Jon Crosby (born July 25, 1976) is an American musician and founder of the musical project

VAST VAST is an American alternative rock band based in Seattle, United States. The acronym VAST stands for Visual Audio Sensory Theater and is the main creation of singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Jon Crosby. The band is signed to 2blo ...

Biography

Crosby was born in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, and grew up in

Humboldt Humboldt may refer to: People * Alexander von Humboldt, German natural scientist, brother of Wilhelm von Humboldt * Wilhelm von Humboldt, German linguist, philosopher, and diplomat, brother of Alexander von Humboldt Fictional characters * Hu ...

and Sonoma counties in Northern California, raised by a single mother from an upper-class family who owned a record store in

Fortuna, California Fortuna (Spanish language, Spanish for "Fortune"; Wiyot language, Wiyot: ''Vutsuwitk Da'l'') is a city on the northeast shore of the Eel River (California), Eel River, approximately from where it enters the Pacific Ocean, and is on U.S. Route ...

. His great-grandfather was

John C. Crosby John Crawford Crosby (June 15, 1859 – October 14, 1943) was an American politician from the U.S. state of Massachusetts. Crosby was born in Sheffield, Massachusetts. He attended the public schools of Pittsfield and graduated from Eastman Bu ...

, a congressman from

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, and his ancestry on his mother's side is English and Native American. His father was a lounge guitarist whom he never met. At the age of 13, he was profiled in ''

Guitar Player ''Guitar Player'' was an American magazine for guitarists, founded in 1967 in San Jose, California San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francis ...

'' magazine and Shrapnel Magazine as a rising young star. In 1993, aged 16, he moved to

Petaluma, California Petaluma is a city in Sonoma County, California, United States, located in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. Its population was 59,776 according to the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. ...

and formed VAST with friends Mike Alioti and Dimitri Katzoff, formerly of ska band The Conspiracy, though the band line-up changed frequently thereafter. The band's early shows were mainly at the

Phoenix Theater The Phoenix Theater is an all-ages nightclub located in Petaluma, California. The club has been in existence since 1905 and has changed in both structure and purpose, mostly due to severe damage caused by several fires. History The Phoenix Th ...

. At 19, Crosby's manager and ex-girlfriend Sakina Sati took him to New York, along with ex-members Daniel Alva and Stephen Garver, for the purpose of shopping his demo tapes through Shiva Baum, former manager for

Opiate for the Masses Opiate for the Masses was an American rock band from Los Angeles, California in 1999. History Opiate for the Masses was founded in 1999 by singer Ron Underwood, drummer Elias Mallin, guitarist/keyboardist Jim Kaufman, and guitarist Dustin Ly ...

, and after a bidding war he signed with

Elektra Electra, also spelt Elektra, was a daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra in Greek mythology. Electra or Elektra may also refer to: Animals * ''Electra'' (bryozoan), a genus of aquatic invertebrates * ''Elektra'' (bug), a genus of insects in the ...

. Two albums were released by Elektra: ''

Visual Audio Sensory Theater ''Visual Audio Sensory Theater'' is the debut album by the band VAST, released on April 28, 1998 by Elektra Records. The album mixed samples of Benedictine monks of the Abbey of Saint-Maur and Le Mystère Des Voix Bulgares, with an 18-piece orche ...

'' in 1998, and '' Music For People'' in 2000. In 2002, Crosby left the label. In 2003 he released two digital download albums, '' Turquoise 3.x'' and '' Crimson 3.x''. He then moved on to

Carson Daly Carson Jones Daly (born June 22, 1973) is an American television host, radio personality, producer, and television personality. From 1998 to 2003, Daly was a VJ (media personality), VJ on MTV's ''Total Request Live'' (TRL), and a DJ for the Sou ...

's 456 Entertainment, releasing ''

Nude Nudity is the state of being in which a human is without clothing. While estimates vary, for the first 90,000 years of pre-history, anatomically modern humans were naked, having lost their body hair, living in hospitable climates, and no ...

'' in 2004. In 2003, Crosby started his own record label, 2Blossoms Records & Media. In late 2007 and early 2008, Crosby released five download-only EPs, under the collective title '' Generica'', billed as "an exploration of people, places and American music." The first three volumes were solo acoustic guitar songs, while the last two were recorded with VAST band members under the name "Jon Crosby and the Resonator Band".

Discography

VAST

Solo

*'' Generica Vol. I'' (2007) *'' Generica Vol. II'' (2008) *'' Generica Vol. III'' (2008) *''Ruminations On Everything'' (2017) (Non-Fiction Publication/Audiobook) *''Posthumous Serenade'' (2017) (2-Disc Covers Album) * ''More Posthumous Serenades'' (2018) (Covers Album) * ''The VAST Companion'' (2018) (Non-fiction publication - stories behind VAST songs)

Jon Crosby and the Resonator Band

*'' Generica Vol. IV'' (2008) *'' Generica Vol. V'' (2008)

Other side projects

* '' Bang Band Sixxx: Relay EP'' (2008)

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crosby, Jon 1976 births Living people Musicians from Los Angeles Writers from Los Angeles American multi-instrumentalists American male singer-songwriters American rock singers American rock songwriters American rock guitarists American male guitarists 21st-century American novelists American male novelists 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American singer-songwriters 21st-century American guitarists 21st-century American male singers Singer-songwriters from California