While the art of self-posturing and comparing ourselves to others is as old as humanity, it’s no secret that digital-age social media platforms have unapologetically forced us to either settle into our own skin or pretend to be in someone else’s.
This cultural phenomena is what enticed Nashville-based tandem Jamie Jacobsen and Parker Moore of Tedious & Brief to create their latest single “Counterfeit.”
“We wanted to reflect the cycle of self-deception we’re all prone to through a social media-charged culture,” Jamie expounds. “To touch on how we’ve become slaves to comparison and ultimately disconnected from authenticity. To call out the superficial. To challenge listeners to recognize the toll this digital counterfeit takes—not only on ourselves, but on how we interact with everyone else, creating a collective façade that’s tearing us down from within. ‘Counterfeit’ dives into the way we, as a society, have substituted real, meaningful experiences for a curated, digital reality. The song explores the ways we seek validation through filtered versions of ourselves, reducing complex emotions and interactions to likes and comments.”

If you’re wondering where her stage name comes from, look no further than the wildly popular podcast “S-Town,” created by This American Life. 
“It’s one of my favorite true stories I’ve ever heard,” explains Jacobsen.
“It’s a wild story about a guy named John B. McLemore who lives in what he calls “Shit Town Alabama.” John is many things, one being a clockmaker. On the backs of the clocks, he writes sayings about time and on one clock he wrote “Tedious & Brief.” I really love the sentiment of time/life being tedious and brief. Some people think that’s a negative way to view life, but I think viewing things as tedious and brief challenges us to count every moment in life as precious and worthwhile, even the bad parts. It makes me want to live life intentionally because we’re only here for a few moments.”
Tedious & Brief is part of AESTHETYK, founded by music industry veteran Matt Ingle. Ingle created AESTHETYK as a way to offer emerging songwriters and musicians an opportunity for incubation, helping them cultivate a signature and meaningful sound, as well as brand and ethic for a mass audience.