Finding The Right Note

One can't help but wonder: How did a critically acclaimed guitarist, composer and educator -- whose career to date has spanned nine albums as bandleader across jazz, rock and classical new music styles -- a musician who has toured throughout the U.S., Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and India and performed and recorded with a who's who of artists wind up teaching at the University of Arkansas?

Jake Hertzog says it was a combination of good fortune and good timing.

"Basically, I was kind of doing a lot of road gigs, many of which involved teaching type of engagements," he says. "I really liked that -- way more than I first thought I might. I had done some other extended teaching things along the way, and I thought I really wanted to get a foot in higher education as a home base. I got really lucky when there was a position advertised at the University of Arkansas."

Raised in Champaign, Ill., and living in New York City with wife Erica Duncan, Hertzog says he had no idea what to expect from Fayetteville.

"I started to research how lovely Northwest Arkansas really is, and I thought it might be a good fit. I remember my first visit, I called my wife after about an hour: 'I think you're going to like it here.' There was just a vibe... It was one of those magic moments."

The move accomplished several things, Hertzog says. It brought the couple closer to family in Utah and on the West Coast. It allowed them to find a home with enough space for Duncan's online business -- she gave up her promotions job at Madison Square Garden to move with her husband. And "the location is great, the vibe of the Ozarks is beautiful, and the cultural part of this area is very impressive to me," Hertzog adds. "There's a lot of support of the arts from the community, and from the philanthropic community, and from the university itself. It's the total package. When there's support for the arts, whether it's in New York or Finland or India or Argentina or Fayetteville, Ark., that's the kind of place artists want to be.

"Between the great things happening in the art community and the indie scene of bands and music and food and all of that, there's just something special here," he says. "I feel lucky to have joined a music department when new things are being added, new offerings being built, and we have the opportunity as a department to take all of the great growth and work done over many past decades and take it to the next level."

-- Becca Martin-Brown

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NAN What's Up on 03/24/2017