View source for Jon Spencer

{{short description|American singer-songwriter}}
{{distinguish|John Spencer (actor)|Joseph Spence (musician)}}{{Infobox musical artist
| name            = Jon Spencer
| image           = Jon Spencer. 2013.jpg
| caption         = Jon Spencer, 2013.
| landscape       = yes
| birth_name      = Jonathan Spencer
| birth_date      = {{birth date and age|February 5, 1965}}
| birth_place     = [[Hanover, New Hampshire]], United States
| genre           = {{Flatlist|
*[[Noise rock]]
*[[punk blues]]
*[[garage rock]]
*[[blues rock]]}}
| occupation      = Musician
| spouse      = Cristina Martinez
| instrument      = Vocals, guitar, [[theremin]]
| years_active    = 1983&ndash;present
| associated_acts = [[Jon Spencer Blues Explosion|The Blues Explosion]], [[Boss Hog]], [[Heavy Trash]], [[Pussy Galore (band)|Pussy Galore]], [[The Honeymoon Killers (American band)|The Honeymoon Killers]]
}}
'''Jon Spencer''' (born February 5, 1965) is an American singer, guitarist, and bandleader known for his work in the noise- and garage-rock scenes with {{ill|Pussy Galore (band)|lt=Pussy Galore}}, {{ill|Boss Hog}}, and especially [[Jon Spencer Blues Explosion]]. In the mid-1990s he collaborated with Mississippi hill country blues musician {{ill|R. L. Burnside}} on the album ''A Ass Pocket of Whiskey'' (1996), a crossover that drew wider attention to Burnside beyond blues audiences.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=McInerney |first=Jay |date=February 4, 2002 |title=Blues on the Rocks |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2002/02/04/blues-on-the-rocks |access-date=September 25, 2025 |magazine=The New Yorker}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Fat Possum Records |url=https://mississippiencyclopedia.org/entries/fat-possum-records/ |access-date=September 25, 2025 |website=Mississippi Encyclopedia |publisher=University of Mississippi Press}}</ref> After announcing in 2022 that the Blues Explosion had ended, Spencer issued new music and toured with Jon Spencer & the Hitmakers, featuring Sam Coomes and Janet Weiss, and later formed a trio with Kendall Wind and Macky “Spider” Bowman of The Bobby Lees.<ref>{{cite web |last=Ruiz |first=Matthew Ismael |date=February 15, 2022 |title=Jon Spencer Says the Blues Explosion Are No More |url=https://pitchfork.com/news/jon-spencer-says-the-blues-explosion-is-no-more/ |access-date=September 25, 2025 |website=Pitchfork}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Baillargeon |first=Patrick |date=October 2024 |title=Jon Spencer has another new band and is ready to rock |url=https://panm360.com/en/interviews-panm360/jon-spencer-has-another-new-band-and-is-ready-to-rock/ |access-date=September 25, 2025 |website=PAN M 360}}</ref>

== History ==
Jon Spencer was born on February 5, 1965<ref name="Mander">{{cite web|url=http://www.pop-catastrophe.co.uk/boss-hog-cristina-martinez-tjs-newport-cristina-martinez-interview-311095-boss-hog-album-review-5000-words-press-uk//|title= TJ's, Newport / Cristina Martinez Interview 31/10/95 / Boss Hog [Album Review]|access-date=February 5, 2021|last= Mander|first= Gerry|date=1995–1996|publisher= S&M Magazine 002|quote="Jon was born on February 5th 1965." }}</ref> in Hanover, New Hampshire, to a university professor and a cardiology technician.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ego5AQAAIAAJ |title=Contemporary Musicians: Profiles of the People in Music |publisher=[[Gale (publisher)|Gale]] |date=August 12, 2005 |volume=64 |page=107 |isbn=9780787680671 |access-date=May 5, 2013}}</ref> He attended [[Brown University]] in [[Providence, Rhode Island]], where he was part of the noise rock band Shithaus, which included future [[Cop Shoot Cop]] vocalist [[Tod Ashley]].<ref name="trousercop">{{cite magazine |first1=Art |last1=Black |first2=David |last2=Sprague |url=http://www.trouserpress.com/entry.php?a=cop_shoot_cop |title=Cop Shoot Cop |magazine=[[Trouser Press]] |year=2007 |access-date=May 5, 2013}}</ref> The band was short lived and had a musical style reminiscent of the [[industrial music]] of [[Einstürzende Neubauten]].<ref>{{cite magazine |first=Johan |last=Kugelberg |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_hQxGHrtDC0C |title=Punk Rock Anthems |magazine=[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]] |publisher=SPIN Media LLC |date=July 1992 |volume=8 |issue=4 |page=81 |access-date=May 5, 2013}}</ref> He moved to [[Washington, D.C.]], and formed [[Pussy Galore (band)|Pussy Galore]], who quickly relocated to [[New York City|New York]].

Spencer collaborated with [[R. L. Burnside]] in the mid-1990s, recording the album ''[[A Ass Pocket of Whiskey]]'' (1996) with the Blues Explosion, an unusual crossover that critics noted for exposing Burnside to audiences beyond traditional blues circles.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=McInerney |first=Jay |date=February 4, 2002 |title=Blues on the Rocks |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2002/02/04/blues-on-the-rocks |access-date=September 25, 2025 |magazine=The New Yorker}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Fat Possum Records |url=https://mississippiencyclopedia.org/entries/fat-possum-records/ |access-date=September 25, 2025 |website=Mississippi Encyclopedia}}</ref>

In February 2022, Spencer said on the ''Kreative Kontrol'' podcast that Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, on hiatus since 2016, was “no more,” citing bandmate Judah Bauer’s health. He promoted new material with Jon Spencer & the Hitmakers.<ref>{{cite web |last=Ruiz |first=Matthew Ismael |date=February 15, 2022 |title=Jon Spencer Says the Blues Explosion Are No More |url=https://pitchfork.com/news/jon-spencer-says-the-blues-explosion-is-no-more/ |access-date=September 25, 2025 |website=Pitchfork}}</ref>

He joined up with bassist Kendall Wind and drummer Macky Spider Bowman of [[The Bobby Lees]] in 2023<ref>{{cite web |last1=Baillargeon |first1=Patrick |title=Jon Spencer has another new band and is ready to rock |url=https://panm360.com/en/interviews-panm360/jon-spencer-has-another-new-band-and-is-ready-to-rock/ |website=PAN M 360 |access-date=6 October 2024}}</ref> and released ''Sick Of Being Sick!'' in 2024.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Sterdan |first1=Darryl |title=Albums Of The Week: Jon Spencer &#124; Sick Of Being Sick |url=https://tinnitist.com/2024/09/05/albums-of-the-week-jon-spencer-sick-of-being-sick/ |website=Tinnitist |publisher=Darryl Sterdan |access-date=6 October 2024 |date=5 September 2024}}</ref>

== Style and influences ==
Critics have described Spencer’s music as a collision of punk, garage rock, and blues, delivered with heavy distortion and theatrical stage presence.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Gross |first=Joe |date=October 21, 2010 |title=Jon Spencer Blues Explosion: ''Orange'' |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/jo-jon-spencer-blues-explosion-orange/ |access-date=September 25, 2025 |magazine=Pitchfork}}</ref> Writing in ''The Guardian'', Dave Simpson noted that Spencer “helped redefine blues for an alternative audience” by mixing “the primitive thump of Mississippi hill country with New York noise and swagger.”<ref>{{cite news |last=Simpson |first=Dave |date=September 13, 2012 |title=Jon Spencer Blues Explosion: Meat and Bone – review |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/sep/13/jon-spencer-blues-explosion-review |access-date=September 25, 2025 |work=The Guardian}}</ref> His bands have drawn on sources ranging from [[Bo Diddley]] and [[James Brown]] to the abrasive energy of [[No Wave]].<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Robbins |first=Ira |title=Jon Spencer Blues Explosion |url=http://www.trouserpress.com/entry.php?a=jon_spencer_blues_explosion |access-date=September 25, 2025 |magazine=Trouser Press}}</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{AllMusic |class=artist |id=p195904}}
* {{Discogs artist|Jon Spencer}}

{{Boss Hog}}
{{Heavy Trash}}
{{The Honeymoon Killers (American band)}}
{{Pussy Galore (band)}}
{{The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spencer, Jon}}
[[Category:1965 births]]
[[Category:American rock guitarists]]
[[Category:American male guitarists]]
[[Category:American rock singers]]
[[Category:American male singer-songwriters]]
[[Category:American rock songwriters]]
[[Category:Noise rock musicians]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Singers from New Hampshire]]
[[Category:American noise musicians]]
[[Category:Musicians from Hanover, New Hampshire]]
[[Category:Pussy Galore (band) members]]
[[Category:Guitarists from New Hampshire]]
[[Category:20th-century American guitarists]]
[[Category:20th-century American male musicians]]
[[Category:Brown University alumni]]