Meet Jon Day. He is not your typical singer-songwriter. Instead, he's a sought-after keyboardist/producer/composer whose solo-project is finally coming to life after musically incubating in Montreal’s vibrant independent music scene.

It all began 10 years ago, when upon graduating from high school in his hometown Vancouver, Jon Day packed up and moved to Montreal to pursue formal studies in jazz piano at McGill in the hopes of becoming a professional musician. After inheriting the chair of 1st pianist in the school’s top touring Big Band Jazz Orchestra, people began recognizing Jon’s raw talent for what it was, and his career quickly whisked him into a rollercoaster of many tours and recording sessions, being the multi-faceted musician he was. He even managed to grab the attention of France’s iconic electronic-artist and singer, Emilie Simon, who along with late producer Francois Chevallier (Arcade Fire, Coldplay), hired Jon to play organ on her latest album The Big Machine (Universal Music, 2009).

EXHIBIT B IS HERE, OUT COMES THE VOICE /

It wasn’t until recently that Jon Day started incorporating his voice into his own music. It’s still a mystery how he managed to keep his vocal gift a secret for so long, but with his voice now on the loose, Jon Day is turning many heads. When you do it the way Jon Day does it, you simply can’t go unnoticed.

Exhibit B (2008) is Jon’s self-released debut album. It is also the follow-up to an experimental demo, Exhibit A, that circulated in Montreal’s underground scene the year before. When asked about the name, Jon explains, “Exhibit B is the result of the creative process, just like an Exhibit at a museum. And since music can be so difficult to grasp, being performance-oriented art form, I wanted my musical ideas to harden into something concrete, something tangible. Thus was born Exhibit.”

And Exhibit B is living proof of his process. The 10-song debut album showcases Jon’s talent not only as a singer-songwriter but also as producer and arranger. The commanding string arrangements on his flagship songs, such as Pity, combine his defining vocals with a tight ship of musicians to create a musical signature that is unquestionably his own. The album even boasts a special guest appearance from Canadian vocal-jazz legend Ranee Lee (2010 Juno Winner), playing the “voice of reason” on Jon’s haunting ballad, Boy.

The debut album was largely possible thanks to support from the Canada Council for the Arts. However, the timing wasn’t ideal. Exhibit B came along when the music industry was still shaken by the effect of the late 2000s economic crisis (not to mention its own host of problems). Jon was alone without an agent, and while the record labels were afraid to take-on new artists deemed “too risky”, distribution companies were simply going out of business. It wasn’t a pretty sight. Wanting to get his music message out there anyway, Jon went-ahead and released the album on a boutique label he co-founded, Camp Nofun Inc.

THE RECENT RISING IS NO ACCIDENT /

Although Exhibit B was technically completed in 2008, the album wasn’t given the option to breathe on its own until very recently, partially due to strong demand for Jon’s talent in hectic touring schedules as a keyboardist, carrying him to hundreds of performances across Canada and 3 European tours. Having recently liberated himself from all of his other touring commitments, Jon is finally ready to focus on the career his original music so rightly deserves.

MORE HEADS KEEP TURNING /

Jon has had a strong base of fans in the Montreal right from the beginning. However, his reach expanded in the fall of 2010, when Jon was given the opportunity to perform 30+ opening acts for some of Quebec’s most-loved artists, often oddly for largely francophone audiences. With word-of-mouth spreading beyond provincial borders, Jon Day suddenly received an unexpected invitation from Sirius Satellite Radio to join their exclusive Backstage Pass series (along with other artists such as Ron Sexmith), showcasing Jon and his YouTube video of the song Pity in Cineplex/Odeon movie theatres across Canada in February/March 2011. After having been seen by over 100,000 movie-goers on the big screen just before the "feature presentations" of their choice, Jon received a significant influx of fans from across the country. The word-of-mouth buzz that started growing was eventually followed by multiple invitations to perform in showcases and festivals, including two consecutive evenings on opening weekend of the upcoming 2011 Montreal International Jazz Festival.

THE BC TOUR AND THE VINYL RELEASE /

In celebration of Jon’s re-invented-self as a front man (and quite simply to fulfill a pressing demand by fans), Exhibit B is set to be re-released on vinyl in a beautiful collectors-edition gatefold+digital set this June 2011 – a perfect companion to his upcoming June 2011 BC homecoming tour.

Although this will be the first time the band is touring outside of Quebec in their present formation, it won’t be the first time fans encounter the trio’s extraordinary bassist Morgan Moore and drummer Mark Nelson... Canadians have already been enjoying the band’s cultishly popular live videos published on their website at www.jonday.ca. When describing his fellow musicians, Jon Day says “Their talent is undeniable – just ask anyone in the creative music community. As for our performances, the reason Morgan, Mark and I really click as a trio is quite selfish – we simply love making music together.”

As for describing the live Jon Day experience, words truly don’t do justice to the “power trio”. The music is very rhythmic yet somehow the expressive lyrics fit perfectly. Jon is vocally direct and the band is musically adventurous. The harmonies are rich and the melodies are strong. Jon’s voice introduces a seemingly impossible falsetto to an extraordinary sense of musicality. It’s poetry, it’s art, it’s authentic songwriting at its best, and now that he’s finally moving along with his career, Jon Day will most definitely continue to turn heads wherever he goes...

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For tour dates, videos and to connect with fans, visit Jon Day’s official website : www.jonday.ca

For more media inquiries on Jon Day, press materials, or to schedule an interview in BC, please contact:

Rona Goodman
Public Relations
Goodman Media Inc
tel 604-346-7662
ronagoodman@shaw.ca