A Bit o’ Bio ~ Nashville, TN: Jon Byrd plays “what they used to call Country Music.” Born in Birmingham, Alabama, he grew up in the piney woods of south Alabama before becoming pivotal in Atlanta’s storied Redneck Underground music scene of the 90s. He was always a featured sideman, but his first solo recording (Byrd’s Auto Parts 2007) didn’t happen until after he moved to Music City over 20 years ago. Since then he’s recorded 3 other full-length solo records: Down at the Well of Wishes (2011), Route 41 (2014), and Dirty Ol’ River (2017), and a 5-song EP Me & Paul (2022).
He was a featured vocalist on the Red Beet Records Grammy-nominated I Love: Tom T. Hall’s Songs of Fox Hollow alongside Patty Griffin, Buddy Miller, Bobby Bare, and Tom T. himself! Jon’s albums have been lauded by Mojo Magazine, Maverick Magazine and NPR.
After a summer of national radio exposure via Thacker Mountain Radio out of Oxford, MS and NPR’S Mountain Stage Radio from Charleston, WV, a NEW FULL-LENGTH RECORDING: ALL YOUR MISTAKESwill be released this fall on Longleaf Pine Records.
Jon’s an int’l touring artist and has played the Country Music Hall of Fame with Lloyd Green and Duane Eddy. Yet when asked about some of his career highlights he wittily responds with, “I sold a drum set to John Prine.” Share | Kim Grant
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Jon Byrd’s Me and Paul Is a Gem Born in a Barroom ~ Randy Fox, East Nashvillian June 3, 2021
5-song EP ‘Me & Paul’ ~ Here’s way more than you need to know, written for Atlanta’s Creative Loafing by long-time friend and music maven Doug DeLoach: https://creativeloafing.com/content-494207-listening-post-jon-byrd-finds-inspiration-in-his-southern
PRESS RELEASE: https://kgmusicpress.com/campaigns/683813
“Jon Byrd: subtly refining the folk-country singer-songwriter template.” Jewly Hight, NPR Music’s World Cafe: Essential and Emerging Artists
The ME & PAUL 5-Song EP is HERE –> https://jonbyrd1.bandcamp.com/album/me-paul Of course you can still enjoy my music via Downloads, CDs, Vinyl (for ‘Well of Wishes’), and LIVE STREAMING SHOWS! Thank you for your support and good will during this difficult time for artists and music lovers alike.
Edd Hurt tells the TRUTH in this fine “BEST OF NASHVILLE 2019” Pick for the Nashville Scene!
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Jon Byrd on Barry Mazor’s Roots Now 01/22/2020
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NPR Music’s World Cafe: Essential and Emerging Artists
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Nashville Scene
http://local.nashvillescene.com/event/the-station-inn/jon-byrd-album-release STATION INN Record Release Show for DIRTY OL’ RIVER!
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http://thealternateroot.com/what-s-trending/6870-topten-071717
“Country, Coffee, & Cody”!
WSM’S ROUTE 650 @FONTANEL with Eric Marcum
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ALTERNATE ROOT TOP 10 SONGS OF THE WEEK for WED AUG 29, 2017
Wild Ponies recording of Jackknife by Jon Byrd
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“On this week’s episode, Jon Byrd shows off his [almost] PhD with words like “hegemonic,” “ubiquitous,” and “bourgeoise.” (He also shows off his chops with songs like “I Get Lost.”) Listen/link here: https://hanginandsangin.libsyn.com/“
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My debut for UNDER THE APPLE TREE SESSIONS with BOB HARRIS from my Fall 2015 UK Tour. A little froggy, but proud to sing a song from Route 41 by Davis Raines and Pamela Jackson. Jon Byrd – “Going to Montgomery” | UNDER THE APPLE TREE
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The Country Music Hall of Fame: Celebrating Bob McDill
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WMOT’s Craig Havighurst tells the Charlie Bob’s Story
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Parade Magazine ~ https://parade.com/566886/m-b-roberts/johnnys-cash-and-charleys-pride-interview-with-author-peter-cooper/
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I had the great good fortune to be a part of a film class at Watkins College of Art, Design & Film here in Nashville that took one of the songs from ROUTE 41 — Adam Wright’s “Would You Like to Dance” — and produced a music video for it. I can’t say enough about the commitment, focus, and talent of all the students involved, especially Director Roxanne Nawrot. Thank you Prof. Ron Coons for making this happen.
[YouTube: https://youtu.be/Pn86a9yV9lA]
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Interview on author and journalist Barry Mazor’s “Roots Now” Radio Show on ACME RADIO.
SoundCloud here: https://soundcloud.com/acmeradiolive/roots-now-episode-2
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BEST of 2014 from CREATIVE LOAFING, ATLANTA: Doug DeLoach’s Favorite Releases 2014 ~ “If there was a god and justice prevailed in the universe, Jon Byrd would be a country/roots superstar.”
BEST of 2014 from CREATIVE LOAFING, ATLANTA: James Kelly’s Top 10 Country Albums
TOP 45 for 2014 from THE BROKEN JUKEBOX
BEST of 2014 from Jerome Clark at RAMBLES.net
TOP 10 for 2014 from Music City Sue at NO DEPRESSION.com
TOP 10 for 2014 from Michael Young and WFPK LOUISVILLE, KY
Barry Mazor at engine145.com on ROUTE 41! “There are some arenas where the pleasure of hearing a singer gifted with a nice, elegant set of pipes to go with singing smarts comes almost as a surprise bonus—indie alt.country and stand-taking protest singing being two of those. I’m already on the record as being taken with the versatile, graceful honky tonk singing of East Nashville singer-songwriter Jon Byrd; now he brings that to smart interpretation of songs written by his close associates here and back in Atlanta, his musical home back over a decade ago‑-Adam and Shannon Wright, Greta Lee, Peter Cooper, James “Slim Chance” Kelly, Mando Saenz and Will Kimbrough among them—on his new, engagingly understated album, Route 41.“
High Praise from Across the Pond! Maurice Hope at Flying Shoes Review! “Traditional country performer, singer-songwriter Jon Byrd is one of the finest exponents of spit and sawdust country coming out of the East Nashville’s scene and beyond. … Hard core (and Americana) country fans need to check this guy out and also watch for dates of a top-class act.”
Great Review from Jerome Clark at RAMBLES.NET! “The album’s 10 cuts are marvels of the craft of composition. It’s one record that all singer-songwriters, many of whom need the lessons conveyed, would do well to hear. … And — finally and importantly — let us not fail to praise Byrd’s smartly delivered conversational vocals and the small country band that backs him and the songs with wonderful attention to the stories and the emotions.”
Tasty Talk About RT 41 from Lady Smokey at Ladysmokey.com! “Jon is a wonderful songwriter, storyteller and all around great human being. His songJack Knife is seriously one of my all time favorites. With this album, his 3rd, he decided to sing the songs of some of his favorite songwriters. It’s titled, Route 41″
From Our Pal Stacie Huckeba Writing at Huffington Post “Jon Byrd is a kick ass human and also a nice guy, so nice that although he himself is an amazing songwriter (One of my favorites) he made a whole record of nothing but his friends songs. And it is brilliant! It is called Route 41! Go get it.”
ALT ROOT TOP TEN SONGS OF THE WEEK! “01 — “Would You Like to Dance” – Jon Byrd (from the album Route 41) — Jon Byrd put his pen down for a new release, Route 41. The songs gathered are ones Jon has met across his road and performing years. Jon Byrd sings a smooth country gentleman whose charm might get him a partner on Adam Wright’s “Would You Like to Dance.”
For high resolution photos, please email jbyrd (at) tds.net
“AMERICANA THE WAY IT WAS AND THE WAY IT SHOULD BE — His vocal sound– a touch of Haggard here and a smear of Willie there– is wonderfully dated, old Opry and much the better for it. His original songs, such as Jackknife and Reputation, sound like old friends.” ~ MOJO MAGAZINE
“… a mixture of Americana and country and is spellbinding showcasing a true genius at work.” ~ MAVERICK MAGAZINE
“Smooth, affecting, classy country…mature experience to match the vocal finesse.” ~ ENGINE145.COM
“[Down at the Well of Wishes is] a Classy record by anyone’s standards… steeped in hard won wisdom it gains extra emotional resonance courtesy of Nashville guitar legend Jon Byrd’s semi spoken vocal style” ~ R2 MAGAZINE UK
“His dazzling sophomore album is a strikingly rich collection of nine Americana originals. The thing about Byrd is that he has a well-worn and rough voice that could draw a comparison to a more countrified Leonard Cohen…” ~ POPMATTERS
“Full of lovely guitar touches and brimming with clever, mordant songs” ~ THE LONDON TELEGRAPH
“The vocals on Byrd’s new R.S. Field-produced album have the graciousness of Don Williams along with traces of Willie Nelson’s free-as-the-breeze delivery. To put it another way, Byrd’s an understatedly great singer. And the songwriting… applies a fresh, sharp, Southern vocabulary. He’s understatedly great at the writing part, too.” ~ NASHVILLE SCENE
“Clearly maintaining his standard, mature songwriting is married to some classy playing, whilst Jon’s warm, slightly gruff but very relaxed singing holds the centre. … Though he sings of heartbreak and regret, there’s something enormously reassuring about Jon Byrd’s music, a refuge in troubled times.” ~ NO DEPRESSION
“Down at the Well of Wishes is 100% gin-yoo-wine, brothers and sisters, with allusions to Gram Parsons not at all out of place. There’s that much honesty and candor present, not to mention a full-blooded jes’ foks ambiance. … The guy seems to understand everything about folk, country, roots, Nashville, and kindred aesthetics almost as though he’d helped write the rules.” ~ ACOUSTICMUSIC.COM
“Though much of the content draws (I presume) on personal experience, it also feels universal. Down’s sorrows and struggles are all of ours, which is to say they’re everyone’s blues, except that few of us can evoke them with the kind of eloquence, passion and mature intelligence Byrd brings to his art.” ~ RAMBLES.NET
“At the intersection of Solitude and the Bleeding Truth lives Jon Byrd. Not only does he write with honesty and heart, he embodies those elements. His is a voice that holds history within straight-up, neo-classic country.” ~ THE LONESOME ROAD REVIEW
“A superbly talented songwriter… on a par with other Americana stars like Prine, Snider, Crowell… a fine representation of one of the best songwriters and stylists today.” ~ AMERICANA GAZETTE
“Byrd’s mature, understated baritone, often compared to Merle Haggard’s, though I’d say more like Don Williams, is a class act in itself, team it with nine remarkable songs and I’d say we have a winner.” ~ Not SXSW
“Byrd’s an understatedly great singer. And the songwriting… applies a fresh, sharp Southern vocabulary. He’s understatedly great at the writing part, too.” ~ NASHVILLE SCENE
“Even in the rootsy arena of country musicians full of reverence for the genre’s past, crafting new music doesn’t have to be a regurgitation of worn clichés… Jon Byrd proves it. …as traditional and timeless as they come.” ~ GEORGIA MUSIC MAGAZINE
“When you open the mail and find a record like Jon Byrd’s Byrd’s Auto Parts, for a moment things seem right with the music world.” ~ HOUSTON PRESS
“It wouldn’t take the ‘Perfect World’ Jon Byrd sings about with such wistful, regretful finesse on this disc for more people to know him as the terrifically accomplished, versatile country singer he is.” ~ NO DEPRESSION
“BEST LOCAL COUNTRY, OFF THE ROW — The string-bending excellence is expected; what surprises is the penetrating power of his pen and entertaining quality of his voice.”~ NASHVILLE SCENE
“The surprise of the listening session was JON BYRD. His CD shows it’s time for him to step out of the shadows and as a sideman. A well-deserved DISCovery Award.” ~ MUSIC ROW MAGAZINE
“A perfect mix of hardcore honky-tonk and impossibly beautiful slow songs.” ~ BLACK DOG HOUSE CONCERTS, Chicago
TOP EAST NASHVILLE ARTISTS RIGHT NOW — THE ALTERNATE ROOT ~ June 2013 http://www.thealternateroot.com/what-s-trending/1213-top-nashville-artists-right-now
“Top East Nashville Artists Right Now” – May 2013, The Alternate Root.com
