The Chicago musician Jeremy Jacobsen, widely recognized under the stage name the Lonesome Organist, operates as a genuine one-man band. Mastery of numerous instruments at the same time—among them organ, drums, guitar, harmonica, toy piano, tap-shoes, and steel drum—allows his performances to suit a vaudeville bill, a sideshow spectacle, or a conventional rock recording with equal ease. Innovation remains constant across his discography, where he blends rock, yodeling, blues, circus music, and soundtrack music into single releases. Both Collector of Cactus Echo Bag from 1997 and Cavalcade from 1999, the latter issued by Thrill Jockey, feature such an expansive range of instrumentation and orchestration that nearly every existing musical style emerges as a plausible reference point. Onstage, Jacobsen sustains the same breadth, often handling four instruments simultaneously while pivoting between contrasting idioms from one track to the next. The Lonesome Organist has nevertheless appeared alongside other acts, including the Blues Explosion, 5ive Style, and Euphone. His third album, Forms and Follies, was captured on eight tracks and reached listeners in spring 2003.
