We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ron Jackson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Ron, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

Making a living as a musician, especially as a 7-string jazz guitarist, can be challenging. At one point in my career, I found myself taking jobs primarily for the money, rather than for their artistic value. However, since the pandemic, I made the decision to focus solely on building and promoting the Ron Jackson brand. While I realize it took me a while to reach this point, I believe now is the right time to fully commit. Taking a risk can be daunting, but I’ve learned that when you pursue your true passion, the rewards come in many forms.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Born in the Philippines into a military family, we moved around a lot during my childhood before settling in a small town in Massachusetts. I started playing guitar at age 11, and I’m self-taught. I began with rock, heavily influenced by Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, and Eddie Van Halen, but soon transitioned to jazz, inspired by legends like Pat Metheny and George Benson. A scholarship at Berklee College of Music allowed me to study jazz composition and arranging. After Berklee, I lived in Paris among expatriates before moving to New York City to immerse myself in the jazz scene.

Since moving to New York City, I’ve had the privilege of performing, recording, and teaching music in over 30 countries and have contributed to over 40 albums. As a recording artist, I’ve released more than 10 albums as a leader, starting with my debut album, It’s A Guitar Thing (Muse), in 1992. In 2002, I founded Roni Music, through which I’ve released notable works like The Dream I Had and Standards and Other Songs. I’m also a passionate educator, and on my website, www.ronjacksonmusic.com, I offer lessons for 6- and 7-string jazz guitar that cover jazz improvisation, theory, and arrangements of original compositions and American jazz standards. The site also features merchandise, including CDs, vinyl, and more.

I’ve been honored with awards such as the Heritage International Jazz Guitar Competition. In addition to endorsing several guitar brands, I’ve appeared in films and Broadway shows, showcasing my diverse talents in the music industry.

During the pandemic, I focused on developing my social media presence and now have 135K followers. Most recently, I received The South Arts JazzRoad Grant and produced, composed, and played on Kevin Powell’s GRAMMY® Award-nominated album, Grocery Shopping With My Mother.

I’ve performed as a leader at jazz festivals worldwide, including the North Sea Jazz Festival, the Edinburgh Jazz Festival, The AAPI Jazz Festival, and the Super Jazz Ashdod Festival in Israel. In New York City, where I’m based, you can often find me playing at venues like The Django, Zinc Bar, Birdland, Bar Lunatico, St. Peter’s Church, and City Vineyard.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

The most important thing I say about being resilient is that you must never give up. It sounds cliche, but when you consider doing what you don’t love just for money, that’s when you lose. I always find ways to be successful with my music, that is making money in music. You will still need savings to survive like in any other industry. This is still the music business

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

I think that generally, people don’t take artists seriously… They are always surprised that I am a musician. People always, unless a rock star or something, don’t want to compensate you fairly. I think that if artists were taken seriously, like lawyers and doctors, we would be more appreciated. and compensated fairly.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.ronjacksonmusic.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ronjacksonmusic/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ronjacksonmusic/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ronjacksonmusic/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/ronjacksonmusic
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@ronjacksonmusic
• Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/ronjacksonmusic/
• Other: https://www.allmusic.com/artist/ron-jackson-mn0000236998
  

  @ronjacksonmusic

  
  http://www.bandsintown.com/RonJackson
  https://www.patreon.com/ronjacksonmusic
  https://bnds.us/rxjx5n
  https://www.discogs.com/artist/5985874-Ron-Jackson-9
  
  https://www.twitch.tv/ronjacksonmusic
  https://ronjacksonmusic.printify.me/products
  https://www.etsy.com/shop/RonJacksonMusic

Image Credits

Photography by Michelle Etwaroo
Mark Hughes
Chris Drukker