't recreate live; a feat that many bands spend their whole career trying to achieve.
Though Speak isn't out until fall, the world got a little taste of Jer Coons this June. His first slick and impossibly catchy single "Legs", was featured on the Hollister June in-store play list. While other artists have songs that find their way into a store, most don't get the same reaction. As the song played through out the day in over 6,000 stores, his MySpace plays skyrocketed to over 4,500 per day with "Legs" alone getting 3,000+. All this traffic has turned Jer into the 3rd most popular artist on MySpace from the Green Mountain State after Phish and Grace Potter. At the same time he sold over advance 4,000 singles across the month of June on iTunes. All this is without any other promotion.
"I've been waiting my whole life to make this album," Jer says with a grin. It truly shows. As his debut release, Speak really seems twenty years in the making. The melodies, the lyrics, the production and most of all, Jer's personality sync together perfectly to create a unique brand of Vermont pop.
