So … who is JACOMB?
Hi. I’m Eric Broz. Photographer, writer, lover of live music.
I love this city. I’ve lived in Columbus in various periods of time from 1992 to present; always in and out due to jobs. Then, one day, I just decided this is where I wanted to live, for good. For many reasons, most of them the friends I have, the musicians I’ve met, the music I love.
This is the only city I’ve ever felt like home, despite not being born here, or being a big OSU fan. The bands here are AMAZING and give their heart, soul, blood and sweat for often little more than a share of what’s taken in at the door and the joy of performing.
My introduction to the local rock scene here was courtesy of a friend, who convinced me to come out and see a band called X-Rated Cowboys at a place called Skully’s. It was a very cold Friday in January 2005. I had spend the day signing a lease for a new apartment on the east side, scheduling a moving truck for pickup in Pittsburgh and working a new job. I was beat, mentally exhausted, and almost didn’t go.
I’m glad I did. It changed my life.
I have no idea who else was on the bill that day … all I know is when the Quinn Fallon and the boys took the stage, I was FLOORED. The songwriting, the sound, the fun they had playing. I fell in love instantlly. A month or so later, the Clarks played at (sigh) Little Brothers. Being a big Clarks fan from my days of living in Pittsburgh, I went, and was BLOWN AWAY by Watershed. I remember asking the same friend who turned me on to the X-Rated Cowboys this about Watershed: ”Why have I never heard of these guys?”
It’s been that way with most bands I’ve gone to see, and become fans of, and friends with. Amazing music, of all genres, is found, almost every single night, everything from the rock of Razorbliss, Bullet Jones, and The Evil Queens to the mellow Beatlesque of Paper Airplane to the flat out Americana of Two Cow Garage, Ryan Smith, and Quinn Fallon, with and without his ragtag band of ever-rotating guitarists.
Oh, I also do some photography.
Ryan and Lee from Bullet Jones at BoMA
Drake from Razorbliss at Skully's
