Background
Her father was in the United States Foreign Service, and she moved to Austria when she was eleven. Her father sang old Tin Pan Alley songs at home, and her mother sang Russian ballads and American standards.
Her father was in the United States Foreign Service, and she moved to Austria when she was eleven. Her father sang old Tin Pan Alley songs at home, and her mother sang Russian ballads and American standards.
Jacobs wanted to become a ballet dancer. Her family was a singing one, if not formally musical. At church she sang songs of the civil rights era and the folk revival, and some songs such as "Up, Up and Away".
She was a fan of Fred Astaire, and her disparate musical tastes included standards written by Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, and Johnny Mercer, as well as country music by artists like Loretta Lynn.
During the early 1980s Jacobs moved to New York City. She continued to dance, but by 1987 she had started to write songs.
In 1992 she recorded her first album, The Calm Comes After Bar/None Records. She followed in 1995 with What About Regret.
In 1999 she released her third album, Hydrangea, to which guests Peter Holsapple, Vicki Peterson and Susan Cowsill added their musical contributions, as did long-time cohorts Dave Schramm and James MacMillan.
The key songs on the album are taken from her family"s history. After Hydrangea, she became busy with her family life, and did not release another album for six years. In 2004 she released her fourth album, You Call That Dark.
Seven years later, she released her fifth album Home Game.