Blake Jarrell

Things are only continuing to get bigger and better for this massive dance artist, with a number of serious achievements already under his belt and a future full of many more. From his ongoing summer residency in Ibiza, which will move from Amnesia to Space this year, to brand new residencies at Marquee in Las Vegas and at Circus in Montreal, Blake Jarrell has already traversed the globe far and wide – traveling to over 50 countries in the past 5 years ,both solo and under the wing of DJ Mag’s #1 DJ, Armin Van Buuren. It doesn’t take long to notice how quickly Blake Jarrell has taken this industry by storm.

It is hard to believe that just a few years ago Blake’s fortunes were anything but good. Blake arrived in his adopted hometown of Chicago in 2005, shortly after packing up all of his belongings and fleeing the Mississippi Delta from the menace of Hurricane Katrina. With dance music being no stranger to Chicago, Blake quickly found a place for himself within The Windy City’s EDM scene, where he was able to create and sustain a growing fan-base for both his performances and productions.

Blake quickly rose through the ranks of local jocks and a big break was just ahead. After a chance encounter with Armada Music’s head aficionado Armin Van Buuren, Armin was able to hear for himself what the buzz was all about, and quickly thereafter contacted Blake, inviting him to join the Armada artist roster. Since that time, Blake has joined Armin on several of his world tours as an exclusive special guest performer, including the most recent honor of being asked to play in South Africa at the 500th edition of Armin’s radio show, A State of Trance (ASOT). Prior to this, Blake had already cemented his relationship with Armada Music when he joined a select group of international stars for full summer residencies at Armada’s weekly shindig at Amnesia in Ibiza, which ran from 2007 – 2010.

Battle tested indeed, after traveling to over 100 cities, the New Orleans kid turned Chicago hometown heavyweight remains busy and is looking to climb further up the DJ charts with an intense schedule of original productions and remixes. In the pipeline, he has a number of forth-coming releases like “Boom From The Amplifers” on High Contrast, and a remix of “Youtopia” by Armin Van Buuren feat. Adam Young of Owl City, destined to dominate summer dance floors. His unique approach to creating new music takes his listeners on a journey, as he selects names for his tracks that are inspired by his surroundings like, “Maldives”, “Boracay”, and the exotic “Galapagos.” It’s Blake’s unique studio skills combined with his creativity that have earned him an undisputed reputation that is both embraced and heavily supported by Markus Schulz, Tiesto, Ferry Corsten, Paul van Dyk, Pete Tong, Gareth Emery, John Digweed, Paul Oakenfold and of course Armin Van Buuren.

Blake put himself at the helm of a very unique project with his “Concentrate 2009″ album. Unlike other mix compilations, Blake painstakingly hand picked music selections to completely rework and remix them in the studio from the ground up in order to carve his signature sound into each of the 25 tracks, creating an incredibly cohesive journey across a vast storyline of sound. Other chart topping hits like “Punta Del Este”, “Boracay”, and club destroyers like his remixes of Moussa Clarke’s “She Wants Him” and the classic Paganini Traxx “Zoe” followed suit and have been propelling the young artist from city to city, and studio to studio much of the year.

It is this blistering pace of success that has kept Blake grounded, which explains his latest creation of a monthly radioshow and podcast called, “Concentrate”. The show continues to evolve and reach new audiences by featuring signature mix sets from Blake Jarrell and special international guests. By applying the feedback he receives from fans around the world, Blake’s ever-changing sound reflects both contemporary industry trends and his already unique talent. Blake sets the bar awfully high for aspiring young artists from Chicago, New Orleans and beyond, but it is his perseverance, dedication, hard work, and most of all passion for his craft that sees him through to the top and across the world.