Rising Stars: Meet Jon Kinsey

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jon Kinsey.

Hi Jon, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
I was raised outside a little town in Northwest Georgia, a small-town boy with big dreams. I guess you could say I’ve been around music pretty much my entire life. My Mother was a part of the Southern Gospel “group”, The Gospel Heirs, from the time I was 3 until I turned 16. I was in a different church most every night of the week. Revivals, singing, and homecomings, I’ve seen it all.

It’s funny, my love for music didn’t really start until 6th grade when a friend of mine got on the bus one morning with a Sony Walkman cassette player. He was all excited and told me to listen to this cassette. It was his dad’s favorite band. I can still remember everything about that morning. I put those headphones on and it was right at the solo of REO Speedwagon’s “Keep on Loving You”. It was right then that I said “I want to do that!” To this day I still get those same chills every time I hear that song.

Not saying that I didn’t enjoy listening to music, that’s just the point where I decided that I wanted to play music one day. Growing up, Travis Tritt, Brooks and Dunn, Garth, George, and all those 90’s guys played through my speakers. Heck, they still blare through my speakers.

Fast forward a bit. While my desire to play music never left, I didn’t act on it until my Freshman year of high school. I had gotten an old off-brand flattop guitar and started learning a few chords. I sat on the front church pew and followed along with the other musicians and slowly started honing my craft.

Throughout high school, I silently worked at it. I practiced til my fingers hurt so bad I cried and said I was never picking it up again. The next day I was right back at it. Around that time I started writing. The first song I ever wrote was the song “She Still Flies”, a patriotic song that I pull out from time to time for veteran programs and shows around the veteran-related holidays.

Now upon graduation, I went into the workforce while playing regularly at church. I started venturing out into other churches playing various youth events, thus starting my actual music career. With a couple of friends, I started the Christian rock band One Step Closer. We traveled the southeast playing many different events and churches but like most things, the season passed and we went our separate ways. We are all still friends to this day.

Coming off the rock scene I wanted to go back to my roots. I made a comment to a guy that I wanted to go back and start writing and performing country music. He laughed at me and told me I’d never make it. Well, here I am.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Has it been a smooth road… Hahaha not at all. The music business can be as cutthroat and nasty as it can be a glorious thing. I’ve had my share of ups as well as downs. Where I live the music scene was all but dead when I started playing out. It’s getting a lot better now.

At first, it was a struggle to land gigs. The venues that had music had their set few they allowed to play and the rest of us basically were kept on the sidelines. Then there was a time when the cutthroat side came out. Various artists go in behind others and offer to play for half the pay. It really was a really aggravating time, but I’ve pushed through into a bit smoother waters…

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Hmm… As an artist, I’m constantly writing new songs. Inspiration comes at random times, from random things. It could be a social media post someone makes, a line someone says in daily conversation, or something as simple as frogs singing in the night. The music I have released so far has set me up to be recognized as being heavily guitar-driven, almost rock-ish at times. I look forward to releasing some of the new stuff so folks can see all the different flavors I have.

The thing that I am most proud of… There are a lot of things I am proud of. Having a song I co-wrote recorded in Nashville by my good friend Craig Hendricks (I found grace), having number one on an Indie chart (Dirt road), the song I released about my grandfather (Let him talk). These all are my proudest moments to date.

In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
The industry… My time in Nashville has shown me that the industry is unpredictable. I would love to see a resurgence of the ’90s sound. I can see it in certain upcoming artists. At the same time, I do enjoy it when someone’s music crosses over multiple genres.

I myself cross genres at times with my music merging a bit with rock. As an acoustic artist, I define myself as an acoustic rock and country artist.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.jonkinseymusic.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jkmusic17
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jkmusic17
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZzsrU7OcOAiNqAsdEnu2LQ?app=desktop
• Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1pZAwcLLuHhyS1z8bxfRhd?si=r3FVs2pKT-28syIF0b0Ulw