Jack Van Cleaf

California-reared, Nashville based singer-songwriter Jack Van Cleaf writes determined and delicate songs with poetic slant and confessional warmth. In his songs, folk imagination dresses in cinematic production and his music echoes his heroes: a directness borrowed from Kris Kristofferson and lucid spirituality reminiscent of Cohen.

Released in 2022, Van Cleaf's premiere full-length record Fruit from the Trees opens like a lost suitcase. Written across a span of seven years, the ten tracks are stashed with fables and fictions, letters to high school lovers, loose change in foreign currency, and a white bandana chalked in red Texas dust. Co-produced by Jamie Mefford (Nathaniel Rateliff, Gregory Alan Isakov) and Alberto Sewald (Katy Kirby), the record soars with sonic width that melds the folk-song precision of Dawes with a rumbled raucousness suggestive of The Killers.

The record was premiered on Atwood Magazine who calls his debut "achingly intimate, warm, and tender…a radiantly raw alt-folk reckoning in the depths of connection, emotion, and the human experience.”

Van Cleaf proudly introduced Fruit from the Trees with a sold out release show in Nashville, TN in March of 2022. He has taken stage at legendary venues across the country including Mission Ballroom, The Ryman, The Pageant, Miller High Life Theatre and has toured with artists such as Noah Kahan, Briston Maroney, Oliver Hazard, Field Guide, The Lagoons, Annika Bennett and more.

He was most recently named one of Spotify’s 2024 Artists To Watch, highlighting breakthrough song “Rattlesnake” on their editorial playlist, juniper, and previously included in Spotify’s Best Of 2022 roundups - Fresh Finds Class of 2022 and Fresh Finds Folk: Best of 2022. Other recent releases include the riveting Music City Murder Ballad EP project filled with fictional tales paying homage to the long-standing tradition of the murder ballad and the iconic country artists who wrote them plus singles “Terrestrial Man” and “For the Birds.”

Van Cleaf is currently working on new music for an exciting new chapter.