The Bones of J.R. Jones
A visit from Jonathon Linaberry.
Talented blues musician and multi-instrumentalist Jonathon Linaberry who plays under the moniker, The Bones of J.R. Jones, paid a visit to The Thacher School last week as a brief stop on his cross-country tour to promote his second full-length album Spirit's Furnace. His music has been heard in a number of TV programs, movies, and commercials, including National Lampoons Vacation, ads by Subaru and Captain Morgan and TV programs such as Suits and Dare Devil. Currently he is scoring an independent film based on a blues musician from the 1930s.
While on campus Jonathon taught two sections of freshman music and held evening workshops with some of Thacher's aspiring musicians and song writers. He also performed for the community during dinner on Friday, treating the gathered crowd to his unique folksy-blues sound.
Senior Isabel Ouweleen, who participated in one of Jonathon's evening workshops, commented, "I spontaneously decided to attend the workshop he offered after formal dinner and was thrilled I made that decision. Jonathon talked to us briefly about his approach to the creative process and various springboards of songwriting. He suggested using lines from books, lines from poetry, favorite paintings, and even 're-vibing' old songs to offer a platform from which to build a song. In this spirit, we looked at Justin Bieber's pop hit Cold Water and broke it down. We changed the key, changed the time signature, and approached it like a folk classic.
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While on campus Jonathon taught two sections of freshman music and held evening workshops with some of Thacher's aspiring musicians and song writers. He also performed for the community during dinner on Friday, treating the gathered crowd to his unique folksy-blues sound.
Senior Isabel Ouweleen, who participated in one of Jonathon's evening workshops, commented, "I spontaneously decided to attend the workshop he offered after formal dinner and was thrilled I made that decision. Jonathon talked to us briefly about his approach to the creative process and various springboards of songwriting. He suggested using lines from books, lines from poetry, favorite paintings, and even 're-vibing' old songs to offer a platform from which to build a song. In this spirit, we looked at Justin Bieber's pop hit Cold Water and broke it down. We changed the key, changed the time signature, and approached it like a folk classic.
It was exciting to work with a professional musician so invested in our growth and so encouraging of our approach. Going into the workshop I was nervous and hesitant, coming out I was humming our new folk song and eager to write more."
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A college preparatory boarding school for grades 9-12
Notice of nondiscriminatory policy as to students: The Thacher School admits students of any race, color, national, and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the School. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national, and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admission policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other School-administered programs.