Halifax gospel-folk songwriter is guided by voices
“I will always have this nagging voice in the back of my head that won’t let me go. It’s been telling me for years to write and play music.”
Haligonian indie-folk troubadour Jon Bryant listened to that voice. Even if it meant that he had to busk on the streets begging for alms. So he picked up his guitar. And wrote.
So far his choice is looking like it might feed him one day. He penned a few songs and headed west to Calgary to run them past producer Jord Wiberg. “I knew Jord really well previous to working professionally with him. I knew the sounds and styles he was into and I felt that his knowledge and easy-to-work-with vibe would be perfect. I think a producer who is first and foremost a friend can either be the best or the worst situation for a musician. I apparently lucked out.”
Wiberg must have felt a little lucky as well during the production of what became Bryant’s debut album Two Coasts for Comfort.
Indeed the album has since been chosen as an iTunes Pick of the Month produced a Starbucks Track of the Week a video for his single “Hallelujah” and earned the honey-voiced singer a nomination as the Gospel Music Association folk-roots album of the year giving him a shot at the performance award at the very same gala. Not bad for an artist who as it stands is yet unsigned.
Interestingly the latter award involved Bryant in a touch of controversy. It seems he had a lock on the prize but the hardly incendiary words “nicotine” and “whiskey” from the infectious track “Texas Tea” proved too offensive for the awards. Decisions were reversed and the award was given to someone else.
In hindsight would he change those lyrics? “Hells no! I was never really rattled (by the decision)…. I guess whenever you go into a competition there will be biased opinions and as long as I do what I do and give the people in the audience a good performance that’s all I’m concerned about.”
Doing what he does appears to mean that he’ll keep singing laughing and of course giving the best performances possible for which he is earning quite a reputation. Bryant hopes to showcase these talents more often. “I want to do lots of (touring). Canada U.S. Europe. It’s really vague at the moment but I’m open to any opportunity that comes up. I’m recording in January and hope to release my second album in the fall of 2011.”
The bearded soul-searcher will bring his tall lanky frame onto the stage at the Ironwood in Calgary on January 9. It’s a show he is looking forward to not only because Calgary feels like a second home but because the Ironwood is becoming a home of sorts as well. “I love it there. The new digs in the Garry Theatre is a great spot. The sound guy is sweet. The whole crew has been really good to me.”
