Jonah Shue

***RAMBLING MUSICO-BIOGRAPHICAL BLURBAGE AHEAD*** I am a man. I am not a band. I have been in bands and like bands. I am in one now. Maybe I am in more than one. Maybe I don't really know what makes a band a band. I often wonder what makes a man a man. I grew up in Boise, ID and have been living here with my wife, Mimi, for the last 4+ years. we met in Seoul, S.Korea while I was playing a gig at a fancy hotel. The first thing she said to me was, "are you really musicians?" I knew she was the one soon thereafter. She is very supportive of my musical madness and I love her for that and many many other reasons. Now we have a son Milo who is pushing two and really a nice baby. He is starting his talk box now and it quite amazing to hear what comes out. I just ordered up a recording device of the world wide web of information as I intend to listen to these lovely noises in the near and distant future. He plays the banjo, a red uke, and the piano for starters. I started playing the fiddle when I was about 7 and then swthced to guitar at the first sign of puberty. I wanted to play like Eddie Van Halen and Neil Schon from Journey and Mick Mars of the Motley Crue and Alex Lifeson from Rush and and... but it was totally beyond my comprehension. The sound was so huge and powerful that it seemed to me to be forged by Gods whose hands could withstand the white hot heat of the magma that would soon become molten Rock flowing through speakers to our mortal ears. That reminds me of something a young Chinese guy said in a great documentary film called "From Beijing With Love and Squalor" about the affect of Western Rock n' Roll on Chinese culture. this fellow said listening to Bon Jovi for the first time was like hearing a monster wake up and run through the streets. Another quote which I must throw out straight away about the power of Music over us is from Miles Davis talking about when he first got on the bandstand with Bird and Dizzy. He said, "I could feel that shit all up in my body." That sort of nails it for me. 60 years later and sometimes If you can still feel it all up in my body, thats some serious jive. I wish I could have heard Bird and Dizzy from that close. I had a dream about it once, in which they seemed very close at the time. As for the music in my own teenage life, I became frightened of, yet strangely compelled by, the Sounds of Rock and its all monstrous implications. Soon I switched to the classical guitar so I could feel more expert in my endeavors. Today, more of an elusive feeling then ever, that of expertise. It was (is) much easier to pretend. I started taking lessons with, now fretless guitar mogul, Ned Evett, then from former Famous Motel Cowboy, Rob Matson, and finally with Johann Helton. Johann hipped me to a lot of good music, although I was, sadly, not ready for Bitches Brew at that point. Upon completing the American High School Socialization Method in 1989, I went to University of Oregon in Eugene to do the classical guitar thing and possibly become a "musick historian" or an "ethnomusicologicist" or something. I was spared this bitter end, for such a young man, as I discovered d by the sounds of Jimi's Band of Gypsies and Miles Davis' Agharta/Pangea band. I simply had no choice but to drop out. Seriously. What can the University tell you about Power of Soul and Machine Gun or the fathomless deep vibe on Agharta? In my case, not much, friend, not much atall. Find yourself first... and then your tool. Find yourself first, dont'cha be no fool. Or something like that. I also started playing the fiddle again at this time and getting into oldtime music. I still love the sound of a clawhammered banjo and a scratchy old timey fiddle as much as anything. So, I came back to Boise and started rockin' with some dudes and eventually was a part of the band called King Pancake(see photo.whoa!) We all worked at Flying Pie Pizza and had Fun, to be sure. We had some Hot Rock moments and I got to take way too long guitar solos. I think I learned a lot from that although what, exactly, is hard and maybe not important enough to say. Its a lucky deal to just play lead guitar over a band of rockin' dudes, if you are into that sort of thing. I was. Then I saw Zappa's 200 Motels. It really messed with my head. (Gonzo, the leeeaaad guitaarr player...) Frank could be so cutting. At this time I also became a little obsessed with Stevie Ray Vaughn. I can admit it now; perhaps I had a Great White Hope fixation thing going with him for a while. It's OK. I was young. I was white. The boy could play and I tried to play just like him. Eventually I also became that dopey about Pat Metheny but I don't think I ever really thought I could sound like him. When I came back from Oregon I restarted my on-going 15 year psycho-acoustic apprenticeship with Bonefish Sam and his (then) Power Orchestra. Even today we still rock without rocking around town and I wish we did more. Its been sounding pretty good to our ears lately but thats all who ever really hears it. Thats far enough down the timestream for now. Maybe I'll figure out how use this space more coherently but for now its just a rambling bio.