NEWS   June 24, 2009 - Announcing a new CD in the works: Head, Heart, and Hands. A brand new set of songs written, arranged, and produced by Jon Solo, due later this year!
Elisabeth Shue
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04/19/08 @ 03:48 PM     post a comment
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4,227 times
duration
04:01
category
Music
description
Elisabeth Shue is a song I wrote about, well, Elisabeth Shue...sort of. Anyway enjoy the song, and enjoy this 'tribute' video by me, Jon Solo
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play lo-fi play hi-fi  Pride
play lo-fi play hi-fi  Circles
play lo-fi play hi-fi  Stay
play lo-fi play hi-fi  Elisabeth Shue
play lo-fi play hi-fi  Taste The Wine
play lo-fi play hi-fi  Nothing's Gonna Stand In Our Way (Bubblegum Edit)
play lo-fi play hi-fi  Leave
play lo-fi play hi-fi  Falling Away
play lo-fi play hi-fi  I Can't Think (of Any Words for This Song)


For more than 25 years Jon Solo has been playing and producing music. In 1982 he joined the Craig Hawkes band, a four piece jazz ensemble, as keyboardist along with fellow Letterbox member Ricky Williams on bass, and sometimes Letterboxer Tal Price on drums. In 1984, he set up his first MIDI based studio and began creating instrumental music that can be labeled under more current terms such as Trance, Electronica, Dance, IDM, and Trip-Hop. Additionally that year he became a founding member of Augusta group Fall Line. Not realizing that this musical style would later emerge in mainstream, his ideas were shelved and he shifted his focus to pop and rock. For the next 10 years he toured and gigged with Fall Line and sat in with various bands. Not to be discouraged directions were refocused. What emerged was a number R&B tracks in the mid- 90's that actually met with moderate success. In 2003, he briefly joined Krawlspace in a "Fall Line" reunion show. Now Jon Solo has his own production company, has released his fifth commercially available CD, and is currently working as a successful producer for a number of acts in the United States. In 2004 Jon joined his brother Mike as a member of Letterbox as keyboardist and has continued to perform with them since then. He also serves as a host in Charleston, SC for Time2Shine Karaoke.

Solosounds, the company, was formed by Jon Solo in 1998 in response to a number of local bands and musical acts requesting a respectable musical outlet. The company was expanded immediately to include online resources such as www.soundclick.com. Solosounds continued to work with local artists as well as collaborating with several artists via the Internet. In 2000, the studio was moved to a rural area of South Carolina. This move created an increased persona of the company and enabled Jon to broaden the reach of the company even more. In 2002, Solosounds made a final relocation to Charleston, SC where the company is currently run by it's founder Jon Solo. In the last three years, Solosounds has recorded hundreds of hours of tracks, and has released a total of six CDs and numerous singles via the Internet.
Do you play live?
Currently I work with a cover band out of Georgia called Letterbox. We cover current pop/rock tracks back three decades of music. The official site is www.letterboxentertainment.com.

The music you hear here is rarely performed live. I am primarily a music producer.
How, do you think, does the internet (or mp3) change the music industry?
It makes independent label and non-label music available to people around the world without extensive mailing, marketing and distribution efforts. On the downside some listeners and "passerby's" are treating that music like it's just a "hobby" of the artist. So the respect for the time, money, and effort online artists put into their music gets weakened. Therefore many are taken advantage of all of the time by those looking to make a buck off of indie music. Soundclick has thus far proven themselves to be quite different from that.
Band History:
1975-1980: My first musical growth. Spent learning the piano and studying production.

1981-1993: Played with MANY bands and wrote and recorded 500+ unreleased songs.

1994-1996: Spent learning production and writing another hundred songs.

1997: The release of "Something Old Something New" (Instrumentals), my first commercially available CD.

1998: The release of "Rise" my first vocal CD, and my second commercially available CD.

1999-2000: I recorded and released over 10 CD projects for various bands. By late 2000 I was on over 50 different CD projects. Mostly hip-hop. Signed with a major label for the release of the Ringmaster: Jerry Springer soundtrack. Interviewed by Billboard and had a single hit the Hot 25 Climbers chart.

2001: Produced American Gypsy's "Safe Place". Began working heavily with the next generation of OMD's.

2002: The release of my group SoloRayz first CD "Songs From The Couch", and the release of my third commercially available solo CD "Solosphere". Solosphere was my first full commercial endeavor into electronica.

2003: Offically completed on the last day of 2002, "id" was a two person project, Jeff Price and myself under the name The Conspiracy. It remains packaged for release but nothing official. Released my fourth commercially available CD "Mood Ring". This became a huge hit on a number of OMD's. It too was an all-electronica release. I also finished my second full CD project with American Gypsy titled "Let Me Be Free". Shortly thereafter broke all ties with OMD's.

2004: This marked the completion of my third released electronica CD "The Forever Garden". I am considering an official release online at my website soon. I joined Letterbox as their keyboardist.

2005: I completed my second vocal EP "The One". This is not currently released. Began publicly gigging with live cover band Letterbox.

2006: Through Korg Forums "One Song A Month" contract, I began working on my third vocal CD tentatively titled "The Right to Remain Silent", now called "Pop Junkie". Increased performances with Letterbox placed time constraints on personal recording projects.

2007: Due to time/financial constraints, all recording projects were temporarily halted. Again, Letterbox increased the number of monthly performances and began gigging throughout the Southeastern U.S.

2008: "Pop Junkie" was finalized in December. This 14 track work of art took longer than usual for me but is finally complete!

2009: A new CD "Head, Heart, and Hands" is now in the works!
Your influences?
Most obvious influences in my music would be Today-Smile era Brian Wilson and psychedelic-era Beatles. Other influences would include Queen, Supertramp, Pink Floyd and in more modern times Paisley Underground type of bands. Jellyfish, The Wondermints, The Grays, and post-80's Tears For Fears, just to mention a few, should also should be noted as inspirational.
Equipment used:
Head, Heart, and Hands
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