Jon Davison

For other people named Jon Davison, see Jon Davison (disambiguation).

Jon Davison
Jon Davison performing with Yes in São Paulo, May 2013.
Background information
Also known as	Juano Davison
Born	(1971-01-16) January 16, 1971
Genres	Progressive rock, psychedelic rock, symphonic rock
Occupation(s)	Musician, singer-songwriter
Instrument(s)	Vocals, guitar
Years active	1991–present

Jon Davison (born January 16, 1971) is an American singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist musician, who has been the lead vocalist of progressive rock band Yes since 2012. He is also known as the former lead singer of progressive rock band Glass Hammer from 2009 to 2014, and the former bass guitarist of Sky Cries Mary from 1993 to 2016, in which he was credited under his nickname of "Juano" Davison.

He has, since childhood, been a friend of Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins.

Career

Early years

Davison's earliest involvement with music began when he sang in the church youth choir led by his mother. From an early age, she instilled in him an appreciation for music and love for singing. Soon after he took up guitar and bass, which eventually led him during High School to perform in various original and cover bands with his childhood best friend, Taylor Hawkins (currently the drummer for Foo Fighters). It was Hawkins who gave Jon the nickname "Juano" that has stuck to this day.

Sky Cries Mary

Davison then attended the Art Institute of Seattle to study audio and video production where he landed the gig of bassist for Northwest group Sky Cries Mary. Throughout the 1990s, he continued recording and touring with the band. Some highlights of this period were traveling to Japan, and appearing on late night talk shows including Late Night with Conan O'Brien and The Daily Show.

In 2001, Davison and his wife moved for a year to Maewe's home of Brazil. While living there, Davison played bass with Ronald Augusto.

In November 26, 2016, Sky Cries Mary premiered a new line-up, of which Davison was not a part.

Glass Hammer

Davison remained a member of Sky Cries Mary, but also joined the now-disbanded Yes tribute band Roundabout. In 2009, Glass Hammer discovered Davison singing Yes music online and asked him to join the band as "the voice we were always writing music for", according to founding members Steve Babb and Fred Schendel. He has since recorded five albums with them, If, Cor Cordium, Perilous, a new version of The Inconsolable Secret and Ode to Echo. He was the lead vocalist on the first three, and sharing that role on Ode to Echo given his engagements with Yes; he subsequently left the band to focus on Yes.

On the 2018 Cruise to the Edge festival, Davison performed live with Glass Hammer as a guest; as Glass Hammer was mainly a studio project when he was a member, it marked the first time he performed with them live.

Yes

In February 2012, Davison was announced as the new lead singer of Yes, replacing Benoît David, who left the group because of illness. "Strangely enough, Jon's name came up when we started working with Benoit," Yes bassist Chris Squire recalled. "In fact, my friend, Taylor Hawkins, had been telling me for years: 'If you ever need a replacement (singer), I know exactly the guy.'" Davison has described how the band had a tour booked when David dropped out, "so there was sort of this frantic race to resolve this matter [...] because they weren't going to back out of the tour. So in the same moment, perhaps even the same hour, of the same day, Chris is calling Taylor to get my phone number, because he's gonna give me a call, and then the manager is also working on contacting me, so I got contacted by both of them."

Davison has toured with Yes since joining the band, and sang lead on 2014's Heaven & Earth. He wrote or co-wrote seven out of the eight tracks.

Other

In 2015, Davison appeared at a concert of the Foo Fighters, which includes his childhood friend Taylor Hawkins, to perform the Rush song "Tom Sawyer" with them.

Discography

Sky Cries Mary

• This Timeless Turning (1993) – bass
• Moonbathing on Sleeping Leaves (1997) – bass
• Fresh Fruits for the Liberation (1998) – bass
• Seeds (1999) – bass
• Here and Now (2005) – bass
• Small Town (2007) – bass
• Space Between the Drops (2009) – bass
• Taking The Stage: 1997–2005 (2011) – bass, percussion, acoustic guitar, backing vocal

Glass Hammer

• If (2010) – lead and backing vocals
• Cor Cordium (2011) – lead and backing vocals, acoustic guitar
• The Stories of H.P. Lovecraft (2012, collaborative album of different artists) - lead and backing vocals on "Cool Air"
• Perilous (2012) – lead and backing vocals
• The Inconsolable Secret (2013 re-recording) – lead vocals
• Ode to Echo (2014) – lead and backing vocals
• Untold Tales (2017, compilation of previously unreleased/rare material) - lead and backing vocals on "Cool Air", backing vocals on "A Grain of Sand"

Yes

Studio albums

• Heaven & Earth (2014) – lead and backing vocals, acoustic guitar

Live albums

• Like It Is: Yes at the Bristol Hippodrome (2014) – lead vocals, acoustic guitar, percussion, keyboards
• Like It Is: Yes at the Mesa Arts Center (2015) – lead vocals, acoustic guitar, percussion, keyboards
• Topographic Drama - Live Across America (2017) - lead vocals, acoustic guitar, percussion, keyboards
• 50 Live (2019) - lead vocals, acoustic guitar, percussion, keyboards

Guest appearances

• Tales from the Edge: A Tribute to the Music of Yes (2012) – lead vocals and tambourine on "Starship Trooper" with The Samurai of Prog
• Absinthe Tales of Romantic Visions by Mogador (2012) – lead vocals on "The Sick Rose"
• The Birds of Satan by The Birds of Satan (2015) - backing vocals on "Pieces of the Puzzle" and "Raspberries", co-wrote "Raspberries"
• Citizen by Billy Sherwood (2015) - lead vocals on "Written in the Centuries"
• Lost and Found by The Samurai of Prog (2016) - lead vocals on "She (Who Must be Obeyed)"
• Chaptersend by Mogador (2017) - backing vocals on "Josephine's Regrets"
• Difference (single) by Edison's Lab (2018) - backing vocals
• Acceleration Theory Part One: AlienA by In Continuum (2019) - vocals
• Planetary Overload Part 1: Loss by United Progressive Fraternity (2019) - backing vocals on two tracks