People of Georgian: ‘Jonny Country’ sings with Tim McGraw, becomes country artist
April 21, 2023
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People of Georgian: Meet Jon Robert Jevons
For my 16th birthday, my mom and I went to Las Vegas to see Tim McGraw in concert.
When we got to the show, this lady comes up to our seats and I asked, “Who are you?” And she goes, “Well, I’m Tim McGraw’s mother, Betty McGraw.”
She actually gave us front-row seats and we got to sit there the whole night, up close to Tim McGraw.
And when he came on stage just before he starts singing, he shouts out my name and wishes me a happy birthday, then shakes my hand.
Later in the show, when he heard me singing one of his songs, he comes over to me again, but this time he hands me the microphone and lets me sing for, like, 10 minutes. I had the band playing behind me and people chanting my name: “Jonny! Jonny! Jonny!”
It was just awesome.
To top it all off, after we got home, a big FedEx box showed up at our front door. Inside was a replica cowboy hat Tim McGraw sent to me as a special birthday present.
Love of country music starts young
My dad got me into country music when I was a kid.
I started watching country music on Country Music Television (CMT). Then I started singing, performing George Strait, the Charlie Daniels Band and Brad Paisley.
My dad would go to Walmart, buying country albums for me and giving them to me for a Christmas gift.
Jonny Country starts performing at age 10
I first started singing in public at the karaoke bar right beside my mom’s house when I was 10 years old.
The first time I performed there, most of my family and friends came to watch me sing, and it was the best night ever.
I’ve been singing in there for about 12 years now.
Now, I have my own album, Man Made This Town, I’ve made a music video, I’m verified on Spotify, and you can also buy my records at Sunrise Records in the Bayfield Mall in Barrie.
I also had a music teacher this year. She’s been amazing with me.
She comes over to my house every month with her studio music equipment. We set it up in my mom’s garage last summer and left the big garage door open for everyone in the neighbourhood to hear.
We worked on my tracks to get the music and audio done for the album, and then we did photoshoots for the album.
I would never have been a country artist without my music teacher helping me make all these songs and booking my gigs and being a big part of my life.
Performing music just makes me feel so good.
Jon Robert Jevons, a student in Georgian’s Community Integration Through Co-operative Education (CICE) program.