Nels Jacobson
Encyclopedia
Jagmo born Nels Jacobson, is a US artist and poster art historian born in Chicago
in 1949. He moved to Austin, Texas
in 1978 and began creating rock posters in 1981. For three years during the early 1980s Jacobson served as bar manager and promotional director for Austin’s Club Foot
. He has designed posters for live-music venues such as Liberty Lunch
, Cain's Ballroom
and The Fillmore
, and for performers such as Stevie Ray Vaughan
, the Ramones
, Divine, Roky Erickson
, Etta James
, Dead Kennedys
, the B-52's
, Bonnie Raitt
, Joe Ely
, Los Lobos
, the Pixies, Iggy Pop
, Willie Nelson
, Fela Kuti
, Jimmie Dale Gilmore
and Jerry Jeff Walker
. In 1987, Jacobson helped organize the Texas-U.S.S.R. Musicians' Exchange
tour of the Soviet Union and accompanied the performers to Leningrad
, Moscow
and Kiev
. He was the first art director
for the South by Southwest
(SXSW) Music Conference and designed the original logo. Jacobson was a founding Director of the American Poster Institute
and the South Austin Museum of Popular Culture
, and a board member of The Rock Poster Society (TRPS).
“Rock Music Posters and the Law” from Entertainment and Sports Lawyer Volume 23/Number 1 (American Bar Association Spring 2005) ISSN 0732-1880 http://www.jagmo.com/articles/Posters_Law.pdf
”Foreword,” with Dirk Fowler, to Swag 2: Rock Posters of the '90s and Beyond by Spencer Drate and Judith Salavetz, (Harry N. Abrams, Inc. 2005) ISBN 0-8109-9235-3
“Armadillos, Peccadillos, and the Maverick Posterists of Austin, Texas” from Prints and Printmakers of Texas: Proceedings of the Twentieth Annual North American Print Conference (Ron Tyler ed., Texas State Historical Association 1997) ISBN 0-87611-137-1
“Faith, Hope & Parody: Campbell v. Acuff-Rose, ‘Oh, Pretty Woman,’ and Parodists' Rights” from the
Houston Law Review Volume 31/Number 3 (1994) ISSN 0018-6694
"The Maverick Tradition: Postering in Austin, Texas, Part II" from OFFtheWALL Volume No. 1/Issue No. 3 (1992) http://www.jagmo.com/articles/index.html
"The Maverick Tradition: Postering in Austin, Texas, Part I" from OFFtheWALL Volume No. 1/Issue No. 2 (1991) http://www.jagmo.com/articles/index.html
“Austin Poster Art” from The Austin Chronicle Vol. III/No.23 (July 13, 1984) ISSN 1074-0740
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
in 1949. He moved to Austin, Texas
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
in 1978 and began creating rock posters in 1981. For three years during the early 1980s Jacobson served as bar manager and promotional director for Austin’s Club Foot
Club Foot
Club Foot was a large live-music venue in Austin, Texas, in the early 1980s. Located downtown at the corner of 4th and Brazos Streets, it had a reputation as a punk rock venue for its support of local and touring punk bands, but it also booked a wide variety of other types of music.-Location:Club...
. He has designed posters for live-music venues such as Liberty Lunch
Liberty Lunch
Liberty Lunch was a live-music venue in Austin, Texas. It began in the 1940s as an eatery and, over the years, evolved into a live-music venue. It closed in 1999....
, Cain's Ballroom
Cain's Ballroom
Cain's Ballroom is a historic music venue in Tulsa, Oklahoma, built in 1924 to serve as a garage for one of Tulsa's founders, Tate Brady. Madison W. "Daddy" Cain purchased the building in 1930 and named it , where he charged 10¢ for dance lessons. The academy was the site of the Texas Playboys'...
and The Fillmore
The Fillmore
The Fillmore Auditorium is a historic music venue in San Francisco, California, made famous by Bill Graham. Named for its original location at the intersection of Fillmore Street and Geary Boulevard, it lies on the boundary of the Western Addition and the Pacific Heights neighborhoods.In 1968,...
, and for performers such as Stevie Ray Vaughan
Stevie Ray Vaughan
Stephen Ray "Stevie Ray" Vaughan was an American electric blues guitarist and singer. He was the younger brother of Jimmie Vaughan and frontman for Double Trouble, a band that included bassist Tommy Shannon and drummer Chris Layton. Born in Dallas, Vaughan moved to Austin at the age of 17 and...
, the Ramones
Ramones
The Ramones were an American rock band that formed in the New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens, in 1974. They are often cited as the first punk rock group...
, Divine, Roky Erickson
Roky Erickson
Roky Erickson is an American singer, songwriter, harmonica player and guitarist from Texas. He was a founding member of the 13th Floor Elevators and a pioneer of the psychedelic rock genre.-Biography:...
, Etta James
Etta James
Etta James is an American blues, soul, rhythm and blues , rock and roll, gospel and jazz singer. In the 1950s and 1960s, she had her biggest success as a blues and R&B singer...
, Dead Kennedys
Dead Kennedys
Dead Kennedys are an American punk rock band formed in San Francisco, California in 1978. The band became part of the American hardcore punk movement of the early 1980s. They gained a large underground fanbase in the international punk music scene....
, the B-52's
The B-52's
The B-52's are an American rock band, formed in Athens, Georgia in 1976. The original line-up consisted of Fred Schneider , Kate Pierson , Cindy Wilson , Ricky Wilson , and Keith Strickland . Following Ricky Wilson's death in 1985 Strickland switched to guitar...
, Bonnie Raitt
Bonnie Raitt
Bonnie Lynn Raitt is an American blues singer-songwriter and a renowned slide guitar player. During the 1970s, Raitt released a series of acclaimed roots-influenced albums which incorporated elements of blues, rock, folk and country, but she is perhaps best known for her more commercially...
, Joe Ely
Joe Ely
Joe Ely is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist whose music touches on honky-tonk, Texas Country, Tex-Mex and rock and roll....
, Los Lobos
Los Lobos
Los Lobos are a multiple Grammy Award–winning American Chicano rock band from East Los Angeles, California. Their music is influenced by rock and roll, Tex-Mex, country, folk, R&B, blues, brown-eyed soul, and traditional Spanish and Mexican music such as cumbia, boleros and norteños.-History:The...
, the Pixies, Iggy Pop
Iggy Pop
Iggy Pop is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Though considered an innovator of punk rock, Pop's music has encompassed a number of styles over the years, including pop, metal, jazz and blues...
, Willie Nelson
Willie Nelson
Willie Hugh Nelson is an American country music singer-songwriter, as well as an author, poet, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie , combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger and Stardust , made Nelson one of the most recognized...
, Fela Kuti
Fela Kuti
Fela Anikulapo Kuti , or simply Fela , was a Nigerian multi-instrumentalist musician and composer, pioneer of Afrobeat music, human rights activist, and political maverick.-Biography:...
, Jimmie Dale Gilmore
Jimmie Dale Gilmore
Jimmie Dale Gilmore is a country singer, songwriter, actor, recording artist and producer, currently living in Austin, Texas.-Biography:...
and Jerry Jeff Walker
Jerry Jeff Walker
Jerry Jeff Walker is an American country music singer and songwriter. He is probably most famous for writing the song "Mr. Bojangles.-Biography:...
. In 1987, Jacobson helped organize the Texas-U.S.S.R. Musicians' Exchange
Texas-U.S.S.R. Musicians' Exchange
The Texas-U.S.S.R. Musicians' Exchange was a 1987 cultural exchange tour of the Soviet Union featuring a group of musicians from Texas. Among the musicians who performed on the tour were Butch Hancock, Tomas Ramirez, Bobby Bridger, Elouise Burrell, Bobby Mack, Mike Shea, Deborah Giles, Bruce...
tour of the Soviet Union and accompanied the performers to Leningrad
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
, Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
and Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
. He was the first art director
Art director
The art director is a person who supervise the creative process of a design.The term 'art director' is a blanket title for a variety of similar job functions in advertising, publishing, film and television, the Internet, and video games....
for the South by Southwest
South by Southwest
South by Southwest is an Austin, Texas based company dedicated to planning conferences, trade shows, festivals and other events. Their current roster of annual events include: SXSW Music, SXSW Film, SXSW Interactive, SXSWedu, and SXSWeco and take place every spring in Austin, Texas, United States...
(SXSW) Music Conference and designed the original logo. Jacobson was a founding Director of the American Poster Institute
American Poster Institute
The American Poster Institute is a California nonprofit corporation dedicated to promoting poster art and serving poster artists. Among the API’s stated goals are: support for the community of artists creating entertainment-related posters; fostering interaction and communication between these...
and the South Austin Museum of Popular Culture
South Austin Museum of Popular Culture
The South Austin Museum of Popular Culture is a Texas 501 nonprofit organisation dedicated to collecting, preserving, and exhibiting art and memorabilia that reflect Austin's eclectic contributions to popular culture worldwide....
, and a board member of The Rock Poster Society (TRPS).
Selected writings
Introduction to chapter about Flatstock 4 in Rock Poster Show: Flatstock Volume One (Soundscreen Design 2010) ISBN 978-0-9843028-0-2“Rock Music Posters and the Law” from Entertainment and Sports Lawyer Volume 23/Number 1 (American Bar Association Spring 2005) ISSN 0732-1880 http://www.jagmo.com/articles/Posters_Law.pdf
”Foreword,” with Dirk Fowler, to Swag 2: Rock Posters of the '90s and Beyond by Spencer Drate and Judith Salavetz, (Harry N. Abrams, Inc. 2005) ISBN 0-8109-9235-3
“Armadillos, Peccadillos, and the Maverick Posterists of Austin, Texas” from Prints and Printmakers of Texas: Proceedings of the Twentieth Annual North American Print Conference (Ron Tyler ed., Texas State Historical Association 1997) ISBN 0-87611-137-1
“Faith, Hope & Parody: Campbell v. Acuff-Rose, ‘Oh, Pretty Woman,’ and Parodists' Rights” from the
Houston Law Review Volume 31/Number 3 (1994) ISSN 0018-6694
"The Maverick Tradition: Postering in Austin, Texas, Part II" from OFFtheWALL Volume No. 1/Issue No. 3 (1992) http://www.jagmo.com/articles/index.html
"The Maverick Tradition: Postering in Austin, Texas, Part I" from OFFtheWALL Volume No. 1/Issue No. 2 (1991) http://www.jagmo.com/articles/index.html
“Austin Poster Art” from The Austin Chronicle Vol. III/No.23 (July 13, 1984) ISSN 1074-0740