About

In the Winter of 2006 when Jon Watts sat down to create his senior project for Guilford College, it was unclear what would result.

“I figured he would offer up a few ’summer camp’ or ‘pop’ tunes that would be performed in a student coffeehouse and promptly be forgotten” recalls Max Carter, director of Friend’s Center.

But when Jon set up his studio in the neighboring Friendship Friends Meeting, something decidedly more profound happened.

“As I researched into the lives of the Early Friends I felt them reaching out to tell their stories,” Jon says.

Jon Watts in the Studio

James Naylor, Solomon Eccles and George Fox: Jon opened himself as a vessel for these men. The resulting music is haunting, powerful, alive.

Max Carter on the final presentation: “Jon presented a stunning live concert on campus… all were deeply moved by the experience. Jon’s lyrics and score did far more than reiterate historical facts – they created a spiritual experience. Some attenders professed to having a profound spiritual awakening as a result!”

To Pendle Hill

Fast forward one year. 2007: Jon is living at the Pendle Hill Quaker retreat center as a resident student, where he has again set up a recording studio.

This time, the historical figure that he was channeling: himself. Jon’s experience growing up in Liberal Quakerism had been put into perspective. He was studying the Bible, early Christianity and his own inward emotional spectrum. It was time to get personal.

At Pendle Hill, 2007

His first step was to write a song about Tom Fox, his mentor who had been killed the previous year while volunteering for the Christian Peacemaker Teams in Bagdhad.

“Jon’s song about Tom Fox stirs my heart, challenges my soul, and calls upon me to listen carefully to the message of Tom’s life for my own,” says Walter Hjelt-Sullivan, the dean of students at Pendle Hill.

And he continued to dig: The Art of Fully Being explores themes of faith and faithfulness, growing up Quaker, the environmental crisis, war, personal accountability, and inward peace.

In 2009, Jon’s song “Friend Speaks My Mind” gained notoriety as the result of a catchy music video depicting a Meeting for Worship that erupts into a spontaneous dance party. Jon wrote the song as a way to reflect lovingly on an upbringing in Liberal Quakerism that he had come to criticize.

Jon’s music is young and current, rap-inspired, deeply intimate and profoundly spiritual. He currently travels among Friends, sharing stories of his spiritual journey and the accompanying songs.

• Listen to A Few Songs Occasioned and The Art of Fully Being
• Read an interview with Jon about how his musical ministry developed
• Book Jon for your Meeting or event
• See videos of Jon’s performance
• Read what Friends are saying about Jon’s musical ministry

“I encourage Friends and Friends Meetings to support Jon in his work. Sponsor his travels. Listen to his music. Have a heap of fun. Be challenged into the art of fully being. There is a Spirit in this man.”
-Walter Hjelt-Sullivan

Jon Watts sharing a poem with the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting middle school program, 2009