JACK MOSBACHER RELEASES “I’VE GOT A NEED FOR YOU” SINGLE AND ANNOUNCES THE RELEASE OF THE WHYNOT EP
A TRIBUTE TO DAVID RUFFIN
San Francisco’s Jack Mosbacher is excited to announce the release of “I’ve Got a Need for You,” a song originally written for and recorded by soul icon David Ruffin. Growing up, Mosbacher fell in love with music by hearing The Temptations, specifically their original lead singer David Ruffin. Following his time with the Temptations, Ruffin was forced to abandon a solo record that was in the works following struggles with addiction and a tussle with Motown Records. Thirty years later, and long after his death, the album was quietly released. It has always been a dream of Mosbacher’s to honor his late idol’s forgotten work, so he teamed up with Michael Eisenstein (Letters to Cleo, Tracy Bonham, The Posies etc.) and an eclectic array of musicians to record four of Ruffin’s songs in a classic Motown session style: all of the instruments in one room, making music until they got it right. The EP Whynot, named after Ruffin’s hometown of Whynot, Mississippi, comes out on June 22nd.
Jack’s music is his means of “accessing a higher joy” passed down from traditional greats of bygone eras. “I had a teacher once tell me,” says Mosbacher, “‘you’re either in the lighting business, or the heating business. You’re either doing something new, or you’re bringing forgotten warmth to people who need it. I’ve always wanted to be a combination of both.’”
Mosbacher’s journey into the ‘heating business’ began in early childhood, upon finding an old cassette of The Temptations in drawer. It was a moment that ignited his spirit with fervor, but unlike his idols he hadn’t been exposed to the painful adversity they faced, or the turbulent era that he would himself enter into as an adult. Today, Mosbacher harbors no illusions about what it means to honor their work. “The vast majority of people whose art has significantly shaped my life have looked different from me, and have gone through things I’ve never had to deal with,” says Mosbacher. “There’s a huge sensitivity there. Our culture has, and continues to be shaped by individuals of some kind of ‘other.’ And the main thing that really strikes me about all of it is that I fell in love with this music before I knew what any of that was. There was an innocence there that I’m trying to retain, while also being mindful of my own place in all of this.”
Mosbacher’s background is as varied as his influences. Prior to pursuing music, Mosbacher was an accomplished athlete and student. International affairs and human rights were (and are) deeply important to him. At Stanford, Mosbacher played on the nationally ranked baseball team and was awarded a special grant to write a thesis on income inequality and oil politics in East Africa as part of an international development program. His work took him to thirteen African countries and led to publishing pieces in Foreign Affairs and The Washington Quarterly, setting a clear trajectory for a career in journalism and policy. But Mosbacher’s family, friends, and mentors pushed him to follow his heart, and it called him to music and entertainment. Once he listened, he never looked back.
Mosbacher wrapped up a winter residency to packed crowds at the Peppermint Club in Los Angeles, and wowed fans on Train’s Sail Across the Sun Cruise this Spring alongside Train, Michael Franti & Spearhead, Robert Randolph & The Family Band, Magic! and more. He will be playing a number of select dates this summer to be announced soon.
WHYNOT (Out June 22) :
1. Your Heartaches I Can Surely Heal
2. I've Got A Need For You
3. It’s Gonna Take a Whole Lot of Doin’
4. Get Away Heartbreak (Keep on Moving)
