- No One Travels Alone (Borealis/2018), is first example in popular music
of an album written and recorded in circular, ‘corona’ form. - 4 x Nominee ‘Songwriter of the Year’ (2007/2009/2012/2014) @ The
Canadian Folk Music Awards - Jon Brooks writes songs to calm those who’ve looked into and seen what
is in their hearts; he also writes songs to terrify those who’ve not.
Jon Brooks writes songs to calm those who’ve looked into and seen what is in their hearts; he also writes songs to terrify those who’ve not. His music defies genre classification; his words – rife with paradox, topicality, and layered with religious and literary allusion – defy elevator pitch. Like his undefinable progenitors – Cohen, Cave, Cash, Chekhov, The Clash, and George Carlin (to limit
things to the letter ‘c’) – Brooks is a mysterious performer that provokes more wonder than comparison, more questions than answers.
His is a glowing one gets to knows slowly, glacially, and with great reward for attentiveness – hence his laughable obscurity in an age obsessed with exclamation marks, passive amusement, and by fast fading fireworks more than by that which glows and calls for our committed engagement. Still reading? You may be in Brooks’ tiny demographic! His new album, No One Travels Alone, (Borealis/2018), is a meditation on the interconnectedness and migratory nature of all that sings and clings – hence, the title and the linkages between the songs by last and first lines. No One Travels Alone is the first example in popular music of an album written in circular, corona form.
https://jonbrooks.ca/home
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EH2iI0Pgy3E
