Jon Brooks is an award winning Canadian folk singer-songwriter.

Discography

• No Mean City (2006)
• Ours And The Shepherds (2007)
• Moth Nor Rust (2009)
• Delicate Cages (not yet released)

No Mean City (2006)

NO MEAN CITY (2006) was Jon's first CD. No longer in print but available on iTunes, NMC is a 13 song ode to the modern Canadian city, particularly, Toronto. Focusing on those living on the outskirts of approval, the songs are boldly layered with biblical, literary, and historical allusion. Jon's idea for No Mean City was inspired by Toronto architecture historian, Eric Arthur's book of the same name - which also accounts for why all the songs devote equal attention to their characters' surrounding architecture. Today, NO MEAN CITY remains Jon's favourite secret.

Ours And The Shepherds (2007)

The title of Jon's second release, OURS AND THE SHEPHERDS (2007), was taken from Dorothy Day's response to her own reflection, 'whose fault is it? It's ours and the shepherds'. A collection of Canadian war stories dating from WWI through to current missions in Afghanistan. 13 songs inspired by the lives of Canadians, Sen. Romeo Dallaire, Padre William Henry Davis, John McRae, Sgt. Tommy Prince, and James Loney to name a few. OATS earned Jon multiple awards, a place in the Canadian War Museum and The John McRae Society, as well as his first 'Best Songwriter' nomination at the 2007 Canadian Folk Music Awards.

Moth Nor Rust (2009)

MOTH NOR RUST (2009) is Jon's third and most highly acclaimed cd thus far. The theme: songs inspired by 'all that neither moth nor rust' can touch - love, hope, trust, faith, memory, inspiration, and gratitude. The ten songs were recorded live-in-studio, solo, and in first or second takes in the effort to amplify the austere theme of human essentials. MNR enjoyed international chart positions and worldwide airplay as well as his second 'Best Songwriter' nomination at the 2009 Canadian Folk Music Awards. The lyrics of MNR were published by Canada's foremost literary journal, EXILE EDITIONS.

Awards

• 2010 International Songwriting Competition winner
• 2010 Kerrville New Folk
  Kerrville Folk Festival
  The Kerrville Folk Festival is a music festival held for 18 consecutive days in the late spring/early summer at Quiet Valley Ranch near Kerrville, Texas. The event has run on a yearly basis since 1972. In November 2008, the Kerrville Folk Festival and Kerrville Wine & Music Festival were acquired...
  
   Competition winner
• 2010's Toronto Star
  Toronto Star
  The Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...
  
  's People To Watch
• 2009 Canadian Folk Music Award nominee - Best Songwriter
• 2009 Mountain Stage finalist
• 2008 Mac Beattie Porcupine Award
• 2007 Canadian Folk Music Award nominee - Best Songwriter
• 2007 Ontario Council of Folk Festivals 'Songs From The Heart'
• 2006 Songwriter of the Year - The International Greenman Review

Touring

Brooks has been invited to perform at many international music festivals including:

UK: Greenbelt Festival

Greenbelt festival

Greenbelt Festival is a festival of arts, faith and justice held annually in England since 1974. Greenbelt has grown from a Christian music festival with an audience of 1,500 young Christians to its current more secular festival attended by around 20,000 - Christians and non-Christians.The festival...

 (2009)

Australia: Newstead Folk Festival (2011)

Canada: Home County Folk Festival (2006 & 2008), Shelter Valley Folk Festival (2007 & 2011), Edmonton Folk Festival (2008), Frostbite Music Festival (2008), Ottawa Folk Festival (2010), Islands Folk Festival (2010), Calgary Folk Festival (2011)

USA: Kerrville Folk Festival (2010 & 2011), Rice Festival (2010)

External links

• Jon Brooks' Official Website
• Twitter Page