Blues-rock trio Mason releasing debut CD

To say that Tucson music maker Jacob Acosta is a prolific musician might be slightly understating the obvious.

He’s a musician operating at warp speeds, balancing a solo singer-songwriter career with: a schoolteacher day job, an emerging blues band, an experimental electronica persona and songwriting in a number of genres including folk, alternative rock and blues.

In the next handful of months between now and the fall, Acosta will release three projects spanning those musical personalities, starting Friday, May 26, with the release of his blues-rock trio Mason’s debut album, “Midnight Road.”

“I’m just the chameleon artist,” said the 32-year-old Phoenix native and University of Arizona alum. “For me it’s based a lot on a certain amount of success for the group I create and if I’m still inspired.”

Mason is the latest musical inspiration for Acosta, whose career started in 2008 fronting the alternative rock band Race You There. In 2009, he added the acoustic rock trio Roll Acosta to his musical arsenal, producing recordings with both groups before focusing on a solo career in 2013.

From 2013 to ’15, he released three solo albums including his debut, the singer-songwriter-influenced “Chants of Diplomacy.”

Mason came together in 2015 and initially the trio focused on alternative rock. But in late 2016, they switched gears to blues rock; they wanted music that would engage their audiences more actively.

Alternative rock “was a little too cerebral and we kind of wanted to have a little more active experience for the audience,” Acosta said.

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“Midnight Road” borrows influences from 1960s and ’70s blues rock not only in energy and style, but in the recording process. Each band member recorded their parts in their home studios, creating a stripped down, modern-retro sound. You’ll think you’re listening to classic Led Zeppelin with the soaring bass line and driving percussion of “The Way You Used To” only to be sonically transported to the 2000s power pop-punk of “In Or Out.”

The album’s opening title song is a throwback to ’70s radio rock with a delicious guitar solo worthy of those classic guitar-ranting free-for-alls. Blistering blues guitar leads “Shackle Caster” and the humorous “Rockstar Paperboy” before lulling us into Acosta’s blues-drenched, echoing vocals in “I Bet You Know.”

“It’s rock ’n’ roll. That was the whole concept behind writing this style,” Acosta said. “For a lot of us, this is music that we’ve listened to for years. Our familiarity with it makes it a little easier to let loose.”

At Friday’s CD release party, expect to see Mason let loose, Acosta said.

“We want to bring that live element. It’s going to be a party,” he explained.

Acosta and Mason will embark on a monthlong tour in July that will include a stop July 28 at 191 Toole.

Meanwhile Acosta the solo artist has two recordings in the pipeline due to be released this summer and fall: “Desert Sounds,” which explores all aspects of Arizona from the culture and ecology to the animal kingdom; and “Exoplanet” by HYTS, his pop-electronica project with San Francisco DJ Conrad Sasinski.