When I Was Young

Stephen Jaymes is the punk folk hero hell-bent on saving the human race, one literate and lacerating lyric at a time. A self-contained singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer based in Long Beach, California.
He might be described as Charles Bukowski ditching whiskey for psychedelic mushrooms while feverishly ingesting Rumi poetry and Phil Ochs records. His mixing engineer Zsolt Virag calls it "sadhappy" — uplifting music with sad lyrics.
His debut album King Jaymes (May 2025) was hailed as "a folk-punk gospel for the end times" (Cool Happy Genius Heroes). The post-album singles run continues — Birdcage (Feb 2026), The Other Guy (March 2026), Not Going (May 29) — building toward his second album, Jaymes With A Why, due Christmas 2026.
Stephen's voice draws comparisons to Iggy Pop, Scott Walker, Ian McCulloch, and Gordon Lightfoot. His music to Cat Stevens, acoustic Beck, and T Rex. His lyrics to Nilsson, Phil Ochs, and Leonard Cohen.

stephenjaymes.com

Stephen Jaymes is the punk folk hero hell-bent on saving the human race, one literate and lacerating lyric at a time. A self-contained singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer based in Long Beach, California. He might be described as Charles Bukowski ditching whiskey for psychedelic mushrooms while feverishly ingesting Rumi poetry and Phil Ochs records. His mixing engineer Zsolt Virag calls it "sadhappy" — uplifting music with sad lyrics. His debut album King Jaymes (May 2025) was hailed as "a folk-punk gospel for the end times" (Cool Happy Genius Heroes). The post-album singles run continues — Birdcage (Feb 2026), The Other Guy (March 2026), Not Going (May 29) — building toward his second album, Jaymes With A Why, due Christmas 2026. Stephen's voice draws comparisons to Iggy Pop, Scott Walker, Ian McCulloch, and Gordon Lightfoot. His music to Cat Stevens, acoustic Beck, and T Rex. His lyrics to Nilsson, Phil Ochs, and Leonard Cohen. stephenjaymes.com

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When I Was Young

When I Was Young