Jesse Loewy resides in Havertown PA and graduated from Haverford High School in June, 2016. Music has always been a big part of his life. He showed interest in the guitar at the tender age of two and got his first guitar at three. He taught himself to play the guitar by watching DVDs of Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan.
Around the same time, Jesse also began studying the cello. He took lessons from Maie Shin of Old City Music School in Philadelphia for nine years, then began studying with Ronald Lipscomb of the Bryn Mawr Conservatory of Music. Jesse joined the Fifth Grade District String Orchestra at Lynnewood Elementary School when he was in second grade. The following year he was chosen as principal cellist with the orchestra. He continued to play with the HMS and HHS Orchestra up until his graduation. He was also a member of the HHS Jazz Ensemble in which he played guitar. Jesse’s dream has always been to build his own career in music. As much as he enjoyed performing in school concerts and recitals, he felt rather limited and therefore wasn’t able to fully portray his musical individuality.
Meanwhile, at the age of 8, Jesse was asked to join a musician on stage at a restaurant and was well received by the crowd. That experience led Jesse to perform various open mic nights in the local area. This marked the very beginning of his musical career.
When Jesse was thirteen, he appeared on The 10! Show in Philadelphia on February 13, 2011 as the featured attraction. He asked an open mic night house band he frequently performed with to join him in performing Johnny B. Goode on the show.
A little bit later that year, Jesse formed his own band and performed with them professionally almost every weekend. After starting out doing bar/restaurant gigs, with The Jesse Loewy Band in addtion to other groups, Jesse advanced to performing at various festivals and establishments including; King Biscuit Blues Festival (West Helena, Arkansas), Hayward Russell City Blues Festival (Hayward, California), Club 152 (Memphis, Tennessee), Briggs Farm Blues Festival (Nescopeck, Pennsylvania), Destination Blues Festival (Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania), World Cafe Live at the Queen (Wilmington, Delaware), The Linda WAMC’s Performing Arts Studio (Albany, New York), Rose Tree Park Summer Festival (Media, Pennsylvania), The Ardmore Music Hall (Ardmore, Pennsylvania), Paoli Blues Festival (Paoli, Pennsylvania), State Street Blues Stroll (Media Pennsylvania), and many more while still doing restaurant gigs on the side. Jesse’s frequent performances and his ability to make connections led to many opportunities to share the stage with many wonderful musicians including; Marcus Miller (bassist for Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Luther Vandross), David Bromberg, Al Chez (Former trumpet player for the Late Show with David Letterman), Herb Smith (Patti Labelle’s guitar player for over 20 years), Lonnie Shields, Leroy Hawkes, Slam Allen, Conrad Herwig, Dick Oatts, and many more. As much as Jesse loves to play the blues, his classically trained upbringing helped him expand his ability to play Jazz along with many other styles.
After forming his own group, Jesse was again asked to join a musician on stage. Lonnie Shields took the guitar off his back and introduced Jesse to the crowd at the State Street Blues Stroll in 2011 (Media, PA) where he proceeded to bring down the house. That experience led to Lonnie featuring Jesse for a set at his shows for the next few years. In 2015, Lonnie’s group disbanded due to other musical opportunities for his band members. At that point, Lonnie decided to retire from public performance. Jesse however was not satisfied with that decision since his journey with Lonnie was just beginning. After a long, intense discussion, Jesse was able to successfully pull Lonnie out of retirement. Jesse suggested to Lonnie that he and the members of his band (The Jesse Loewy Band), take the place of Lonnie’s previous band members, making the new Lonnie Shields Band consist of The Jesse Loewy Band plus Lonnie. Lonnie Shields, being a highly established blues musician had worked with many incredible artists, managers, and booking agents throughout the course of his lifelong career. Since Lonnie’s manager was also a member of his previous band, he no longer managed Lonnie after the group disbanded. In need of a new manager in 2016, Lonnie asked Jesse if he’d be willing to step up to the plate. Jesse agreed to manage the band under the condition that he was able to work with a business partner to split the workload, and chose his bass player, Mike Whren.
In 2017, Jesse received admission to Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA and chose to put his education on hold to take full advantage of the opportunity of playing with and managing Lonnie Shields, in addition to working with The Jesse Loewy Band on some new projects as well. Jesse’s natural ability and love to perform on stage, his impressive work ethic, humble demeanor, and innate unbounded talent is sure to take him anywhere he wants to go.
