Jared Grabb

In this artistic creation, Jared Grabb collaborates with Chicago's The Lesser Birds of Paradise to produce laid-back yet uplifting music. Jared Grabb performs tracks 1 and 2, introducing the listener to heart-wrenching, story-telling songs; while The Lesser Birds of Paradise take a more electric, straightforward approach in tracks 3 and 4. This four-song release showcases both artists' guitar strumming and vocal skills as they wrap you up in their acoustic rhythms and soothing melodies. - Skratch Magazine

Jared Grabb's On the Inside is mostly an acoustic affair; the title track focuses mainly on acoustic guitar and saxophone, and Jared's voice is strong, sounding like a pissed-off, Irish Jonathan Richman. What his voice lacks in beauty, though, it makes up for in passion. Jared's voice is like a mid-priced guitar -- functional and nice-sounding under the right conditions. His songs are sensitive, moving from quiet, solo finger-picking to a raucous full band, and I found myself tapping my toe along with a number of songs. I think this album works its magic slowly and quietly, never asking for your attention but slowly drawing you in, like the kid at the coffeehouse where at first you clap to be polite, and then realize that you're actually enjoying the concert. It's no surprise that Jared has opened for bands like Owen, The White Octave and Lesser Birds of Paradise.
My favorite part of this album, actually, is the artwork. Each panel on the booklet is a different watercolor of an object off-center -- in one, a shoe, in others, a pair of glasses, a book and a glass of soda. These images are a lot like Jared's songs; each is a picture slightly out of frame. - Space City Rock

Jared Grabb, formerly of Chicago in-your-face rockers Scouts Honor, is showing off his earnest side with his new solo material, which is a bit more subdued than the intensity of his old group. Instead of shouting and pedal-to-the-metal guitar riffs, Jared showcases his delicate yet poignant vocals over simple acoustic melodies. - Richard Giraldi

Latest indie-rocker (well, sludgy rocker punk) to take the acoustic highway. Apparently, not for the first time. This is his third solo CD, with Mr. Grabb handling the vocals, guitars, banjo, mandolin, and organ with occasional help on drums and bass on a couple of tracks. Occasionally, the vocals are a little strained, but overall, the quality of the songwriting and instrumentation carries this along quite nicely. Fans of the solo work of the likes of Chuck Ragan would do well to indulge. - AMP Magazine

"After getting his ya-yas out for seven years with his darkly heavy, Melvins-like metallic- post-punkers Scouts Honor, Chi-town singer-songwriter Grabb returns to the folk-pop of two earlier solo records that coincided with their 2002-2003 launch. Otherwise, Where’s rootsy, ear-friendly music, with its slabs of picked acoustic, banjo, mandolin, and keyboards, would have been a jarring surprise. Perhaps after 442 (I dig precision!) screaming gigs with SH before their cessation last year, he found it refreshing to relax, and the inflections of outlaw country and ‘30s blues keeps Where as inviting as earnest lyrics such as “The only place I wish to be is pressed up to your body”—balancing icy suicide ‘n’ murder ballads a la Mississippi John Hurt, Carter Family, Johnny Cash, and Nick Cave, in the tragic “Stuart Nelson” and maniacal “True Blue."

"Speaking of Scout’s Honor, it’s hard to shift from the considerable space and thought, and even bolts of tenderness on Grabb’s new work to the bitter bludgeoning that his old band doled out—let alone the bracing juxtaposition of Grabb’s Ian MacKaye-like bellows versus his countryside folk voice. But those brave enough to try it will find some sludgy, screaming skull catharthis on Buried, the trio’s third and final LP. The promo sheet’s claim that it is the band’s “heaviest, most abrasive” effort is easily born out by the black harsh riffs and peeved vocals, as if the band wanted to go down raging against their own demise. It comes with a DVD documentary chronicling the band’s history and farewell gig, March 29, 2009." - Jack Rabid of The Big Takeover 66 - The Big Takeover

"Simple, gusty rock and folk songs." - WBOR 91.1 FM Brunswick, ME - WBOR 91.1FM

The musical progression through which Jared Grabb led his band, Scouts Honor, over the years, involved a rough folk-punk sound at its outset and by the end had become a filthy, sludgy stoner rock sound. So perhaps it makes sense that Grabb's first solo effort would be a little more in line with Scouts Honor's earlier stuff, but often stripped of any heavier instrumentation and presented with a graceful air. Where Do You Hide Your Love Songs? moves with an easygoing, pop-tinged folk and even occasionally bluegrass-esque trajectory.
- PunkNews.Org