Who is Jon Black

Tomorrow (7/3/2009) I’ll be on WBHM.org. There’s this fantastic show called Tapestry that airs once a month and is an hour long program that features arts in Alabama and the region. It’s really a great program that shows the arts in Alabama is alive and well.

You can also subscribe to the Tapestry Podcast in iTunes. Here’s a link for that.

It airs at Noon on Friday and then again at 11 AM on Saturday. You can stream it online if you’re not in Birmingham on their website. Thanks for listening and thanks to fine folks at WBHM for this opportunity.

I love blip.fm. If you aren’t familiar with it then you should be. I love how the internet has pretty much destroyed radio… viva la revolution…

click here to listen to the play list.

The Temper Trap - Sweet Disposition
Telekinesis! - Tokoyo
Fiction Family - When She’s Near
Bruce Springsteen - Born To Run (Live from Hammersmith Odeon London 1975)
Delta Spirit - Streetwalker
AA Bondy - American Hearts
Duquette Johnston - Don’t Go Back To Etowah
The Thermals - Now I Can See
Midlake - Roscoe
Darker My Love - Summer’s Here
Aimee Mann - Ballantines

enjoy.

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City Stages is finished (as I’m sure most of you know). The year I played (2008) was one of the most exciting line-ups the festival had seen and it was one of the bigger moments of my career. I was by interviewed by Fox 6 here in Birmingham and explained how I felt about the festival.

City Stages was great to me and was one of the highlights of my (still) young and (still) struggling career. Part of me will miss the festival and I have a feeling another festival of sorts will happen along with the other ones in the city (Bham Folk Festival, Crawfish Boil, etc.).

I’m sad it’s gone but I can see why the doors shut. I’m not a naive, local artist (yes, I live in Birmingham and not sure why some people here don’t know that).

Hope all is well on your side of the screen. - jb

sidenote: You might notice this quote from the news piece: “New performers, especially up-and-comers from Birmingham, needed the stage to improve their craft and improve their fanbase.” I DID NOT say that and don’t really agree with that. It can help but it’s not the only place to play in this wonderful city.

Friday, 6.26.2009 you must be at Workplay for a great night of music from Alabama artists. This is going to be a homecoming show for me since I’ve been gone for 5 weeks. Come grab a cold beverage and listen to some great music. Here’s the line up:

Matthew Mayfield
The Bridges
Me
Kate Taylor
Stew Vann & Friends

Matthew was just on Grey’s Anatomy and you recognize The Bridges from a Paste cover. Seriously, it’s going to be a great night of music. Tickets are on sale at Workplay’s website.

Come support local music please. Bring your friends, family, and enemies. Help us pack the place out and celebrate the fact that Alabama is turning out some great music.

See you there.

A while back I was asked to create some intro music for the Joystiq Podcast (a popular gaming website and blog). Many of the listeners have asked where they could get the song so I’m making it available for a little bit, free of charge, here on the website.

Gravity (Don’t Let Me Go) - By Jon Black (Right-Click to save as…)

Thanks to everyone who likes the song and wants to put it in your music library.

Today I discovered (thanks to greg) something I’m sure I’ll be addicted to called blip.fm. I’ve uploaded all my songs to blip so if you want to share it with a friend via twitter/facebook/etc then this is a great way to do it. You can find my blip.fm profile here and I’ll make sure you have a good selection of music to stream while you’re at work, home, or where you find you listen.

I have a surprise coming down the pipe that will hopefully arrive next week.

To celebrate my 1000th twitter (or tweet) I am offering these three shows from the past All The Lads & A Lady Songwriter’s Tour. It features myself, Kim Taylor, Ryan Horne, David Berkeley, and Micah Dalton.

Download Schuba’s - Chicago, IL (120 MB)
Download Workplay - Birmingham, AL (155 MB)
Download Eddie’s Attic - Decatur, GA (163 MB)

Here’s the info on the shows:

Schuba’s - 04.04.2009
Chicago, IL
Recorded on an Edirol R-09HR
Length: 1.4 hours

01. The Autobiography of Milton Burroughs - Micah Dalton
02. 4th of July - Ryan Horne
03. Fruits of My Labor- Kim Taylor
04. Broken Places - Jon Black
05. Chicago - David Berkeley
06. High and Low - Micah Dalton
07. The Part That Fits - Ryan Horne
08. Days Like These - Kim Taylor
09. Life in the Present Tense - Jon Black
10. Glory - David Berkeley
11. Easier to Read - Micah Dalton
12. Long Island Railroad - Ryan Horne
13. The Greatest Story - Kim Taylor
14. High Heels - David Berkeley
15. Ghost of Elvis - Jon Black
16. California Stars - All The Lads & A Lady

Workplay Theatre - 04.08.2009
Birmingham, AL
Recorded by Dennis Tyler
Length: 1.8 Hours

01. The Autobiography of Milton Burroughs - Micah Dalton
02. 4th of July - Ryan Horne
03. Fruit of My Labor - Kim Taylor
04. Willis Avenue Bridge - David Berkeley
05. Broken Places - Jon Black
06. Stage Banter
07. High and Low - Micah Dalton
08. The Part That Fit - Ryan Horne
09. Days Like These - Kim Taylor
10. High Heels - David Berkeley
11. Life In The Present Tense - Jon Black
12. Easier to Read - Micah Dalton
13. Grover Mill - Ryan Horne
14. The Greatest Story - Kim Taylor
15. Glory - David Berkeley
16. Nothing But A Fire - Jon Black
17. Disappointed - Micah Dalton
18. Long Island Railroad - Ryan Horne
19. Fading Light - Kim Taylor
20. Oh, Lord Come Down - David Berkeley
21. Ghost of Elvis - Jon Black
22. California Stars - All the Lads & A Lady

Eddie’s Attic - 04.09.2009
Decatur, GA
Record by Shalom @ Eddie’s Attic (Direct from the Board)
Length: 1.9 Hours

01. Baby I Need You - Kim Taylor
02. 4th of July - Ryan Horne
03. The Autobiography of Milton Burroughs - Micah Dalton
04. Broken Places - Jon Black
05. Fruit of My Labor - Kim Taylor
06. The Part That Fit - Ryan Horne
07. High and Low - Micah Dalton
08. Life in the Present Tense - Jon Black
09. Days Like These - Kim Taylor
10. Grover Mill - Ryan Horne
11. Easier to Read - Micah Dalton
12. If We Hang On - Jon Black
13. Let Me Down - Kim Taylor
14. Long Island Railroad - Ryan Horne
15. Disappointed - Micah Dalton
16. Drove to Knoxville - Jon Black
17. The Greatest Story - Kim Taylor
18. War For Me - Ryan Horne
19. Find You In Ohio - Micah Dalton
20. Ghost of Elvis - Jon Black
21. California Stars - All The Lads & A Lady
22. Shalom Sings The Hits! - Shalom

As we left Atlanta with a Toyota Prius packed beyond what we could imagine, we knew it was going to be a great trip. Laughter filled what little space was left and harmonies were sung for 8 hours on the way to Cinncinati.

This afternoon, before we left Cinncinati, we were treated to authentic tamales in the city of Norwood. See, this “restaurant” is not listed anywhere. There’s no sign to the dining experience. You truly have to know someone to get into this place and lucky for us, our host Sandie and here daughter (who thank God speaks Spanish) know this family. See, they make tamales in their kitchen and sell them for $1.50 a pop. We walked around the side of their house, knocked on their back door, and then found ourselves seated at a table in the middle of the kitchen of Maria’s house. We were treated to tamales that have ruined any past or future tamale I’ll ever eat and, to my first, Coronita. It’s a Corona that is literally tiny and it really tied the experience together.

I’ve been reading “Harry Potter: The Prisoner of Azkaban” and listening to a lot of Bon Iver (both For Emma & Blood Bank EP) and The National on this trip. Probably will finish the book in the next day so I’m hoping to find a good bookstore in Chicago to purchase the next Harry Potter fix. I can’t believe I’ve waited so long to read them. I’m already planning a read through of The Lord of the Rings after I finish the Harry Potter series.

Thanks to all who came out to the Northside Tavern show, the Natasha’s show, and the Living Room show. Schuba’s tomorrow! Can’t wait to be back in Chicago.

See you down the road. Hope all is well on your side of the screen.

For more constant updates please visit my twitter page.

3/11 - Birmingham, AL - Workplay Theater***
3/14 - Birmingham, AL - Urban Standard**
3/26 - Nashville, TN - 3rd & Lindsley*
3/28 - Opelika, AL - 8th & Rail*
4/1 - Cincinatti, OH - Northside Tavern*
4/2 - Lexington, KY - Natasha’s*
4/3 - Muncie, IN - The Living Room*
4/4 - Chicago, IL - Shuba’s*
4/5 - Metroplis, IL - House Show*
4/6 - Athens, GA - Melting Point*
4/7 - Knoxville, TN - The Square Room* BUY TIX
4/8 - Birmingham, AL - Workplay Theater* BUY TIX
4/9 - Atlanta, GA - Eddie’s Attic* BUY TIX
4/10 - Greenville, SC - The Channel*

*** - The Mysterious Jon Black Trio (featuring Clint Wells and Brian T. Murphy)
** - RPM Songs Concert
* - Lads and Lady Songwriter’s Tour

3/14 will be a special evening where I play all the songs I wrote for the RPM Challenge. Since I missed two weeks during the RPM Challenge I’ve decided to use the first two weeks of March to finish them. I will showcase them on 3/14 @ Urban Standard.  Some of them may never be played live again.

The Lads and Lady Songwriter’s Tour will feature myself, David Berkely, Kim Taylor, Micah Dalton, and Ryan Horne. Looking forward to playing Schuba’s in Chicago and seeing friends in Metropolis.

Most days I’m discouraged about playing music but when I’m on the road with friends sharing life and song I find a lot of hope I need to push forward.

Hope to see y’all there!

First let me express my deep gratitude to everyone who sent emails, texts, phone calls, and hugs over the loss of my Grandfather. He was a beautiful soul and is dearly missed. Seriously, I wish you could have met him.

As of late I’ve been drifting towards more mellow music but have been grateful for the songs that give me hope. Music speaks so directly to my soul that I’m often at a loss for words to explain it. Here’s what’s been currently on rotation in our house, iPod, car…

Jon Foreman - Fall EP
The National - Boxer
Mark Olson & Gary Louris - Ready for the Flood
Wilco - Various Bootlegs (need one? I’m up for a trade)
Ben Kweller - Changing Horses
Bon Iver - For Emma: Forever Ago

It’s been a crazy couple of weeks and things are settling in here back home. Within 24 hours I was on both coasts of our great country and actually felt some jet lag when I hit NYC. Big news coming soon so stay tuned.

hope all is well on your side of the screen.