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Jon Strong
Who is Jon Strong?
When Jon was just 7 years old, his dad made him his first, almost unplayable guitar and packed him off to Kitchen’s Music Shop in Leeds for lessons every Tuesday night.
His teacher, Len Lewis saw potential and, soon after, he became the owner of a Hofner President guitar, almost as big as him! Jon’s dad decided that such an instrument needed to be treated well -
“If you’re going to play the thing then you’re going to learn it properly” - and so classical tuition followed with Bruno Barron, a contemporary of Julian Bream.
But the classics weren’t for Jon. He sold almost all his possessions to buy a 1961 Epiphone Texan and that changed everything - he still has it today.
And so his professional career began in 1973. Buying his air fare to Canada, he travelled down the west coast of America, picking up gigs on the way in Santa Barbara, San Francisco and basing himself in Riverside California for over a year. It was here that he started to hone his unique percussive style of playing and began to discover a new world of modal tunings while playing the four 45 minute sets required in the coffee houses and bars of Southern California.
Back in England the folk scene became the focus of his attention and it was here that Jon teamed up with musical soul mate, Kieran Halpin.
In the long hot summer of 1976 they set off to Amsterdam, living in two tents pitched on the top of a houseboat on the Brouwersgracht owned by the sister of the lead singer in “The Specials”. After a month spent gigging they moved on to Germany, busking in Cologne during the day, doing floor spots at night, arranging gigs and experiencing all the eccentricities and madness that came with the turf at that time.
But the effort was worth it because tours followed, taking him the length and breadth of Europe and, after winning a song contest in Holland, a deal with Munich Records produced his debut album, “Nightshift”, was released to critical acclaim. Melody Maker voted him songwriter of the year and support tours followed with Ry Cooder, Robert Palmer, Van Morrison, Talk Talk, Clannad, and Camel.
By 1983/4 he had teamed up with Dutch fretless bass maestro Gjalt Dyktra and released a new album for Munich Record and four singles, one of which reached number 22 in the Dutch charts. From then he formed the Jon Strong Band and toured the UK, Europe and the USA.
Feeling increasingly frustrated with the music scene in Holland, Jon decided to move back to the UK, borrowed a flat in Leeds and started again from scratch taking on weekly local residences. Playing to packed houses soon drew the attentions of others and he signed with Birmingham agent Jim McFee, which led to appearances at Cambridge and Cropredy festivals and gigs the length and breadth of the UK circuit. Gjalt then decided to return to Holland and Jon went back to solo work, producing an own label solo album on his first 8 track recorder at home.
Developing his interest in recording and production, Jon built a second studio in the now defunct “Coliseum”, met drummer Roy Whyke and bass player Jon Short at a folk club gig in Barnsley to form a new-version Jon Strong Band. After a year, Duncan Waller replaced Jon Short and this became the permanent, successful make-up of the band.
Collaboration with Wakefield business man Adrian Brooks led to the production of their next album, “Follow Me” and being signed to the prestigious Linn Records label in Glasgow, along with such artists as The Blue Nile, Steve Gibbons, Martin Taylor and Claire Martin.
What followed was a whirlwind of concerts and tours throughout the UK and Europe with a demanding schedule of 250 gigs a year. They played live on the Steve Wright Show and the BBC’s Johnny Walker commented “I don’t believe you were playing live” and Bob Harris described them as ”Brilliant”.
In the meantime, Jon designed and built Tube Studios in Leeds in collaboration with Linn Records where he recorded his second album, “Honest Soldier” a combination of band tracks and solo studio projects.
After 11 years of enormous success, the band split, allowing Jon to take some time out to work on various studio projects before returning to his roots to play solo.
Energised by this new phase in Jon’s career, new tours are emerging to follow up his latest album 'in retrospect' which incorporates the best of live, new and previously unrecorded material.
For further details on Jon and his gigs, or for bookings, contact Bob Chiswick by phone on 07952 278096 or 01302 788478 or email chizz@talktalk.net
