The Isthmus is a UW-Madison newspaper. I was in it last week:
Ah yes! School is starting up again and I can feel the excitement in the air. It's one of my favorite times of year; it always has been. There's nothing like the anxious preparation for the first week of school. In high school, I was at home planning which new outfits to break out on the competition first. I was laying the shirt and jeans out on the bed and looking at them while thinking "OOH! I'm gonna KILL 'em!"
That type of excitement continued into college; that electricity that was in everyone as they walked around enjoying all the new experiences. College freshmen leave their parents and the home they've known their whole life and enter an entirely new Universe! They have no idea what kind of a roller coaster ride they're about to take. I left home determined to go absolutely crazy in the absence of my folks. And I Did. I went to UW-Madison to study Marketing, but what I really majored in was extracurricular activities like drinking and partying at the one of the nation's most renowned party schools. I also started my rap career. Young World Music put out some popular mixtapes. I wrote about partying as a Midwestern, suburban college kid, drug usage, and being a general slacker at UW. Kids liked hearing about their own city, region, and lifestyle. But I also wrote about the Iraq War when it started, and about issues like depression, and violence in my hometown of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
College kids at my alma mater UW-Madison are starting a new year right now, and Jon Henry is starting it up with them. I was featured in last week's copy of The Isthmus, one of the primary campus newspapers. The article was entitled "Alive and Screaming: Protest Music Endures in the Ipod Era" and it centers around Madison, Wisconsin artists who try to write songs about important issues in our society. Writer Michael Popke interviewed me for the piece because I got my start at that wonderful university! I especially encourage UW-Madison kids to check out the article and my two paragraphs (and my ugly mug in a pic) towards the end of the article. I managed to promote my Fall project "Goodbye Cruel World"!
To all the school kids starting their new year, I say have the time of your life! If you're in Mad-City, Wisco check out The Isthmus online to read an excellent article about music in your city here:
Hosted By: The Airliner When: Monday Jul 28, 2008 at 8:00 PM Where: The Airliner 2419 No. Broadway Los Angeles, CA 90031 United States Description: The Airliner
heck yeah! all los angeles fans of jon henry: check me out live at The Airliner Monday night!
I've been working hard finishing "Goodbye Cruel World" for Fall release. We've just mixed the last song and i'm celebrating with a live set of music!
thx to Carlos my engineer for his hard work. THE AIRLINER is a SuperCool two-story bar with three stages near Downtown LA, Echo Park, Silverlake, etc., right off the 5 Fwy in Lincoln Heights. It's become quite the hotspot.
if you haven't seen jon henry live, here's your first chance. if you tell me you've come to celebrate with me, i'll sell you my demo for $1! other acts on the bill include:
Genesis Black Sox Stem Faze Shaft Jewell Bell DJ Ruben DJ B
i'll do my set early like 8:30 then party with the crowd. The Airliner is a growing HOTSPOT!
if you didn't know, the infamous owner of Death Row Records Suge Knight has been in the news this week. He was at a club here in L.A. called Shag over the weekend and apparently got into an altercation with a man. he and his friends jumped the man. The fight was broken up, but not before the man, who has remained nameless, got up and punched Suge Knight. With this one punch, that will now be one of the most legendary one-hitter quitters ever, this man knocked Suge Knight out. For a full 3 minutes, the infamous Knight lay on the floor of the club, until he awoke and was helped out of the club.
The world was shocked. Many celebrated the humbling of a man they saw as a violent bully. Many feared for the life of this brave or crazy person who dared punch Suge Knight, expecting that there would be lethal retaliation. I personally thought that he would have to flee to Cuba. I thought they'd have to fly his family out of the country like the Bin Ladens. But today the world was stunned when aaparently the man has come forward and identified himself. Is this really him? With no further ado, i bring you the so-called "Knockout Kid"...
i would like to add that i post this with no intention of disrespect to Mr. Suge Knight.
I'm always telling fans in comments and messages to tell their friends about me. It's just one of the best ways to thank me if you genuinely like my music (besides buying it :). I've got an interesting little page with several banners and now a new animated advertisement. I've got some music on iTunes. I've got 2 Facebook pages, including an artist page, and an iLike profile. So I've got a lot of news for those friends out there!
But today as I prepare for another action-packed weekend that includes playing with some new equipment, I thought I'd tell MY friends about some awesome artists.
XYRocks Digital Radiohas been a supporter of Jon Henry since I first moved to California. Markus, the digital DJ and host of his own show, has had a consistently high-rated podcast online and his latest installment 46 features none other than Jon H! You should check out this radio show regularly, as he promotes up-and-coming artists to audiences in over 40 countries!
Now, dear friends, allow me to tell you about another new kid in school. Treezy is an up-and-coming artist I have had in my top friends for a long time. He is from Wisconsin, just like me and a very creative and talented artist. He is promoting an upcoming video for his anthem to "Mary Jane" called "Cross My Heart". Check out his promo video; it got me excited for the full video! Then view his page!
And with that, I leave you to enjoy your weekend and to let people know about artists like myself and our upcoming projects (mine is "Goodbye Cruel World")!
Jon Henry here, with an overdue update for you about my next BIG project, entitled "Goodbye Cruel World"!
Thanks for your patience as Young World Music put together the pieces that will allow us to present this project creatively and successfully! The music has been done for some time, but now we can start leaking info about it! Our first ad can be spread like a banner! With no further ado, I present to you…
The "Goodbye Cruel World" teaser trailer! You can add it to your profile by cut/pasting the code from my banner section on my profile.
Check it out and keep spreading the word! Thank you guys!
My top friend list is full of people who have truly shown me a lot of love. Besides other artists, producers, and team members, my list features people from a lot of different backgrounds who all liked and supported my music. They liked it so much that they put my music on their page. They put my ugly mug in their top friend list. They threw up banners. These people helped expose thousands more people to the new kid in school, Jon Henry! I’m very appreciative of all those efforts that are helping me succeed and continue to deliver something special.
A friend of mine who was similarly impressed with my sound showed me a new way to spread it. He took my latest song collection and made some videos for youtube!
Now I’ve gotta say, I LOVE seeing these vids! I don’t know what it is… must be seeing myself on TV!
So I encourage anything like this. If you feel moved to make an elaborate video, something creative then please EXPRESS YOURSELF! I’d love to see what you come up with that fits these emotional songs and I will blog about it!
My friend Corey added my myspace url to the track title and added my myspace url to the track description. also he added in the "key word search tags" (which is for when people do searches on youtube) the full track name and my artist name and also the following keywords: rap, hip-hop and hiphop so people searching for music will find it easier to find my clips he made and then will check out my myspace page!
Corey’s youtube channel is full of some awesome music in general. Please check out his page!
I’m back in L.A. after my awesome road trip to South by Southwest. I may have some video on my trip to show. I drove for a day straight, non-stop through California, New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas. There is a lot of America that is very isolated stretches of desert! We almost ran out of gas one time and it got panicky for a second. Towns, gas stations, and rest stops are dozens of miles apart. You don’t want to have to walk in the desert, I’m sure you know! We also had a stretch in Texas where dozens of deer were all along the highway at night and we had to be very careful that we didn’t kill Bambi and destroy the "youngworldmobile"! But it was an awesome adventure full of beautiful scenery; untouched American that stretched to the horizon! I said to myself "enjoy it; one day all this will be a Wal-Mart".
South by Southwest was a blast. It was like I was in some other reality for a week. I got to escape from the day-to-day and basically lived in this non-stop adventure. i partied, but i also hustled all day long so that i was exhausted after every day. I was in a blur of indie rock and underground rap of artists hyped up as "on the verge" of something. I saw old executives with official badges around their necks all day. I saw young kids with drinks in their hands all night. My manager "networked" with people in the press as well as with people in all other parts of this industry we are in, like video directors and stuff. All in all, I got a lot out of my trip and energized myself with excitement. I couldn’t wait to get back and keep the hyperactivity going! But there was one problem; I got sick!
And I still am!
I didn’t check my myspace or facebook pages at all on the trip. So when I returned, I knew even with a cold, I should at least try to work through the pages of comments and the messages I’d missed. Oh, but my head was killing me. I got caught up on the news. Obama is currently knocking a few speeches out of the park after an apparent controversy I missed while in Texas. Today he’s speaking on the war in Iraq, then later this week he’ll speak on the economy. Love him or hate him, this is the big news in American politics this week, what with it being the anniversary of the war, so let’s get caught up!
I’ll be recording and performing as usual, plotting on how to deliver Young World’s next awesome project. And I’ll be thinking about other music to see like Bullet for My Valentine, Atreyu, and Avenged Sevenfold tomorrow night.
That’s all I’ve got for now! if some awesome stuff happened this past week you want to tell me about, please do! I’ve gotta get some rest so this po’ wittle baby can get back to rock n roller status by the weekend!
austin texas and Im having a blast. second day here. saw THE COOL KIDS at industry showcase this afternoonm SESAC DAY STAGE. here at SXSW there are panels then bands are playing all day all night. they r at bars and clubs that all in the same area. must b thousands of bands. blogging by phone at hooters lol. tonite we party more.
I'm finishing up a delicious mocha latte from a Coffee Bean on Wilshire Blvd. as I type this update. Soon I'll have the caffeine high necessary to prepare for the big trip I'm about to take. My destination is Austin, Texas. I'll be heading there tomorrow morning and for almost a week at the annual South by Southwest Conference! This is one of the biggest music industry events in America and Jon Henry will be one of the Big Names checking out the discussions, concerts, and parties!
Yeah, I'm a Big Name. ask my mom. So while I pack for my trip, I figured I'd blog about some of the press I've been getting recently that is making my name Bigger. Recently, a newspaper from back home in Wisconsin interviewed the kid and how I left home to find success out here in La La Land. Check it here.
Also, I made it into one of the best music-related blogs on the net! Check Inverse's Blog
I'll hopefully get some chances to blog about what goes on at this huge industry event. It's sure to be an adventure!
It's a celebration! grab a drink, grab a glass. this thread is an online release party and i am inviting friends, fans, and even random spammers to come. thanks to all the supportive people; without you this wouldn't be a celebration. :)
So if you enjoy my music, grab it off of iTunes and go play the heck out of it somewhere until people start to want to be like you!
Up next: the "Goodbye Cruel World" project... stay tuned
