Spinnaker
Words: MacKenzie Pause

Folk music has definitely found a home in Gainesville. While the music created in the college town varies, folk music seems to bring the eclectic community together. I never thought a night bowling at Alley Gatorz (so appropriately named) would lead to a curb side interview with local folk musician and one man band, Spinnaker.

With our bowling shoes still on, I learned one thing about Jonathan Caswell of Spinnaker: he needs to play folk music. It has been his salvation through struggles in life and, according to him, it’s the only thing he can do.

“It’s just something that I do,” Caswell said. “I can’t see myself doing anything else.”

Caswell’s folk project, Spinnaker, provides the creative outlet he needs to move forward. The Gainesville band goes to the core of folk music with an acoustic guitar, passionate lyrics and guest musicians. Caswell also recognizes Gainesville’s ability to embrace the music he creates.

“I’m really excited about living in Gainesville,” Caswell began. “There are some extremely talented and awesome people that live here, kids that just play the same kind of music that we play.”

Landlocked Gainesville may ironically lend more meaning to the name Spinnaker, which according to Wikipedia, is a special type of sail that is designed specifically for sailing off the wind from a reaching course to a downwind.

“I’ve been a sailor most of my life,” Caswell began. “And that’s pretty much what it’s about, the ocean and coming back to it when you feel trapped by the land. 

Spinnaker’s first release, I Know What This Medal Is For, provided something tangible for fans to bring home. The recording for a second release should begin this fall, and Caswell hopes to collaborate with other Gainesville musicians from bands like Cassette, The Deep and Holy Sea, and The Expatriates.

Honest lyrics about the past of the young singer songwriter’s life are confessed through Spinnaker. Caswell’s struggles to overcome drug addiction seem to parallel one of his influences, Elliot Smith. A somber, reflective mood came over Caswell as I asked him to express Smith’s musical and personal influence throughout the years.

Caswell said: “When Elliot comes up, part of me wants to say I understand. He was a junkie, and I know what it’s like to be a junkie. I feel a definite kinship with him there because we both wrote acoustic music and we had a similar upbringing. I just think that listening to him has guided me in some respects through my life. I understand what he was saying. I really admire him as an artist and as a person that I feel like I know where he’s coming from.”

Other influences heard in Spinnaker songs are Johnny Cash, Hank Williams, Bob Dylan and Neil Young.

“Johnny Cash is really my favorite,” Caswell stated. “He was really a good man. He just lived his whole life, he had his problems, he had his things that every man has and he just walked the line. If I had to pick one person to idealize, it would be Johnny Cash. He stood up for what he believed in.”

Like his influences, Caswell overcomes the obstacles in his life and continues to create.

“I just love folk music,” Caswell said. “I had a realization in my life recently that I’m a folk musician and that’s what I’m going to do. It’s the only thing I know how to do so it better be fucking good. All the things that I’ve learned have just given me resolve to do well in the future. I have nothing but the most fervent belief in the power of rock and roll and its ability to move people and do what it needs to do. You can’t crush it. It’s beautiful, beautiful music, and I feel like as long as I’m playing rock and roll music and moving forward, the world can move forward too. Why not?”

purevolume.com/spinnaker
myspace.com/jonathanspinnaker