One of the luxuries of working at The Current is that I get to listen to a lot of new music, mostly by artists I've never heard before. Every once in a while I come across a musician with no preconceived notions, and I fall in love. That is the most exciting kind of discovery because you didn't know it was going to happen (unlike say, hearing a new Spoon album or Radiohead). For me, Tobias Jesso Jr. is the artist I have fallen hardest for this year and will forever link to the summer of 2015.

A native of Vancouver, Tobias Jesso Jr. only recorded a solo album after moving to Los Angeles to play bass in the band the Sessions. Leaving L.A. for Canada four years later, he broke up with his girlfriend, found out his mom had cancer, worked for a moving company, taught himself how to play piano and recorded music.

Tobias Jesso Jr.'s 2013 demos caught on and he soon found himself working with Patrick Carney of the Black Keys, John Collins of the New Pornographers, Chet "JR" White of Girls and producer Ariel Rechtshaid (Vampire Weekend, HAIM, Beyonce) to fashion Goon, an record that I have not been able to peel off my turntable.

By writing on an instrument that he had just started playing, the songs have a beguiling simplicity that function as the perfect accompaniment to his voice, which feels reminiscent of Nilsson, Elliot Smith or Emitt Rhodes (if that last one is unfamiliar, seek out The One Man Beatle documentary). His songs are sad, but they are also universal, and by the end of Goon you feel like you know Tobias.

Goon is an open book into the struggles of a whole generation of creatives, frustrated by the lack of easy opportunity to do what you love and battered by the onrush of real life. That girl crushed Tobias, and it sucked to for him to have to come home after failing in Los Angeles. Somehow—when you least expect it—you find your true voice, and for Tobias Jesso Jr. it's in the words and grooves on his debut album Goon that he found his, and I found a new artist to love.

Tobias Jesso Jr. plays the Cedar Cultural Center on Tuesday, Oct. 6. Enter below for a chance to win tickets to the show, a vinyl copy of Goon and other goodies.

Tobias Jesso Jr. Grand Prize Giveaway

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Use this form to enter the Tobias Jesso Jr. Grand Prize Giveaway between 9 a.m. CT on Wednesday, Sept. 30, and 11:59 p.m. CT on Sunday, Oct. 4, 2015.

One (1) grand prize winner will receive two (2) tickets to Tobias Jesso Jr.'s show at the Cedar Cultural Center on Tuesday, Oct. 6, one (1) vinyl copy of Goon and one (1) "You Can't Miss Tobias Jesso Jr. He's six foot seven." t-shirt. One (1) runner-up will receive one (1) vinyl copy of Goon.

Prize retail value: $76.49 (grand prize), $16.49 (runner-up)

We will contact the winner on Monday, Oct. 5, 2015. Winner must accept by 12 p.m. CDT on Monday, Oct. 5, 2015.

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This giveaway is subject to Minnesota Public Radio's 2015 Official Giveaway Rules.

Related

• Tobias Jesso Jr., official site