Jon Lee is a 4G, American Born Chinese, Pacific Northwest native son who crafts and presents songs that connect people, places, and stories. He loves to share his music with any listening audience; recent gigs have taken him to the Liberty Theatre in Astoria, the Wallowa County Courthouse, and the French Glenn Hotel, with numerous coffee houses, bars, and house concerts along the way. So far, Jon has lived an inspired life, and his music reflects his travels and encounters and time spent in various occupations, including river guide, referee, carpenter, and middle school teacher.

Musical source points include Buddy, The Beatles, the Brothers, the Boys, Rodney and Emmylou. Musical inspiration comes from the sound of water, night skies, enduring friendships, endearing daughters, black coffee, slow food, sharp steel, straight grain. He professes to be a pragmatic progressive, advocating for sustainability, equity of opportunity,and a greater embrace of the wisdom of women. He derives great delight but no cosmic significance from Pi, prime numbers, petrichor, the green flash, small town high school hoops, and a well-placed semi-colon.

Jon’s own musical journey began in early childhood, listening to AM radio and the wide range of music to be found in his father’s LPs.  He played a variety of brass and percussion instruments in school band until he decided he had had enough of marching around in a dorky hat. He bought his first acoustic guitar soon thereafter, eventually becoming a good enough player on a variety of instruments to be useful in a variety of bands, and to record the variety of parts he hears in his head. He knows not to play these other instruments in the presence of real players, such as guys who only play harmonica. He has recorded four collections of handcrafted, locally-sourced, mostly organic songs. Two more collections are presently works in progress.