Jake & Shelby: Two Voices, One Song

On this episode of The Bandwich Tapes, I sit down with Jake & Shelby, a Nashville-based songwriting duo whose music is built on a natural chemistry that you can hear immediately. Our conversation feels a lot like their songs—honest, relaxed, and rooted in the process of figuring things out together.

We start in the middle of a Nashville winter storm in early 2026, when power outages and unexpected downtime forced them to slow down—and unexpectedly reignited their songwriting spark. From there, we rewind to how the two of them first met through Jake’s dad’s music school, and the wide range of artists that shaped their musical instincts along the way, including Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood, Lizzy McAlpine, John Mayer, Stevie Ray Vaughan, The Cars, and Madison Cunningham.

One of my favorite parts of the conversation is hearing how their duet sound developed naturally rather than by design. They didn’t study classic duos or try to replicate an established formula. Instead, their voices gradually found each other. Jake talks about how he essentially learned harmony from Shelby, and how their blend now feels like one shared musical voice—two distinct tones moving with the same phrasing and instinct.

We also talk about some of the surreal early moments in their career, including the sudden attention that came when Michael Bublé and Kim Kardashian shared their music, amplifying their audience almost overnight. That early exposure opened doors, but it also led them to the next stage of their work: moving beyond the stripped-down Just Us era and into a fully produced debut album recorded across Nashville and Los Angeles.

Along the way, they share how songs typically come together—often starting with a guitar idea, building melody, and shaping lyrics in shared phone notes. Collaboration, for them, means letting the song win when disagreements come up. By the end of the conversation, it’s clear they’ve already built a massive catalog—nearly 100 finished songs—and they’re still very much at the beginning of their story.

Key Takeaways

• How Jake & Shelby’s musical partnership began through Jake’s dad’s music school.
• The wide range of influences shaping their sound, from Taylor Swift and Lizzy McAlpine to Stevie Ray Vaughan and The Cars.
• Why their vocal harmony developed organically rather than by modeling classic duos.
• The surprising early boost when Michael Bublé and Kim Kardashian shared their music online.
• The shift from their stripped-down Just Us era into a full-band debut album.
• How songs often start with guitar ideas, shared phone notes, and collaborative lyric writing.
• Why their rule during disagreements is simple: let the song win.

Music from the Episode

• Loophole — Jake & Shelby
• You Don’t Know — Jake & Shelby
• Shut Up and Kiss Me — Jake & Shelby
• Falling Out of Love — Jake & Shelby
• Morning Light — Jake & Shelby

About the Podcast

The Bandwich Tapes is a long-form conversation podcast where host Brad Williams sits down with some of the most thoughtful musicians, composers, and artists working today. The show explores the stories behind the music—creative process, collaboration, career paths, and the human experiences that shape the sounds we love.

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