Wherever the singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Jon Simpson has been – and he’s been
around the world – he has been an artist who gets to the emotional core of his subject matter.
Simpson’s music possesses a poignant resonance that befits his thoughtfulness. On his new album,
Dark Gives Way, he delivers a luminous collection of songs that is part plea for a better world, and part
determined declaration to do something about it.
Dark Gives Way soars with a melodic grace, reflecting the 36-year-old Simpson’s skill as a multi-instrumentalist,
which he has been refining since his discovery of music as a junior high student living
in the Bay Area. For Simpson, music soon transcended hobby, and went quickly to obsession. He
recalls, “In high school I started devouring everything I could get my hands on. I went from classical
to jazz to folk to rock.” Picking up drums on what he calls a whim, he soon switched to bass. But a
hunger to create his own music had him pick up the guitar and keyboard, which enabled him to begin
to write songs. His wide array of musical talent had him fill varied roles – Jon played in numerous
rock bands, acoustic Americana outfits, and in the church, as well as self-releasing two albums and an
EP.
Until about five years ago, music for Jon was, in his words, “a side thing” to his job in a physics lab at
Stanford University. It was then that a musician friend invited Jon to tour Turkey for a couple of
weeks – and Jon was hooked. “When I first started touring,” Jon remembers, “I quickly realized that I
needed to go for this.” Marrying his faith to his passion by becoming a full-time musician and
working alongside an international missions organization, Jon soon was touring all over the world,
not only in the States but in countries such as South Africa, Lebanon, Canada and more.
Touring has had an enormous impact on Jon. As he shares, “What I’ve seen in other places in the
world has made me rethink and reconsider many of the things I hold dear in my life. It’s strengthened
some of my convictions and caused me to jettison others.” The exposure also affected Jon’s
songwriting and has led in part to the songs on Dark Gives Way.
Self-produced and self-mixed, Dark Gives Way is a culmination of a year of recording and the last five
years of Jon’s life. Sonically influenced by Jon’s affinity for acts like Foo Fighters, Toad The Wet
Sprocket and Switchfoot, the music is soaring, like in “Olivia,” where layers of guitar and liquid bass
provide the musical support for Jon’s tale of human trafficking, where a young girl faces life after
rescue. “I was shocked when I learned that Atlanta, Georgia – right in my own backyard – is among
the top 3 cities in the U.S. for child prostitution,” Jon says. “What would I want to say to someone
who is coming out of that?”
“Kingdom Come” begins with a gentle acoustic guitar strum that opens into a mid-tempo guitar
reverie in which Simpson, in his earthy plaintive vocal, questions the beliefs he’s built his life upon.
He elaborates, “Over the years, I’ve realized that there are a lot of ideas that I’ve held onto and bought
into – that I need to give up.” He adds with a laugh, “I’ve heard it said that minds are like diapers –
they need to be changed every once in a while or they start to stink.” And “Antidote” creates a realm
of possibility in which Jon wonders what it would actually be like if humankind realized what he
believes to be its original potential. The song works as both hymn and rocker, as the song blooms
idyllically, a hope envisioned in the midst of a very different reality.
Jon is clear about his upcoming goals. “I’m not looking to be a superstar,” he says. “I just want to
continue sharing my music, encountering people in the hopes that we can inspire and challenge each
other. I’d love for this to be a self-sustaining thing.” And with Dark Gives Way, Jon Simpson has
announced himself to be a musician of great skill and immense sensitivity, asking the question in song
that is so rarely asked – what will it take to fulfill the promise of this world?
For more information: BugNogMusic.com
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