.: About :.

“There is a Spirit in this man.”
-Walter Hjelt Sullivan

Convincement

Jon Watts had been making hip hop records for 5 years before he became convinced of Quakerism. Not that he wasn’t already a member…

Jon grew up a Quaker in Richmond, Virginia. But it wasn’t until his Senior year, when he recorded an album of biographical songs about the Early Friends (at Guilford College in NC… indie rock territory) for his Senior Project that he truly committed to the Religious Society of Friends.

The album was bare, it was minimalist. It consisted of the most dramatic stories Jon could lure out of Max Carter (Friends Center Director at Guilford). Jon used words like “Christ” for the first time in his life. He discovered a deep love, brotherhood and understanding with the Early Friends. He had a little trouble coming back to reality. Oh, and he sang (and played the trombone too!).

Deepening

The following year Jon lived at Pendle Hill and deepened his newfound commitment to walk a faithful path as informed by his ancestors and living elders. He wrote a song about growing up in Baltimore Yearly Meeting, and another song about a mentor of his that died in Iraq while serving the Christian Peacemaker Teams. He released an entire album about “The Art of Fully Being”, exploring the human experience outside of the limited spectrum that is deemed appropriate in our culture.

The music is young and current, rap-inspired, deeply intimate and profoundly spiritual.

Spreading the Word

Having never toured before (and only having played a handful of shows in the past), Jon took to the road. In the spirit of the traveling ministers of Early Quakerism, Jon often traveled with an elder and maintained a support committee through his Meeting.

For two years, Jon traveled up and down the East Coast, sometimes on bicycle, and became deeply acquainted with the face of modern Quakerism from Southeastern Yearly Meeting to New England Yearly Meeting. He’s played for many Quaker schools, been featured at Friends General Conference and is extremely active on the internet (facebook, twitter, youtube).

Jon Watts Music VideoIn 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.

Philadelphia and Nakedness

In 2010, Jon moved to West Philadelphia to be closer to a burgeoning young adult Quaker movement.

One of those young adults, Jon’s friend Maggie Harrison, was busy writing a research paper for Earlham School of Religion (ESR) on the Early Friends’ practice of “going naked as a sign”. The concept of theologically justified streaking caught Jon’s attention and he devoted much of 2010-11 writing and recording songs on the subject, compiled into his new album “Clothe Yourself in Righteousness”.

Jon and Maggie released their combined efforts in September 2011. The music is (appropriately) stripped bare, raw. Jon filmed every part of the project and is currently posting weekly videos on his youtube channel.