Today we’d like to introduce you to Jonathan (Dr. Jon) Kolon.
Hi Dr. Jon, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Small towns in the ‘Intermountain West’ are special places. Many of these mining towns almost went under in the 1980s and you can feel the camaraderie from it’s locals. Park City, Utah is no different and it’s a place where the rent was cheap, every bartender had a real estate license and every local had a nickname. Another great thing was the music. Many locals picked guitars and everybody seemed to love to dance. I arrived in town in 2000 as I prepared for residency at the University of Utah Hospital. My nickname is ‘Dr. Jon’ (which the Navajos gave me while I was a student-dentist) and I’ve been one of the town dentists for more than 20 years. While that makes for a fine story – the more interesting ones come from the colorful and authentically good people that I’ve interacted with in and out of the dental office. As the 1/2 century mark draws closer, it’s time to put these stories into song – so I created the band Mountain Town and started publishing songs. The music business is a frightful place but rays of truth of light do exist and in 2020, I began releasing songs through The Animal Farm Music in London, UK. Adding to the labels’ solid management advice for a small time artist who just wants to tour locally a couple times a year is one of the only people in Nashville I trust – Rick Barker (former manager of Taylor Swift). Many musicians define success as “getting signed to a label” or “putting out an album” or “living the touring lifestyle” but for me is still being able to do dentistry at my office. To not have to play shows every single night and hope that you get paid. Just like a little dental office, being a regional musical act keeps the overhead low and the relationship that I build with fans very special. Plans for the future include a few more albums and being regionally popular enough to play our favorite venues and house concerts.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I think it’s been a relatively smooth road because the goals for Mountain Town are very reasonable. We’re a regional act that brings a Country Show to local bars, stages and house concerts. Because of my late start in published music, I was able to take years to budget for the expense of production and the time it takes to bring songs to life. Plus being older just gives me more to write about (both happy and sad things) because I’ve got more ‘time on the water’ and shared more experiences with my town. Technology, including recording, is always a struggle and the lads at the label have a saying…”Jonny, you stay out there and sing – we’ll stay here behind the glass” (of the studio) which we all get a chuckle out of because it’s so true. I’m getting better at social media and once again, I have management to thank because, despite my old-fashioned ways, it is how people discover and connect with small/medium sized artists these days.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
There is lots of good music out there, but when you think of Mountain Town – you think of people and stories. Everything we do comes from a story. The rhinestone suits I wear have a story (the black ones were made by Manuel from the Johnny Cash family fabric). The character JD Sutton in ‘Only Asked Her To Dance’ is the late, great John Sutton and I can tell you a thousand stories about him. At shows, even if it’s a house concert – we’re never background music – we entertain and the crowd is part of it. People dance. Some of our songs are very sad and moving and we have a rule that if someone starts to cry that the nearest person offers them a hug…and if that’s in the front row – it’s going to be me. The people that come to our concerts are very special, and they come just as much to be a part of something great as they do to hear wonderful music.
Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
My only advice is to get out there and “go where the smoke is”. If you build up a relationship with a person – keep it going and be a good mentor/mentee. If you get a dead end – be cool but it’s okay to move on to where the sparks are.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://mountaintownband.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mountaintownband/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MountainTownBandUtah
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/mtntownband
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4Guk8MNcf3XXRU3KfwNP5A
