Jacob Joliff Band at the Avon Park Theater

Jacob Jolliff started playing mandolin at the age of 7.  By his sophomore year at the Berklee School of Music in Boston, Jacob was touring with New England based roots music band Joy Kills Sorrow.  Over the next few years the group toured extensively throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe, playing hundreds of clubs, theaters, and festivals. Because of the group's rigorous schedule, it was a challenge for him to stay in school, but he still managed to graduate in 2011. Shortly after, in 2012, Jacob won the National Mandolin Championship in Winfield, Kansas.  

In 2014, after three records, hundreds of shows, and thousands of miles in a 15 passenger van, Joy Kills Sorrow went on an indefinite hiatus. Fortuitously, as this chapter of Jacob's musical journey ended, another important one began. Within a couple weeks of the band's last show, the young mandolinist got a call from the progressive bluegrass jam group, Yonder Mountain String Band.  He immediately connected musically and personally with the band, and shortly after he became a full-time member. Jacob played with Yonder until the end of 2019, releasing three albums with the group.  While working with YMSB, Jacob formed the Jacob Jolliff Band.  This ensemble is a group of virtuosic pickers that play Jacob's original instrumentals, as well as showcase his singing. They tour nationally in the US and have also travelled to Scotland and Australia to perform. The group has released two albums, “Instrumentals Vol. 1” in 2018 and “The Jacob Jolliff Band” in 2022.  Jacob has also released several of his own albums, including the most recent instrumental album Mandolin Mysteries.

In 2022, Jacob was called on by world famous banjo player, Béla Fleck, to tour as part of My Bluegrass Heart. He performed around the country alongside Béla and some of the very best musicians in the genre: Bryan Sutton, Cody Kilby, Justin Moses, Mark Schatz, Michael Cleveland, Stuart Duncan and Billy Contreras.  

We are thrilled to be hosting this bluegrass legend!