Jason Trachtenburg

Jason Trachtenburg's musical career began in the late '80s in New York City, where he was part of the Lower East Side's anti-folk and performance-art scenes. In 1992, he moved to Austin, TX, where he worked with Daniel Johnston on music and video projects. He also formed the band the Pancakes With Cheese while in Austin. He relocated yet again to the Pacific Northwest in 1993 to collaborate with Chris Ballew of Presidents of the United States of America. Ballew produced Trachtenburg's early recordings in Seattle, including 1993's Let the Fishes Do the Asking and 1996's Lefty's Black Bag, which was co-produced by Conrad Uno of Pop Llama. In 1999, Trachtenburg released Your Favorite Song. His folky, lo-fi acoustic songs instantly gained him favorable attention from Seattle music fans and from the Orange Recording Company, who released his Revolutions Per Minute album in 2000. The quirky songs on the album finally garnered Trachtenburg the national attention he'd always deserved. Topics on the album ranged from cellular phones to nutrition to auto insurance and toothpaste. It was during this era that his live shows in Seattle with the Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players included his six-year-old daughter on drums, while his wife Tina served as projectionist of the band's slide show.