We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jon Chandler. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jon below.

Jon, appreciate you joining us today. Do you feel you or your work has ever been misunderstood or mischaracterized? If so, tell us the story and how/why it happened and if there are any interesting learnings or insights you took from the experience?

I think being misunderstood and mischaracterized is part and parcel of any creative endeavor. Genres are fickle things, and those who appreciate specific genres hate it when someone they appreciate jumps from one to another. The most famous example is the uproar Bob Dylan created when he picked up an electric guitar. Folk music purists were ready to tar and feather him, but instead, he pioneered a completely new genre that combined Americana and Rock music.

In my case, it’s been difficult to reach certain audiences. Reviews of my music and books by national and regional publications and media are uniformly top-notch. The people who buy and listen to my music often tell me they are profoundly moved. Critics have called me one of the best Americana songsmiths with one, in particular, claiming that my songs are the aural equivalent of Charles Russell’s paintings. So what’s the problem? I can’t be categorized. That’s it. My influences run the gamut from Hank Williams to the Beatles, from Jimmy Webb to The Band. Heck, from Stephen Foster to Merle Travis. I write story songs that require attention – that need to be listened to from both lyrical and musical perspectives. And I don’t limit my subject matter. Generally, the glue that binds my songs together as a collection is that they deal with some aspect of historical or contemporary life in the American West. I attempt to capture westerner’s lives. If some of those songs contain cowboys, they’re prone to be dismissed by listeners who consider such music to be low-brow. If they don’t contain cowboys, they can be dismissed by western types who only want to hear songs about rodeo riders performed by bands with “wranglers” or “ramblers” in their name.

I love having new audience members show up at live shows. So often, they expect one thing but get another. And almost always, they say they’re pleasantly surprised.

Jon, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’m a seventh-generation Coloradan whose ancestors came to Colorado before statehood. I’ve always appreciated my pioneer roots and began writing about the western frontier while I was still in high school. I got through college playing in small venues and started a career in public relations and marketing. At some point, music and creative writing became my emphasis and I joined a prominent country-rock band that traveled the western United States and Canada. After jumping back into marketing, I managed to mix my business and musical abilities while working for an entertainment content provider in Los Angeles, creating Americana-based projects, including children’s recordings. I also provided voiceover talent for dozens of clients, narrating advertising and audio-visual/film projects.

A short bio that goes out to media and potential clients reads, “The Los Angeles Daily News dubbed Denver native Jon Chandler the “…best western songsmith since Ian Tyson,” while Texas’s Country Line Magazine exclaimed, “Thank God for Chandler and his gang of musicians.” He hosted America’s Soul Live, a monthly Arvada, CO-based acoustic concert series, for 16 years until the pandemic closed the show. Jon was chosen Best Living Western Musician by True West Magazine, which also named his Westerns “best Western CD.” He was awarded the Western Writers of America’s prestigious Spur Award for Best Song two times, the first for Linwood, a fictional look at the last hours of the notorious gunman Doc Holliday’s life, and the second for Morning Star Moon, his observation of Wyoming’s iconic Hole in the Wall country. He is the recipient of the Western Folklife Center’s Yellowstone–Teton Songwriting Contest Audience Award for his song, The Road That Leads to Yellowstone. A prominent western writer, he won the WWA Spur Award for his novel, The Spanish Peaks, and his novel Wyoming Wind was a Colorado Book Award finalist. He is the recipient of the William S. Hart Branding Iron Award from the Friends of Hart Park in Newhall, CA. He’s recently released his 11th recording, 10-9-21 – Jon Chandler Live at Swallow Hill Music!”

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

Those who write for a living, or sing for their supper, often have trouble adequately explaining why they continue in the face of such long odds, as it pertains to the concept of success. There is certainly a deep drive to communicate intimate knowledge in a creative way, what I call taking your turn around the cracker barrel. The Covid pandemic illustrated what happens when those who perform for their livings suddenly have the applause go silent. The most common comment I heard as we began to have live performances was that the heavenly sound of applause had returned. In the late summer of 2020, the City of Lakewood, Colorado had a group of us perform in an outdoor amphitheater before a distanced and masked crowd. It was the first time we’d had interaction with a live audience in many, many months, and the result was astounding for both the musicians and the audience. The interaction was magic and, as one woman wrote to me “…filled a great hole in our souls.”

I rarely co-write, but I perform in configurations ranging from a single to a six-piece band (and larger during the holidays, when our ten-piece group, The Rocky Mountain Stocking Stuffers, performs between five and ten concerts). It’s always great to meet and spend time with folks who have come to see you and appreciate what you have to offer, and spending time with people after shows is something that’s incredibly important. As people have listened to my songs over the years, I’ve been increasingly asked to perform at important functions, particularly funerals. A couple of my songs deal with death in a unique way, and one, I’m Going Home, has become so much more than I’d anticipated when I wrote it. It’s a simple song about going home, but those who hear it invariably think of “home” in the celestial sense. I’ve performed it at the end-of-life ceremonies of several friends and family members, and receive frequent notice from folks around the country who play the recording at ceremonies as a goodbye to their loved ones. The gratification of knowing that someone has chosen your work to help exemplify their emotions at such an important time is incredible. It is the deepest of compliments.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

I”ve been asked a thousand times to expound on why I do this. What is my goal? There are actually myriad goals involved that are followed pursuant to concepts ranging from self-confidence to even a touch of narcissism. Yet, the stage fright never goes away, and the anxiety over the reception of creative endeavors is always part of the equation. These days, I’m often motivated by the legacy I’ll leave. I hope my children and grandchildren will look at my songs, performances, and writing, and be proud of my abilities. Be proud of who I am, and eventually, who I was.

Contact Info:

• Website: jonchandler.com
• Facebook: facebook.com/JonChandler.fanpage facebook.com/jonchandlermusic

Image Credits
Bill Patterson Lowell Whitney Ray LeJeune