Jaelon ★

Is Setting His Own Tone

PADUCAH-BASED RECORDING AND PERFORMING ARTIST JAELON HARRIS CONSIDERS himself a musical non-conformist. “A lot of my music is autobiographical but I like to say that I’m a genre-less artist because I dabble in house music, there’s some R & B, there’s some experimental ambient tracks. The music I create is all feeling. I find it hard to box myself into a genre because I do so much and I’m influenced by so much.”

Watching Jaelon’s soulful live performances, and listening to his emotionally recorded albums, you quickly discover that he is in a class of his own. His natural talent, deep spiritual connections, and passion for the arts bring a different level of vitality to his music.

Music has always been a part of me.

From a young age, Jaelon knew he would pursue music as a profession. He recalls the genesis of his stage performing: a third-grade production called Music & Me at Morgan Elementary where he played a character that’s into hip hop and soul. This experience along with the tutelage of his music teacher, Kim Davidson, helped spark an idea in Jaelon that someday music could be a career. His confidence kept growing as he took part in many other productions at church, school and the Market House Theatre.

Family has also been a big influence. Jaelon credits his mom, who encouraged him to make noise as a kid and provided him with space to grow. “Even today, she’s so selfless with the way she gives me the autonomy to move around and be free to be an artist.”

Jaelon credits two major pop icons when it comes to inspiration: Prince and Michael Jackson. “Prince for me is like hey I’m weird, I’m wacky, I’m eccentric, but I’m still raw and transparent. Michael Jackson to me is like show business, all the lights and glamour and the spectacle of putting a show together. It’s a kind of a cool dynamic I think, because a lot of times people come to my shows and say they can see the Michael influence or they can hear the Prince influence, but it’s still a Jaelon Harris show.”

Learning how Prince produced his first album by himself inspired Jaelon to work towards the same. While his own debut album, an EP called Forward (released in 2022) was more of a group project with an engineer and band members, Jaelon’s second album Safe & Sound (released in late 2022) was composed, produced, and arranged on his own, recording the majority of the tracks by himself. Two songs, “Sparrow” and “Carry Me Thu,” were recorded at Loud & Clear Studio in Paducah, with additional mixing & mastering by Shelby Preklas.

Of the nine tracks on Safe & Sound, some carry more meaning to Jaelon. Earlier this year, he released his first music video for the song “Carry Me Thru.” From the other songs on the album, Jaelon says he picked “Carry Me Thru” for a video because, “I just knew it was going to be [a song] where I could artistically expresses family and community, which is why there are so many different people in the music video. I wanted it to be a song that people can listen to and know that as you go through life, it’s not always as bad as it seems. It’s like an affirmation. I wanted people to know that [in this song] I’m talking to God but I’m also talking to my friend. Whatever you need, I’ll be here for you and you’ll be here for me. And in the video, I wanted to express raw love, like a documentary, freeform, with people smiling and hugging and dancing. This is a freedom song, to help set you free.”

“Grandma’s Prayer” pays homage to his late- great grandmother. An audio recording of her praying before a Thanksgiving dinner, Jaelon included this track because it reminds him of the moment she gave her blessing for his pursuit of music professionally. “She always told me to have a Plan B. I’ve never had a Plan B. And at some point she said, you know what Jae, just go for it. Do it. And that really just set me free.”

In May Jaelon released an acoustic video series marking the one-year anniversary of Forward, featuring original songs that were scrapped from his debut album. Now he’s working on a funky acoustic single called “Colors,” which he describes as “a crowd pleaser that feels like 1980s Michael Jackson and modern-day Harry Styles.” Plans are in the works for a video featuring this song too. Also coming soon is another EP called Twilight. While his first two projects were more autobiographical and deeply emotional, he describes this album as fictional, fun, and full of songs about escapism.

Setting the stage for the future.

Jaelon’s live shows are as original and vibrant as his albums. His performance for this year’s Festiversary at Paducah Beer Werks was split into three acts with three outfit changes and an impromptu church-like service at the end where Jaelon invited people to come to the stage to release whatever they’re going through and to get a hug. He says during vulnerable and spontaneous times like this when he goes off-book in a live performance he just listens to God and trusts the moment because he knows he’ll never get that moment back. “As an artist I think it’s important to be aware spiritually, emotionally, physically, mentally because the more I grow in art, I realize it’s not for me. My gift is not for me. It works for me and I do enjoy being who I am but it’s a selfless thing. I have to first consider my own vulnerability and transparency because it allows other people to be free.”

When it comes to his creative expression Jaelon appreciates the Paducah music scene for providing him the ability to flourish and really just be himself. “Whether it’s today and I’m in all black,” he says, “or tomorrow and I’m in all sequins, people are like, well that’s Jaelon.”