Narrator: Daniel's Music Foundation presents, a Just Call Me By My Name Artist: Jake Nielsen, from Aromas, CA.
Description: Jake Nielsen and his band, performing on a stage in front of a large rusticated hearth. The band features Jake on guitar, as well as a bassist and a drummer.
Jake (singing): Well you pull that trigger, it's forty to life. Well you still so young, a lot of time--Well you pull that trigger, Well you still so young...
Description: Jake, sitting in a blue classroom, with guitars and musical instruments in the background. Jake is tanned, with short black hair. He is wearing a black tank top.
Jake: My name is Jake Nielsen, and I am a international recording artist. My family has always supported my disability, and to be honest, it almost felt like they never even noticed.
Description: Old photos of Jake as a kid, riding a horse with an adult, and on the field of a baseball stadium, wearing a "Giants" uniform.
Jake: (Laughs) You know, so, there'd be times where I would be like, "Oh, I wanna do this or that", and they wouldn't even hesitate, and throw me right in there, you know
Description: Newspaper clippings showing a young Jake in a cowboy hat. The headline reads "Courageous Cowboy: He Can't Walk, But He Sure Can Ride"
Jake: When I was a little kid, I wanted to ride bulls...I wanted to be a bullrider, right? Yeah, my parents let me, so I would ride in rodeos on like, baby bulls, and people would just be shocked that I was out there doing it. But my family let me, and they wanted me to learn. I think that's what helped me be a stronger person--to...look at myself as somebody that can't, but somebody that can.
Description: Jake and his band performing during the second Danny Awards at Symphony Space, a large concert hall in NYC.
Jake: I got started in music from my uncle Jamie, who actually played drums. He realized that I liked playing, but I couldn't work the bass pedal on the drums very well. So, he actually bought me my first guitar, and he made me promise him that if he buys this for me--cause he was just a high school kid at the time--If he buys this for me, that I promise I won't just play it for two days, and put it down.
Description: Footage of Jake in his teens performing outdoors at a music festival, on a black Fender Telecaster.
Jake: I didn't really find myself until I found music, you know? So, I didn't play sports...I mean, I did play like, wheelchair basketball, and I did play sports, but when I found music, it really hit home, you know? Like, I knew right away that's what I wanted to do.
When I decided to take it professionally, there was a lot of challenges. One, just getting noticed was hard, 'cause they didn't believe in me until I hit the stage, and, being a touring musician with a disability is really hard
Description: Jake, getting onto a charter bus
Jake: You know, the stage stairs are never safe for people that can walk up 'em, and down 'em. So, for instance, one time my I had my brother--actually had to lift me up and throw me on stage...Plane rides, driving for hours, and all that--It's probably the dark side of being a musician.
Description: Quick cuts from out the window of a charter bus, showing upstate NY, as well as Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, and the site of Woodstock '69. Jake is sitting on the bus, next to his bandmate, Kyle.
Jake: We're headed to the Bethel Woods Center for Music and Arts--it's one of the most historical places for a musician to see
Kyle: "Woodstock"--definitely one to knock off the bucket list, I'll say that
Description: Shots of the Woodstock Museum at Bethel Woods, featuring photos of the various performers, as well as the speaker cabinet used during the show. Jake is standing in front of the indoor stage at Bethel Woods.
Jake: Performing here means a lot to me, 'cause as a musician, I feel like it's the holy land, right? Woodstock was the biggest festival of "peace and love", and some of the best musicians of all time, so for me, just to even be here, it means a lot. I feel good! Channeling my guitar heroes from Woodstock days--ready to let it loose on stage
Description: Jake and his band performing on the Bethel Woods stage
Jake, to Audience: Let's go
[Energetic blues-rock guitar playing]
Jake: The song I chose for the EP was the song "40 to Life". The song's actually about my cousin, who got caught up in the gang life, and all that, and is serving a life term in prison.When this opportunity came about, I just knew right away what song I wanted to go to.
Jake (singing): You runnin' around, you slangin' them things, you stackin' them twenties, them fifties, them hundreds, now stay in your lane, yeah...You going down, yeah you lost yourself, you going down, you going down, you going down♪
Well you pull that trigger, it's forty to life--Well you still so young, a lot of time
Jake: The advantages I get from being a musician with disabilities, is I get the "shock and wow" factor. You know, so like, a lot of the time I hit the stage, and if people don't know me they're like, "okay, what is..." I get the feeling they're like "what's this gonna be", you know what I mean?
And then once I bust into the first song, their faces change, and they can't wait to like, shake my hand afterwards, and meet me afterwards
Description: Newspaper clipping from the "Santa Cruz Sentinel", featuring a photo of Jake. The headline reads, "Guitarist Signs With New Label"
Joining a label for musicians with disabilities is important to me because, I feel like musicians in general have a hard time getting noticed. And being out there, you know, and all that--so, it makes it even harder for musicians with disabilities to do it.
Feels like, first off, they see you, and they don't--they just don't really give you the time of day, you know? So--and there's already thousands of musicians coming out, trying to get booked, doing all this and that. And to have a platform--a label like that, that pushes it, it's big for not only, you know, musicians with disabilities, but just for, just people with disabilities, you know?
'Cause, if they want to be a rock star, there's somebody that's going to back them, you know.
[Energetic blues-rock guitar playing]
Jake, to Audience: Thank you, Bethel Woods! Thank you all very much at Daniel's Music Foundation
Narrator: Visit danielsmusic.org/recordlabel to learn more, stream, or download today. Daniel's Music Foundation: Changing Lives Through Music Since 2006.