a review of Jake Witt's "Luck"

It was day 2 of Kilby Block Party 2026, and before I headed to the fairpark, I ate Neapolitan pizza with a country artist. That artist was Jake Witt, hot off his first time supporting a major show in Clay Walker’s performance at The Complex. But you really wouldn’t catch on to that if you met him on the street. Jake is a humble guy, and that is accentuated in his music. Themes of love in a harsh country world are punctuated by an incredibly memorable voice full of a well-worn gravel that can only be found at the core of country and bluegrass. 

His vocals are lovingly rough, with a truthful songwriting. That’s actually pretty exciting to me. He’s still finding his voice as an artist, but I’m incredibly excited to witness his journey through that personal discovery. Honestly, I think he can capture a country sound that Utah has missed out on for a while, and it’s cool to see a fusion between his Missouri roots and his turn into an Ogden transplant. Jake and his partner described Ogden to me as the working class heart of Utah’s urban world. I was kind of sceptical of that notion, but they warmly invited me to come up and see it all for myself. 

The album itself is a treasure, its bluegrass blend of electric and acoustic sounds make you want to square dance the night away with someone you love. The lyrics do that too in their yearning and glee, weaving up a country boy’s prettiest dream into a song like “Holdin’ On.” There’s sadness too, with an aspect of social isolation alongside it that you’ll find in the crucial arteries of “Ramblin’ Man” and “Misunderstood.” I see this as a depiction of Jake’s aforementioned transplant status. He’s trying to find his way in a place that doesn’t quite get him, which is something we’ve all felt at times.

Really, “Luck” is the embodiment of everything about Jake I’ve previously described and more. It’s welcoming and hardened in that way that’s missing from a lot of pop country. Jake’s voice is a big part of this. There’s no rockstar in there. There’s no popstar in there either. Just the sound of a knowing country man. Jake’s a small artist currently, but I believe the right crowds could put him in a solid place as an artist, a place he would rightfully deserve.