Jack O' The Clock

Experimental Folk Ensemble

Jack O’ The Clock was formed in Oakland, California in the summer of 2007 when Damon Waitkus and Nicci Reisnour, who had both been composition students at Mills College, discovered a mutual interest in alloying folk-inspired songwriting with a composerly approach to instrumentation and arrangement. The group began as an acoustic trio, with Waitkus on guitar, hammer dulcimer, and voice, Reisnour playing harp, wine glasses, and melodica, and Emily Packard playing violins and banjo. They were soon joined by percussionist Jordan Glenn and began performing around the Bay Area in early 2008. In the summer of that year, Reisnour left and the remaining trio recruited Jason Hoopes on bass and Kate McLoughlin on bassoon, voice, and flute. The expanded ensemble enabled Jack O’ The Clock to diversify its sound dramatically, incorporating elements of progressive rock, free jazz, minimalism, and other influences that appeared as new material developed. Jack O’ The Clock performs regularly throughout the Pacific Northwest, and has released four full-length CD-albums.