Seventeen-year old Jacob Whitesides broke out as a YouTube star (his channel has 10 million views and counting), but before that, he was gigging in his father’s band in East Tennessee. Now he and his dad are estranged, but as Jacob moves away from cover songs with his collection of original material, A Piece of Me, he’s turning to music to tell his family story.
The EP’s centerpiece is the raw and poignant “Ohio” (sample lyric: “Last time I saw your face/You were screaming that I don’t have a clue/I’m not a deadbeat piece of s—/Dad, I’ll never learn that from you”), and Jacob was kind enough to play the heart-on-sleeve ballad, along with another original, “Rumors,” when he recently visited Yahoo Music.
Jacob opened up during his Yahoo Music interview about his father, but he also discussed lighter topics, like his brief stint on The X Factor, his comical memories of trying to upload his first YouTube video, his diehard fans, and what’s in store for him next.
YAHOO MUSIC: Was “Ohio” a painful or difficult song to write?
JACOB WHITESIDES: It was really awkward going in, just because writing about sensitive subjects like that can be a little bit touchy. No one wanted to cross any boundaries. So going in, it was super-awkward. But once I opened up, we all started writing… it turned out to be one of the best songs. It’s pretty much just about my relationship with my dad. My parents split up three years ago; ever since then, I haven’t really talked to him much, because he’s been really poor to me and my mom. But my mom is amazing, so I’m not really sad about it anymore. My mom has been so strong. Even back when she had three jobs, she was still helping me and supporting my career. I wouldn’t be anywhere without her.
What do you think your father’s reaction to “Ohio” is?
I hope it would open his eyes a little bit, if he heard the song, and maybe he would rethink how he’s treated us in the past.
Isn’t your father the person who first turned you on to music?
Yes, my dad is actually the one that inspired me to start playing guitar and singing and stuff. Before I started YouTube, I was going around playing restaurants and bars for a good year and a half, like every night, almost. Four hours at a time, we used to play with each other. He was in a band. I would sit in with his band sometimes. He’s kind of who helped get me started with all this music stuff.
So it’s a little ironic that he got you into music, and now you’re using music to express your feelings about your unraveled relationship…
Yeah, the main reason our relationship was kind of poor is because he was always so jealous of me, because of the attention I got. Hopefully one day we can talk again, but it’s just not the right time right now.
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This article originally ran on Yahoo Music.
