Jump, Little Children is an American

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

band that formed in 1991 in

Winston-Salem, North Carolina Winston-Salem is a city in Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the List of municipalities in North Carolina, fifth-most populous ...

, United States. Known for its unique sound, energetic live performances, and willingness to interact with fans, the band has a devoted following and is a fixture in the Charleston,

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

music scene. The name "Jump, Little Children" is taken from a song written by blues musician Leroy Dallas and covered by

Sonny Terry Saunders Terrell (October 24, 1911 – March 11, 1986), known as Sonny Terry, was an American Piedmont blues and folk musician, who was known for his energetic blues harmonica style, which frequently included vocal whoops and hollers and occas ...

and

Brownie McGhee Walter Brown "Brownie" McGhee (November 30, 1915 – February 16, 1996) was an American folk and Piedmont blues singer and guitarist, best known for his collaboration with the harmonica player Sonny Terry. Life and career McGhee was bor ...

History

1991–1994: Formation

Jay Clifford, Matthew Bivins, Ward Williams, and Christopher Pollen met and formed Jump, Little Children at the

North Carolina School of the Arts The University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) is a public art school in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It grants a high school diploma, in addition to both undergraduate and graduate degrees. Founded in 1963 as the North Carolina Sc ...

in Winston-Salem, North Carolina in 1991. The band played its first show on January 1, 1992 as part of a

New Year's Day In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Day is the first day of the calendar year, January 1, 1 January. Most solar calendars, such as the Gregorian and Julian calendars, begin the year regularly at or near the December solstice, northern winter ...

festival in downtown Winston-Salem. The group was performing

Irish music Irish music is music that has been created in various genres on the island of Ireland. The indigenous music of the island is termed Irish traditional music (or Irish folk music). It has remained vibrant through the 20th and into the 21st ...

, and Clifford, Bivins, and Pollen traveled to

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

to learn their craft firsthand during the winter of 1992. Upon their return, Evan Bivins left the School of the Arts to join the band, and the quartet decided to move to

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

. As they worked to finance the move, the band spent the summer of 1993 in Charleston, SC, where they met future member Jonathan Gray. After arriving in Boston in late 1993, Jump, Little Children recorded and released a self-titled cassette featuring original songs and traditional Irish works. Pollen then left the group to join a religious community, and Clifford and the Bivins brothers returned to Charleston in the summer of 1994.

1995–1999: ''The Licorice Tea Demos'', ''Buzz'', and ''Magazine''

Gray and Williams joined the lineup soon thereafter and the band was frequently found

busking Street performance or busking is the act of performing in public places for gratuity, gratuities. In many countries, the rewards are generally in the form of money but other gratuities such as food, drink or gifts may be given. Street performa ...

on the corner of Church and Market Streets in Charleston. Their Irish influences began to blend with an alternative rock sound, and the public took notice. Jump, Little Children recorded and released ''The Licorice Tea Demos'' in early 1995 and toured the

Southeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, Radius, radially arrayed compass directions (or Azimuth#In navigation, azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A ''compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, ...

with vigor. They continued to gain local notoriety and received regional radio airplay for the song "Quiet." Regular touring continued throughout 1996 and 1997, including the first of what would become a yearly tradition: New Year's shows at the Dock Street Theatre in Charleston. ''Buzz'', a live EP, was released in early 1997, and the band was courted by various record labels. The group eventually chose Breaking Records (a subsidiary of

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

started by Hootie and the Blowfish) in 1998. Jump, Little Children's only album released under Breaking Records, ''

Magazine A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...

'', was recorded during the summer of 1998 with producer Brad Jones. ''Magazine'' was released in the fall of 1998, and the single "Cathedrals" achieved radio play nationwide over the following year.

2000–2005: ''Vertigo'' and ''Between The Dim & The Dark''

Looking to build on the success of "Cathedrals," the band reentered the studio in the fall of 2000 to record ''

Vertigo Vertigo is a condition in which a person has the sensation that they are moving, or that objects around them are moving, when they are not. Often it feels like a spinning or swaying movement. It may be associated with nausea, vomiting, perspira ...

''. Produced by Clifford and

Brad Wood Brad Wood is an American record producer and sound engineer based in Los Angeles. He has produced many albums, including Liz Phair's ''Exile in Guyville'' and Placebo (band), Placebo's Placebo (Placebo album), self-titled debut. Career W ...

and mixed by David Leonard, the album was originally due to be released in May 2001, but was put on hold when Breaking Records was dropped from the Atlantic roster. The rights to ''Vertigo'' were given to Breaking, and after a fierce struggle, Jump, Little Children was able to release the album on their own imprint, EZ Chief Records, in September 2001. ''Vertigo'' reached No. 44 on the Billboard Top Independent Albums chart. The band regrouped over 2002 and 2003, expanding their touring to include the

Midwest The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...

and West Coast and recording and releasing a DVD titled ''Live At The Music Farm''. They also expanded EZ Chief Records, launching a website where users could create custom CDs using tracks from independent artists. In the summer of 2003, the band took its first hiatus, but soon returned with an abbreviated name, "Jump," and plans for another album, '' Between The Dim & The Dark''. Produced by

Rick Beato Richard John Beato ( ; born April 24, 1962) is an American YouTube personality, multi-instrumentalist, music producer, and educator. Since the early 1980s, he has worked variously as a musician, songwriter, audio engineer, and record producer ...

and released on Brash Music in April 2004, the album was well received. ''Between The Glow & The Light'', an EP of

B-sides The A-side and B-side are the two sides of vinyl records and cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a single usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or ...

to ''Between The Dim & The Dark'', was released in April 2005. On June 16, 2005, the band announced that the tenth annual Dock Street Theatre shows at end of 2005 would mark their split. The final show was a

black tie Black tie is a semi-formal Western dress code for evening events, originating in British and North American conventions for attire in the 19th century. In British English, the dress code is often referred to synecdochically by its principal ...

affair in Charleston on December 30, 2005, and featured material from each of the member's future projects. The show ended with the band and audience walking from the theatre to the corner of Church and Market Streets for a busking session typical of the band's early years. "Jump, Little Children" was the last song played. During the final show,

Amanda Kapousouz Amanda is a Latin feminine gerundive (i.e. verbal adjective) name meaning, literally, "she who must (or is fit to) be loved". Other translations, with similar meaning, could be "deserving to be loved," "worthy of love," or "loved very much by ev ...

announced the formation of a scholarship fund at the

College of Charleston The College of Charleston (CofC or Charleston) is a public university in Charleston, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1770 and chartered in 1785, it is the oldest university in South Carolina, the 13th-oldest institution of higher lea ...

in honor of the band.

2006–2015: Hiatus

''Live at the Dock Street Theatre'', a double live album, was released in 2006 and would be the band's last recording for more than ten years. Over the next decade, the bandmates spread out across the country and pursued their own artistic interests. Finally, in a May 2014 interview, Jay Clifford hinted at a reunion: "I can neither confirm, nor deny, a Jump, Little Children reunion tour in 2015."

2015–2018: Reunion

On March 13, 2015, the band's new website announced the eleventh installment of Dock Street by displaying a countdown to December 28, 2015. A full reunion tour (the "Church and Queen Tour") was announced in May 2015 and consisted of four club dates followed by two nights of Dock Street. The demand for the six shows was overwhelming, with both nights of Dock Street selling out in less than one minute, and the band responded by adding three more club dates. Bringing the "Jump" community back together was an emotional experience for both the band and its audiences. After such a successful reunion, discussion once again turned to the future. Matt Bivins wrote, "Nothing is set right now. We know that we don’t want to be in a rock band again, full-time. We want anything we work on together to be special. We don’t want to forget again why we started this band in the first place: because we were friends that loved working together, creating music together, having fun." On November 10, 2016, Jump, Little Children announced that it would participate in the High Water Festival organized by

Shovels & Rope Shovels & Rope are an American folk duo from Charleston, South Carolina composed of husband and wife Michael Trent and Cary Ann Hearst. Combining threads from their individual solo careers, Shovels & Rope blends traditional folk, rock and roll ...

. In addition, the band announced another short Southeastern tour scheduled for April 2017.

2018–2022: ''Sparrow'' and ''Foundering''

In January 2018, the band announced they would be releasing their first full-length album in more than 13 years. The new album, titled ''Sparrow'', was released on Friday, September 14, 2018. The first single off ''Sparrow,'' "Hand on My Heartache", was released as a lyric video via the website of music magazine ''

American Songwriter ''American Songwriter'' is a bimonthly magazine covering songwriting. Established in 1984, it features interviews, songwriting tips, news, reviews and lyric contest. The magazine is based in Nashville, Tennessee. History The ''American Songwri ...

'' on August 16, 2018. On October 5, 2021, Matt and Evan Bivins announced that they would be leaving the band to focus on building a company together, while the remaining three members would continue to perform under the name Jump, Little Children. The band's sixth studio album, ''Foundering'', was recorded in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

in March 2022 and released on September 23, 2022. Prior to the release, the band announced that the album and accompanying tour would both be the last. A 15-date "Farewell Tour" spanned the

and featured Christina Cone on vocals and keyboard and Josh Kaler on drums. The tour concluded with back-to-back shows in Charleston, SC, with the band's final show at the Charleston Music Hall on December 30, 2022.

Members

Core Members * Evan Bivins (1993–2021):

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

* Matthew Bivins (1991–2021): vocals,

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German language, German ', from '—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a Reed (mou ...

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica incl ...

mandolin A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...

melodica The melodica is a handheld free-reed instrument similar to a pump organ or harmonica. It features a musical keyboard on top, and is played by blowing air through a mouthpiece that fits into a hole in the side of the instrument. The keyboard usu ...

, and

tin whistle The tin whistle, also known as the penny whistle, is a simple six-holed woodwind instrument. It is a type of fipple flute, a class of instrument which also includes the recorder and Native American flute. A tin whistle player is called a whistl ...

* Jay Clifford (1991–2022): vocals and

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a guitar technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse (music), pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., d ...

* Jonathan Gray (1994–2022):

double bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

* Ward Williams (1991–2022):

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

and guitar Past Members * Christopher Pollen:

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

* Tim Connell:

, and

electric bass The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an electric but with a longer neck and scale leng ...

Collaborators * Christina Cone (of Frances Cone): vocals and

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Mus ...

* Josh Kaler (of Hula Hi-Fi and Slow Runner):

and

pedal steel The pedal steel guitar is a console steel guitar with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings, enabling more varied and complex music to be played than with other steel guitar designs. Like all steel guitars, it can play ...

* Michael Bellar (of The As-Is Ensemble):

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

* Amanda Kapousouz (of Tin Cup Prophette):

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

Television and film

On May 5, 1999, the song "B-13" was featured in the ''

Party of Five ''Party of Five'' is an American teen and family drama television series created by Christopher Keyser and Amy Lippman that originally aired on Fox from September 12, 1994, to May 3, 2000, with a total of six seasons consisting of 142 epis ...

'' episode No. 116, "I'll Show You Mine." On May 19, 2003, the song "Cathedrals" was featured in ''

Everwood ''Everwood'' is an American drama television series created by Greg Berlanti. Berlanti, Mickey Liddell, Rina Mimoun, Andrew A. Ackerman and Michael Green served as executive producers. The series aired on the WB from September 16, 2002, to Jun ...

'' episode No. 23, "Home." On December 6, 2007, the song "B-13" was featured during the narrative wrap of ''

Scrubs Scrub(s) may refer to: * Scrub, low shrub and grass characteristic of scrubland * Scrubs (clothing), worn by medical staff * ''Scrubs'' (TV series), an American television program * Scrubs (occupation), also called "scrub tech," "scrub nurse," ...

'' episode No. 706, "My Number One Doctor." The song "Cathedrals" was also featured in an episode of the Netflix TV show The Society. "Cathedrals" is the ending song of the film "Modi - Three Days on the Wings of Madness" directed by

Johnny Depp John Christopher Depp II (born June 9, 1963) is an American actor and musician. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Johnny Depp, multiple accolades, including a Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for ...

. On June 22, 2011, the song "Cathedrals" was used on ''

So You Think You Can Dance ''So You Think You Can Dance'' is a franchise of reality television shows in which contestants compete in dance. The first series of the franchise, created by '' Idols'' producers Simon Fuller and Nigel Lythgoe, premiered in July 2005 and has ...

'' (season 8, episode No. 7). Jazz dancer Clarice Ordaz and Broadway dancer Jess LeProtto performed a contemporary routine choreographed by

Stacey Tookey Stacey Tookey (born July 10, 1976) is a Canadian choreographer and dancer known for her frequent appearances as a resident choreographer and guest judge on the Canadian and American versions of the dance-competition reality-television show '' ...

. On January 18, 2014, the song "Mexico" was used in the Zach Braff film ''

Wish I Was Here ''Wish I Was Here'' is a 2014 American comedy-drama film directed by Zach Braff and co-written with his brother Adam Braff. The film stars Zach Braff, Donald Faison, Josh Gad, Pierce Gagnon, Ashley Greene, Kate Hudson, Joey King, Jim Parson ...

'' and was included in the soundtrack to the film. In addition, Jump, Little Children was one of three bands shown during ''True Music'' (

HDNet AXS TV () is an American specialty television, cable television channel majority-owned by Canadian broadcaster Anthem Sports & Entertainment. It is devoted primarily to Music television, music-related programming (such as concert films, Document ...

) episode No. 218, "

South by Southwest South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

2004."

Discography

Studio albums

*''The Licorice Tea Demos'' (1995) – Independent *''

'' (September 1, 1998) – Breaking Records/

*''

'' (September 25, 2001) – EZ Chief Records *'' Between the Dim & the Dark'' (April 20, 2004) – Brash Music *''Sparrow'' (September 14, 2018) *''Foundering'' (September 23, 2022)

EPs

*''Buzz'' (January 25, 1997) – Independent *''Between The Glow & The Light'' (April 14, 2005) – EZ Chief Records

Compilations

*''The Early Years, Volume 1'' (June 1, 2001) – EZ Chief Records

Live albums

*''Live at the Dock Street Theatre'' (May 2, 2006) – EZ Chief Records

Videos

*''Live at the Music Farm'' (September 6, 2002)

References

External links

* * * * {{Authority control Indie rock musical groups from North Carolina American street performers Musical groups from South Carolina Musical groups established in 1991 Musical groups disestablished in 2005 Atlantic Records artists 1991 establishments in North Carolina Musical groups reestablished in 2015