Jon Spencer

Template:Short description Template:DistinguishTemplate:Infobox musical artist 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 Template:Ill, Template:Ill, and especially Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. In the mid-1990s he collaborated with Mississippi hill country blues musician Template:Ill on the album A Ass Pocket of Whiskey (1996), a crossover that drew wider attention to Burnside beyond blues audiences.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</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>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

History

Jon Spencer was born on February 5, 1965<ref name="Mander">Template:Cite web</ref> in Hanover, New Hampshire, to a university professor and a cardiology technician.<ref>Template:Cite book</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">Template:Cite magazine</ref> The band was short lived and had a musical style reminiscent of the industrial music of Einstürzende Neubauten.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> He moved to Washington, D.C., and formed Pussy Galore, who quickly relocated to 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>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</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>Template:Cite web</ref>

He joined up with bassist Kendall Wind and drummer Macky Spider Bowman of The Bobby Lees in 2023<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and released Sick Of Being Sick! in 2024.<ref>Template:Cite web</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>Template:Cite magazine</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>Template:Cite news</ref> His bands have drawn on sources ranging from Bo Diddley and James Brown to the abrasive energy of No Wave.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

External links

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