Jon Crosby
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Jon Crosby | |
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| Born | July 25, 1976 Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
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| Instrument | vocals |
| Years active | 1998–present |
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Jon Crosby (born July 25, 1976) is an American musician and founder of the musical outfit VAST.[1]
Biography
Crosby was born in Los Angeles, California, United States, and grew up in Humboldt and Sonoma counties in Northern California,[2] raised by a single mother from an upper-class family who owned a record store in Fortuna, California. His great-grandfather was John C. Crosby, a congressman from Massachusetts and his ancestry on his mother's side is English and Native American. It is speculated that his father, who was a lounge guitarist whom he never met, may have been partially Japanese.[citation needed]
At the age of 13, he was profiled in Guitar Player magazine and Shrapnel Magazine as a rising young star.[2] He developed a love for classical music after watching the film Amadeus.[citation needed] When he met a girl named Michelle in 6th Grade, he learned to play The Beatles' hit "Michelle" on guitar to impress her. This sparked his interest in The Beatles, and in rock music in general.[citation needed] Crosby's other influences include Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, U2 and Depeche Mode.[citation needed] He formed VAST in 1993, at the age of 16, after moving to Petaluma, California with friends Mike Alioti and Dimitri Katzoff, formerly of ska-band The Conspiracy, though that line-up was short-lived and would be frequently supplanted.[citation needed] He played few early shows, mainly at the Phoenix Theater.[citation needed]
At 19, Crosby's manager/ex-girlfriend Sakina Sati took him to New York, along with ex-members Daniel Alva and Stephen Garver, for the purpose of shopping his demo tapes through Shiva Baum, former manager for Opiate for the Masses, and a bidding war broke out; he then signed with Elektra.[2] Two albums were released by Elektra – Visual Audio Sensory Theater in 1998[2] and Music For People in 2000.[citation needed] In 2002, however, Crosby left the label.[citation needed] 2003 saw him break new ground when he released two digital download albums, Turquoise 3.x and Crimson 3.x.[citation needed] He then moved on to Carson Daly's 456 Entertainment, where Nude was released in 2004.[citation needed]
In 2003, he started his own record label, 2Blossoms Records & Media.[citation needed] Late 2007 and early 2008, Crosby released five download-only EPs, under the collective title Generica, which was to be "an exploration of people, places and American music."[citation needed] The first three volumes were solo acoustic guitar songs, while the last two were recorded along with VAST band members under the name "Jon Crosby and the Resonator Band".[citation needed] Crosby stressed the difference between this outfit and VAST:
When we put out "April Ritchey" we were toying with the idea of releasing it as a JCRB album because the style was such a departure from previous VAST music. But then I thought, just because the music is different that doesn't mean it has to be a side project. Plus, a side project with the same members seemed a little bizarre. As we were recording the songs that would eventually go on Generica five we planned on putting them on a VAST album. Commercially it would have made more sense because people have heard of VAST but most people have not heard of JCRB. But to me, this music isn't VAST.
Discography
VAST
Solo
- Generica Vol. I (2007)
- Generica Vol. II (2008)
- Generica Vol. III (2008)
- Ruminations On Everything (2017) (Non-Fiction Publication/Audiobook)
- Posthumous Serenade (2017) (2-Disc Covers Album)
- More Posthumous Serenades (2018) (Covers Album)
- The VAST Companion (2018) (Non-fiction publication - stories behind VAST songs)
Jon Crosby and the Resonator Band
- Generica Vol. IV (2008)
- Generica Vol. V (2008)
Other side projects
- Bang Band Sixxx: Relay EP (2008)
References
- ^ Prato, Greg. "Biography: VAST". AllMusic. Retrieved May 20, 2010.
- ^ a b c d Colin Larkin, ed. (2000). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Nineties Music (First ed.). Virgin Books. p. 413. ISBN 0-7535-0427-8.
External links
| International | |
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| National | |
| Artists | |
- 1976 births
- Living people
- Musicians from Los Angeles
- Writers from Los Angeles
- American multi-instrumentalists
- American singer-songwriters
- American rock singers
- American rock songwriters
- American male songwriters
- American rock guitarists
- American male guitarists
- 21st-century American novelists
- American male novelists
- 21st-century American male writers
- 21st-century American singers
- 21st-century American guitarists
- 21st-century male singers