Jon Davison

Jon Davison (born January 16, 1971) is an American singer, musician and songwriter who has been the lead vocalist of progressive rock band Yes since 2012.

He is also known as the former lead singer of progressive rock band Glass Hammer from 2009 to 2014, and the former bass guitarist of Sky Cries Mary from 1993 to 2016, in which he was credited under his nickname of "Juano" Davison. In 2020, he and fellow Yes member Billy Sherwood created a new band, Arc of Life, which released its eponymous first studio album the following year and its second album in 2022.

Career

Early years

Davison's earliest involvement with music began when he sang in the church youth choir led by his mother. From an early age, she instilled in him an appreciation for music and love for singing. Soon after he took up guitar and bass, which eventually led him during High School to perform in various original and cover bands with his childhood best friend, Taylor Hawkins (who was later the drummer for Foo Fighters). It was Hawkins who gave Jon the nickname "Juano" that has stuck to this day.

Sky Cries Mary

Davison then attended the Art Institute of Seattle to study audio and video production where he landed the gig of bassist for Northwest group Sky Cries Mary. Throughout the 1990s, he continued recording and touring with the band. Some highlights of this period were traveling to Japan, and appearing on late night talk shows including ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' and ''The Daily Show''.

In 2001, Davison and his then wife moved for a year to Maewe's home of Brazil. While living there, Davison played bass with Ronald Augusto.

In November 26, 2016, Sky Cries Mary premiered a new line-up, of which Davison was not a part.

Glass Hammer

Davison remained a member of Sky Cries Mary, but also joined the now-disbanded Yes tribute band Roundabout. In 2009, Glass Hammer discovered Davison singing Yes music online and asked him to join the band as "the voice we were always writing music for", according to founding members Steve Babb and Fred Schendel. He has since recorded five albums with them, '' If'', '' Cor Cordium'', '' Perilous'', a new version of '' The Inconsolable Secret'' and '' Ode to Echo''. He was the lead vocalist on the first three, and sharing that role on ''Ode to Echo'' given his engagements with Yes; he subsequently left the band to focus on Yes.

On the 2018 Cruise to the Edge festival, Davison performed live with Glass Hammer as a guest; as Glass Hammer was mainly a studio project when he was a member, it marked the first time he performed with them live.

Yes

In February 2012, Davison was announced as the new lead singer of Yes, replacing Benoît David, who left the group because of illness. "Strangely enough, Jon's name came up when we started working with Benoit," Yes bassist Chris Squire recalled. "In fact, my friend, Taylor Hawkins, had been telling me for years: 'If you ever need a replacement (singer), I know exactly the guy.'" Davison has described how the band had a tour booked when David dropped out, "so there was sort of this frantic race to resolve this matter ..because they weren't going to back out of the tour. So in the same moment, perhaps even the same hour, of the same day, Chris is calling Taylor to get my phone number, because he's gonna give me a call, and then the manager is also working on contacting me, so I got contacted by both of them."

Davison has toured with Yes since joining the band, and sang lead on 2014's '' Heaven & Earth''. He wrote or co-wrote seven out of the eight tracks.

In July 2020, Davison said the band were at work writing their next album, stating that it was still in the early stages of compiling demos, but the band has half an album of material ready.https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-edfdt-e462f3, E6: Jon Davison - Interview Sessions With The Singer For Legendary Prog/Rock Band - Yes " The Quest", Yes's 22nd studio album and the second to feature lead vocals by Davison, was released in October 2021.

Other

In 2015, Davison appeared at a Foo Fighters concert, and joined his childhood friend Taylor Hawkins, to perform the Rush song "Tom Sawyer" with them.

In February 2019, during ‘Cruise to the Edge’ Davison became friends on board with John Lodge of the Moody Blues when Davison began dating John's daughter Emily. Davison has since toured with John as ‘guest vocalist', appearing on the 'Rock and Romance Cruise' in February 2020, and subsequent dates in Florida and NE USA.

In August 2019, Davison joined the Foo Fighters in concert in Dublin, Ireland to sing Queen song "Under Pressure" with Taylor Hawkins while Dave Grohl took over on drums.

During lockdown Davison providing backing vocals on the John Lodge 'isolation' single, "In These Crazy Times". Lodge wrote and recorded the song in his home studio, and Jon appears alongside John's son, Kristian, his wife, Kirsten, and John's daughter (and Jon's girlfriend) Emily managed the project.

In July 2020, Davison described a new side project with fellow Yes member Billy Sherwood and Yes touring drummer Jay Schellen called Arc of Life. Their self-titled debut album was released the following year on February 12, 2021. Featuring vocalist Jon Davison, bassist/vocalist Billy Sherwood, drummer Jay Schellen, keyboardist Dave Kerzner, and guitarist Jimmy Haun, their sophomore album ''Don't Look Down'' was released on 18 November 2022.

Discography

Arc of Life

* ''Arc of Life'' (2021) - lead vocals
* ''Don't Look Down'' (2022) - lead vocals

Glass Hammer

* '' If'' (2010) – lead and backing vocals
* '' Cor Cordium'' (2011) – lead and backing vocals, acoustic guitar
* ''The Stories of H.P. Lovecraft'' (2012, collaborative album of different artists) - lead and backing vocals on "Cool Air"
* '' Perilous'' (2012) – lead and backing vocals
* '' The Inconsolable Secret'' (2013 re-recording) – lead vocals
* '' Ode to Echo'' (2014) – lead and backing vocals
* '' Untold Tales'' (2017, compilation of previously unreleased/rare material) - lead and backing vocals on "Cool Air", backing vocals on "A Grain of Sand"

Sky Cries Mary

* '' This Timeless Turning'' (1993) – bass
* '' Moonbathing on Sleeping Leaves'' (1997) – bass
* ''Fresh Fruits for the Liberation'' (1998) – bass
* ''Seeds'' (1999) – bass
* ''Here and Now'' (2005) – bass
* ''Small Town'' (2007) – bass
* ''Space Between the Drops'' (2009) – bass
* ''Taking The Stage: 1997–2005'' (2011) – bass, percussion, acoustic guitar, backing vocal

Yes

; Studio albums
* '' Heaven & Earth'' (2014) – lead and backing vocals, acoustic guitar
* '' The Quest'' (2021) - lead and backing vocals, guitar
; Live albums
* '' Like It Is: Yes at the Bristol Hippodrome'' (2014) – lead vocals, acoustic guitar, percussion, keyboards
* '' Like It Is: Yes at the Mesa Arts Center'' (2015) – lead vocals, acoustic guitar, percussion, keyboards
* '' Topographic Drama - Live Across America'' (2017) - lead vocals, acoustic guitar, percussion, keyboards
* '' Yes 50 Live'' (2019) - lead vocals, acoustic guitar, percussion, keyboards
* '' The Royal Affair Tour: Live from Las Vegas'' (2020) - lead vocals, acoustic guitar, percussion

Guest appearances

* ''Tales from the Edge: A Tribute to the Music of Yes'' (2012) – lead vocals and tambourine on "Starship Trooper" with The Samurai of Prog
* ''Absinthe Tales of Romantic Visions'' by Mogador (2012) – lead vocals on "The Sick Rose"
* ''The Birds of Satan'' by The Birds of Satan (2015) - backing vocals on "Pieces of the Puzzle" and "Raspberries", co-wrote "Raspberries"
* ''Citizen'' by Billy Sherwood (2015) - lead vocals on "Written in the Centuries"
* ''Lost and Found'' by The Samurai of Prog (2016) - lead vocals on "She (Who Must be Obeyed)"
* ''Chaptersend'' by Mogador (2017) - backing vocals on "Josephine's Regrets"
* ''Difference'' (single) by Edison's Lab (2018) - backing vocals
* ''A Life in Yes—The Chris Squire Tribute'' by various artists (2018) - lead vocals on "On the Silent Wings of Freedom" and "Parallels"
* ''Yesterday and Today – A 50th Anniversary Tribute to Yes'' by Sonic Elements (2018) - lead vocals on "Acoustic Medley"
* ''Acceleration Theory Part One: AlienA'' by In Continuum (2019) - vocals on "Crash Landing", "Scavengers" and "Meant to Be"
* ''Planetary Overload Part 1: Loss'' by United Progressive Fraternity (2019) - backing vocals on two tracks
* ''Get the Money'' by Taylor Hawkins and the Coattail Riders (2019) - on "Crossed the Line"
* ''Acceleration Theory Part Two: Annihilation'' by In Continuum (2019) - vocals
* ''A Prog Rock Christmas'' by various artists (2019) - vocals on "Run with the Fox"
* ''A Tribute to Keith Emerson & Greg Lake'' by various artists (2020) - vocals on "C'est la Vie"
* ''Love Is'' by Steve Howe (2020) - backing vocals, bass
* ''On the Ending Earth...'' by Anyone (2020) - fretless bass on "Thought I Was"
* ''Cov3r to Cov3r'' (2020) by Neal Morse, Mike Portnoy and Randy George - lead vocals on 1 track
* "In These Crazy Times (The Isolation Mix)" (2020; digital single) by John Lodge - backing vocals
* ''In Humanity'' by Anyone (2021) - lead vocals on "Misanthropist"

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davison, Jon
Yes (band) members
Living people
1971 births
American rock guitarists
American male guitarists
American multi-instrumentalists
American singer-songwriters
American male singer-songwriters
21st-century American singers