Jason Youngclaus was born in Boston in 1983 and raised in the nearby communities of Medford, Massachusetts and Wilmington, Massachusetts. Stemming from a close-knit family of Polish and Irish Americans who honor work ethic and loyalty, his first memories are of his mother blaring Rolling Stones records in their living room and meeting his grandfather just before he passed away. Jason grew up playing pick-up baseball games with his cousins at low tide on the beaches of Cape Cod --- traditions that are still important to his family today. In 2001 he graduated near the top of his class from Wilmington High School where, in his senior year, he co-captained the Wilmington Wildcats golf team to the Division III state championship. It was in high school that Jason first became enamored with the written word after reading Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman, Howl by Allen Ginsberg and forming an addiction to the songs of Bob Dylan. In 2005 he graduated from College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts. Freshman year he bought his beloved Ibanez acoustic guitar for $250 at Union Music on Southbridge St. in downtown Worcester after eating too many hot dogs at the famous Coney Island Hot Dogs next door. Equipped with a book of chords and a vivid imagination, Jason taught himself to play on this instrument. Today, having survived numerous falls, failed relationships, and overpriced New York City apartments this guitar remains his instrument of choice. It is the instrument you’ll hear chiming away on all of his recordings. In addition to becoming a self-taught guitarist (he has never taken a music lesson of any kind) --- in university he studied and was captivated by the Romantic poets, particularly Coleridge, Blake and Wordsworth.

Upon graduating from Holy Cross in 2005 with degrees in English and Philosophy, Jason moved to Washington Heights in New York City with two of his friends. After working a number of odd jobs, Jason settled on a career in progressive politics. He became a highly successful canvass

director in the political world of New York State politics where he quickly developed a reputation for being able to inspire troops in the field through his 'lead by example', work hard/play hard, fun-loving managerial style. In 2013, Jason was mentored in the art of Non-Profit accounting and in 2014 gained a certification from FMA (Fiscal Management Associates) as a certified non-profit accounting professional. He still works in this field in the progressive world, having risen to the ranks of Controller in non-profit Finance. Above all Jason loves to read and write poetry --- he is a widely published poet. You will find his poems in Junto Magazine, Swimming with Elephants Publications, From Whispers to Roars, the Esthetic Apostle and others. His favorite writers are Kurt Vonnegut, Charles Bukowski, and Christopher Hitchens. He is also a man who loves, and I mean loves a good guitar riff. His favorite guitar riff of all time is probably “Born Under a Bad Sign” by Albert King (although technically speaking the guitar riff that drives the song was played by Steve Cropper and Mr. King played lead over it.)

His musical taste varies widely, some of his favorite artists are The Beatles, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Black Keys, The Four Tops, Tupac, Lightnin’ Hopkins and Danny Schmidt. He is obsessed with blues music and regrets not having make it down to the Crossroads in the Mississippi Delta yet in his life. Jason currently resides in Somerville, MA, where he loves to frequent his favorite spot, Buddy’s Diner. He enjoys traveling to Greece, Ireland, and Scotland --- mainly because he believes their cultures are freaking fascinating and awesome. He loves to cook a 5 hour slow simmered Marinara sauce on the first snow of every winter season. He also loves a finely marbled NY Strip cut of beef. He is a firm believer that the perfect steak is rendered on medium-high heat for 2 and a half minutes on each side in a cast iron skillet with only salt, pepper, butter and a touch of rosemary as added ingredients. He makes damn good mashed potatoes with very little effort because it's just, you know, in his DNA or something like that.