THE STORY
"Jess Novak: CNY's blues rock wonder woman."
- TheNewsHouse
"It takes a powerful songwriter to create something that makes you both love them and damn them for making you feel feelings you didn’t feel like feeling...
(Novak) accomplishes that hefty feat."
- The Fuze Magazine
"The woman on the cover of this album is a fighter...
Standing Now is about resilience.
...The Jess Novak Band is a beast and Standing Now is an EP that will have you hungry for more.
Six songs just isn’t enough when it’s this good.
Resilience, empowerment, these are the characteristics of one who might be referred to as formidable.
Do NOT underestimate Jess Novak.
Because she’ll knock you down."
– John Tierney
Jess Novak is a triple threat singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist who takes no prisoners. With an electric fiddle on fire, powerful vocals and captivating songs, Novak is a force in any formation: solo, duo or band. Having touched audiences across the country – from Burlington, VT to Key West, FL to San Diego, CA – Novak plays more than 200 shows every year and has released eleven original albums, and a book, to date.
Jess Novak (electric violin, guitar, vocals, piano, percussion, looping) works with Byron Cage (Tommy Castro, Joe Louis Walker, Vanessa Collier) on drums; Anthony Saturno (Atkins Riot, The Dirty Doves) on electric guitar; Jay Fabbri (Professional Victims) on bass; and Gavin George (No Blush, BSG) and Marcus Oliver (Rising Ghosts) on drums.
"Jess is the kind of singer who knows how to put herself in any situation wonderfully by fitting her voice into any kind of rhythm without any fear of making mistakes - because here we are talking about a true diva who has the wisdom of how to impose herself, with all class and style, and leave a very strong signature on her compositions."
- Roadie Music
Novak has played such prestigious rooms as The Cutting Room (NYC), The Saint (Asbury Park) and Nectar's (Burlington, VT). She opened the 23rd Annual Chenango Blues Festival (with headliner, Ronnie Earl) and has performed with groups and artists including Devon Allman, Tas Cru, Jimmy Hall, Ghost Town Blues Band and members of Butch Trucks and the Freight Train Band. Novak has opened for acts including Melanie, Danielle Ponder and Grace Potter.
Discography:
Bad Habit, December 2013
The Golden Novak Band, August 2014
Rodeo, October 2015
Inches from the Sun, November 2016 (Syracuse Area Music Award Winner for Best Pop in March 2017)
Jess Novak Band Live at the Nelson Odeon, June 2017
Fireworks & Fairytales, November 2017
Fear is the Cage. Love is the Key., December 2018 (double-album)
Rise, November 2019 (recorded in Nashville, TN featuring guitarist, Jeff King and producer, Bill Warner)
Standing Now, September 2020 (Syracuse Area Music Award Winner for Best Pop in March 2021)
A Thousand Lives, November 2021
Bad Bitch, August 2022
Novak was nominated for Best Female Vocalist in the Best of Syracuse competition four times and won the award in 2018. The Jess Novak Band was named Artist of the Year by Radio Crystal Blue in 2017. Novak placed third in the 2016 Country Showdown sponsored by WOLF 92.1FM and her song "After All" was a runner-up in the 36th Mid-Atlantic Song Contest hosted by the Songwriters' Association of Washington in 2020. She created and presented the F.I.R.E. Festival (females inspire, rock, empower) for the first time in October 2022 as a way to spotlight female artists, musicians and business owners.
Novak was the cover girl for Syracuse Woman Magazine in September 2016. See it all here.
Novak won the Indigo Productions Songwriter Series in Syracuse for her song "Rat a Tat" in July 2018.
Check out Fret Zealot to learn songs from Novak and JNB.
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"Written and performed with the grace and skill of a seasoned veteran, Bad Habit is one you’ll want to get into."
"There are those rare moments in music when the dynamics of sight and sound converge into a near-perfect storm. Then it rains down talent and a connection of musical and personal chemistry create something that is irresistible....Their music is a blissful shot of Americana blues-based soul music with...Novak writing material that is reminiscent of the kind of creativity and inspiration that came out of Stax or Muscle Shoals in their prime.…In the earlier days of American music, one of the major labels would have signed this band up for a lucrative deal faster than you could say Zephyr, Fairport Convention and Pentangle."
- Terry Roland, No Depression
For more words from the press, click here.
All albums are available on iTunes, Spotify, Amazon and more.
Jess Novak is an ASCAP artist and represents Fishman and Zeta Violins.
Anthony Saturno is part of the PRS Guitars Pulse Artist Program.
GALLERY
