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Jae Stix: 'Loyalty'

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A collage of a person wearing a black hat sitting behind drums.
Jae Stix (Courtesy of Jae Stix)

The Sunday Music Drop is a weekly radio series hosted by the KQED weekend news team. In each segment, we feature a song from a local musician or band with an upcoming show and hear about what inspires their music.

Antioch’s Jae “Stix” Jackson is the lead drummer and musical director for Baycoin Beats, a collective of musicians that fuses R&B and contemporary jazz as well as soul, neo soul and trap music. For each gig with the project, Stix brings together a unique mix of musicians that play a mix of cover songs and original music.

“I like to work with a lot of people and everybody’s sound is different. So when we come together, you’re not going to always hear one sound,” said Stix. “So that’s why it’s a collective, because each time sometime I have a different crew and you’re going to get a different sound.”

Jae Stix was born and raised in Richmond and comes from a musically inclined family. Their father played drums and their mother was in gospel choirs when they were two years old.

“They said, I start pulling out pots and pans, just pulling out pots and pans and beating on them,” said Stix.

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Stix is self-taught with no formal training. Their love of drumming led them to start playing in the choir at five years old, and continued into their teenage years with different bands and groups throughout the Bay Area. They currently play for Redemption Church in San Francisco.

“Growing up in the 90s, girl drummers wasn’t the thing. It’s definitely a male-dominated instrument,” they said. “And Sheila E paved the way. I dealt with a lot of that growing up. And to this day, I still [do]. But I got through it. It was definitely challenging and it didn’t stop me. I do it for the joy.”

They now live in Antioch with their wife, Clarisse LaGrone Jackson, who doubles as the band’s manager. Baycoin Beats also hosts an underground, Supperjam, founded and hosted by the duo. Baycoin Beats’ first EP will be released in Fall 2024.

If you’d like to hear Jae Stix and Bay Coin Beats live, the band will be performing at the San Jose Jazz Summerfest on Aug. 9.

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