Jacob Jeffries is onstage at the Transit Lounge, pounding the keyboards, channeling Billy Joel, and Elton John, and the Beatles, and Ben Folds, and the 14 years of songwriting he's packed into his own 21 years of life. This Thursday night got off to a bumpy start -- the Brickell-area club had booked another party, which ran almost an hour into the start of the release party for Jeffries' latest CD, . . . waiting for the piano movers . . .

But at 10:30 p.m. the stage is finally his, and Jeffries is in full swing, lost in the music, leading a crowd that ranges from former high school buddies to fellow musicians to local music industry heavyweights, in a happy, clapping, arm-waving singalong. ``You've got some nerve,'' Jeffries wails exuberantly, ``to ask if I believe in love.''

There are plenty of people in South Florida who believe in Jeffries, one of the most talented and most watched musical artists on the local scene. A songwriting prodigy who's been composing since he was 7, Jeffries has attracted the interest of some of the most influential people in the Miami music world.

For professionals, or for the fans gathered at the Transit, it all comes back to Jeffries' way with a song. Guillermo Amador, 21, who played bass with Jeffries in the band the songwriter launched at Cypress Day High School in Weston, remembers that even at 13 his former classmate was ``writing songs like nobody's business . . . we would start improvising for fun, and the song would just come out.''

The songs started to come to Jeffries when he was just 7 -- he still remembers the first one, The Story, about, oddly enough, being an old man. ``It was in the key of E minor -- like three chords,'' Jeffries says. ``It was probably a Beatles song.''

His mother, an ardent fan of the British group, filled the house with their music, and at age 3 Jeffries startled her when he walked into the kitchen, announced ``Listen'' and played John Lennon's Imagine on a toy piano.

``Sometimes it's all I can do,'' Jeffries says of the way songs pour out of him. ``Instead of screaming in the middle of the road, you can go to the piano.''

His songs can be humorous meditations, like Life as an Extra, or character studies, like the one of the odd people who hang out at the fictional Fairfax Diner. Jeffries' most personal song is Your Tree, written for his father, who died of a heart attack in November 2007 at 51, the morning after he'd watched his son play at Tobacco Road. A month later, Jeffries wrote the song in which he promises the father who'd always proudly supported his music that he'll carry on for his sake. ``You'll never know me again / but I promise you / I'll plant these seeds for you.''

``Half of it felt like a necessity for me. The other half felt like he would have wanted it that way,'' Jeffries says. ``People were visiting the house, I'm saying thank you, but everything is blurry, you can't see through your tears. Then I look at the piano, and beyond it was a window, and all I could see was this tree.''

It is Jeffries' ability to channel those kinds of feelings into music that has drawn the attention of some of the Miami music industry's most accomplished players, including multiple Latin Grammy-winning producer Sebastian Krys and guitarist Dan Warner, who's recorded with Shakira, Ricky Martin, Celine Dion and Kelly Clarkson. Krys and Warner made Jeffries their pet project several years ago after Warner's former guitar teacher told him about a talented schoolmate of his daughter's. ``I heard Jacob when he was 17 and I just thought his artistry was so far beyond most 30-year-olds,'' says Warner, standing and beaming at the Transit Lounge's bar. ``He's the real deal.''

However, even with the support of people like Warner and Krys, who have co-produced Jeffries' three CDs, being an independent musician is still a struggle. Jeffries has a grand piano at home, courtesy of Baldwin Pianos, which sponsors him, and a coveted publishing contract with Warner Chappell. But he lives with his mother, and he and his bandmates haul their equipment into Transit, just as they do at the small club gigs they've been playing around Florida, New York and L.A.

At the end of the first set Jeffries waves people over to the CDs piled on a small table on the side of the room. ``Hey, we got new CDs over there, only $10!'' he says cheerfully. ``Get one, we'll be back soon, and we'll all have a good time!''

As long as audiences do that, Jeffries is happy to keep pushing. ``Ultimately, what I want is for people to get the music,'' he says. ``To feel why I wrote this song.''

Join the discussion

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.repliedToText@

@Nyx.replyAnswerText@

Reply to this Comment @Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@