ârhythm-driven porch-swinginâ highway-weavinâ Americana popâ

11 MP3 Songs
ROCK: Americana, ROCK: Folk Rock



Details:
The road -- itâs a mythic setting for American music, and it knits our nation of wanderers together. In the songs of John Sonntag itâs a recurring image, be it the buoyant path of possibilities in a song like âNew Paradiseâ or the poignant promise of escape in one like âHiding Behind Headlights.â

Johnâs own road has led from an upbringing in the steel towns of Pennsylvania to an education at the musicianâs mecca of Berklee in Boston; from a significant role in the vibrant independent music scene of Sinatraâs former home, Hoboken, to a mature producing and recording career amid the peaceful splendor and wealth of stories in historic Lambertville, New Jersey, along the Delaware River.

Johnâs musical road winds through the many sounds of America, with a down-home fondness for acoustic strumming, mournful slide guitar, plaintive harmonica and sprightly piano as well as an affection for the modern atmospherics of electric fuzz and the faroff instruments America has embraced, like the mandolin that brightens some of his songs.

Heâs kept good company on this journey, sharing stages with talents ranging from Richie Havens to Alison Krauss, and serving as producer, player, collaborator or songwriter on a number of respected indie artistsâ albums.

Many of the latter wrote songs or sang with him on his first CD, One More Midnight, an all-star reunion of the Hoboken folk scene which embodied the urban sophistication John brings to timeless musical qualities, and the confidence with which his own artistic voice mixes with other visions.

Johnâs actual voice is one of the main marvels of his music; a sweet, supple instrument comfortable in settings from countrified croons to slow funky grooves and uptempo roots-rockers. The stories he tells with that voice range from deserted factories to happy new homes, drunken laments to emotional rebirths; the private surprises and disappointments that make up the quiet epic of everyday lives.

As Johnâs musical quest continues, the title of his upcoming album says it all: Chasing Stars, the motto of a music boundless in its horizons yet satisfied with simple pleasures. John Sonntagâs restless road may have no end in sight, but the music he makes is not about whatâs lonely and left behind, but what connects people, and how far youâve come.