"Handmade Popular Music"

Much like the previous year, the Yawns have been quite busy in the first half of 2008. First there was the record-an-album-in-February project. The result at the end of the month was a mixed bag of composed loops of acoustic instruments, bluegrass, and the occasional tinge of porn music. While 40 minutes of music were recorded and secretly released, only 18 minutes have seen the light of day as You and What Army?. While this project was mostly scrapped, the time was not wasted. The parts that were scrapped served as demos for what partly became A Golden Age. The recording of AGA started the moment YAWA? was completed. Doing their best interpretation of a bluegrass quartet gathered around two microphones (arranged in the M/S configuration for you recording nerds), the Yawns ran through a collection of songs old, but mostly new on guitar, ganjo, mandolin, and fiddle. And almost immediately after AGA was completed, the Yawns scored a short film with Musky Adventures for the 3rd year in a row. This time it was recorded live and in a single take. This year's entry "The End of the Rainbow" was a finalist and award winner in the Best of DC screening.

2007 was a highly productive year for the Yawns. As part of a challenge to produce an entire album during the month of February, the Yawns holed up in Tiny Town for the first two weeks of the month and the result was Two Days in the Dark -- a stripped down Americana-esque album featuring some new and old songs rearranged for sparse instrumentation. In May, for the second year in a row, the Yawns scored a film produced with Musky Adventures during the 48 Hour Film Festival. Similar to the album-in-a-month challenge, the 48 Hour Film Festival is a challenge to create a fully original short film in a weekend. Meanwhile, through the first half of the year and the last half of 2006, the Yawns had been working on an ambitious rock and roll record. Finally, in mid-June, the third Yawns album -- It Don't Mean Nothing Without A Name -- was released. IDMNWAN finds the Yawns creating a set of mostly concise pop rock songs with lots of interesting instrumentation.

In July 2006, Jonathan released the first of many releases by the Yawn's from the Nothing's Perfect Records canon. The Yawns' Telling Tomorrow from Today is a fast-paced jaunt through the many facets of the Yawns' abilities, taking the listener through rock, pop, balladry, noise, and down-home Americana. TTFT is available through Nothing's Perfect Records. On the heels of Jonathan's Scenes from Tiny Town, the Yawns recorded Telling Tomorrow from Today throughout 2005 and 2006 at Tiny Town studio. And, while the paint was still drying on TTFT, the group was already working on the next release.

In the Spring of 2005, Jonathan produced his first solo album in nearly 10 years, called Scenes from Tiny Town. SFTT documents the first 3 months in a new city by following Jonathan as he grows accustomed to a new house, a new time zone, a new climate, and a new drum kit. SFTT collects several new songs as well as some songs that had been written just prior to moving that were given significant makeovers covering topics such as long-distance penpals, calloused feet, subway busking, unrequited love for his employer, and the joys of Tiny Town, Jonathan's studio.

Presently, Jonathan is playing in the Washington, D.C., area with the Yawns and, once upon a time, Helper Monkey.

Before moving to Virginia, Jonathan spent 8 years in Seattle, WA, where he truly came of age musically. Most recently, he was found performing with rock trio Awnings for Eyelids, psychedelic gospel combo Supergroup, two-man band The Crispin Glover, and Quinn W. Shagbark's Wear White and Come When I Call Orchestra. Previously, Jonathan had also played as one fourth of the all improvisational pool party group One-Celled Organism. With each of these groups many public performances were played throughout the Greater Seattle area, as well as a national tour with The Crispin Glover. Jonathan also assisted in officially releasing albums by Awnings for Eyelids and Supergroup.

Before living in Seattle, Jonathan grew up in Massachusetts, performing solo and with several groups including The Florida Evans Band, The Cardiff Giant, NiL, and Noun.

Jonathan cites several influences and styles ranging from heartfelt songwriting and singing ala The Band, spontaneous composition ala Sonic Youth, dreamy multi-layered guitarscapes ala Bill Frisell, dynamic one-man band Jon Brion, dark and moody DIY'ers like Broken Social Scene and Pavement, and guitar freak-outs ala Timothy Young.