Jon Finn Group

A few months ago, Laura Bialis, director/producer of the movie "Refusenik" (a documentary about Soviet Jews and their attempt to escape Cold War -era USSR) called us about licensing one of our songs, :Berlin Wall for use in her movie. We indicated it would be an honor and quickly worked out an agreement. We felt this is an important story to tell and that Laura did an amazing job.

Anyway, the movie is now in theaters. Please check here for screenings. We are soooo there when it comes to Boston!

The CD is taking such a long time because we are control fanatics! Jon took a semester off, and has slowed down his gigging schedule to complete the new CD. At the time of this writing, he estimates that the band is approximately 70% finished. Many tunes were recorded, scrapped and re-recorded along the way. Two weeks ago, Lisa Wilson-Brumby (a former band-mate from years ago, and a superbly talented artist and singer) agreed to contribute vocals! No no no..... there are STILL no words! Just "ooohs and ahhs", but it really sounds amazing!

In one of the tunes, a "string synth" was used to approximate that "orchestral sound." After Jon thought about it, he realized that after having worked with so many great string players between Berklee, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Boston Modern Orchestra, RI Philharmonic, and Boston Pops Orchestra, it would be kinda "wrong" not to include real strings. So next week, a real string section will be in the studio for overdubs. Yikes! "real" production!

Stay tuned!

A few years ago, Jon released a book called, "One Guitar, Many Styles." The book was meant to give guitarists, in one book, a collection of pieces that can be played without accompaniment (or vocals) on a single electric guitar in a variety of styles; hence the name.

Two pieces "Cheek to Cheek" and "My Favorite Things" were omitted from the final version because of licensing issues. Because they're being posted here as educational material (and not for profit), we believe there is no issue here.

You can check them out here!

myxertones.com, a website that distributes ringtones has chosen JFG for their "Featured Artists" section, starting March 27, 2008 and will run for three weeks.

Go to their myxertones home page, and click "explore"
and you'll see us! Note: the featured ringtones will be free of charge.

Cool!!!!

myxertones.com, a website that distributes ringtones has chosen JFG for their POTD ("Pick of the Day") for Thursday, April 17! According to their information, this typically results in an average of 150,000 downloads in one day. They've asked us to provide samples of "Berlin Wall" and "Two Monkeys Jump Back" free of charge. Note: new technology discourages use of these ringtones in movie theaters, restaraunts and most grocery stores. They still work in those places, but suddenly you feel like kind of a jerk for being disruptive. ahhhhh.... progress!

Here's where our "no singing" approach works very much to our advantage! Many people like custom ringtones, but quickly tire of hearing the same lyrics over and over. Without singing, that can't happen!

To download JFG ringtones, simply text JONFINNGROUP to 69937

Note: "Berlin Wall" is free!

George Baldi, the bass vocalist with "Rockapella" has begun working on a solo CD. His tracks are a mix of R&B and Pop with lots of other stylistic elements thrown in. He's an amazing singer. Jon, Joe Santerre, Larry Finn and keyboardist Brad Hatfield recorded the rhythm section tracks at Mix One Studios in Boston yesterday.

When we hear news about a release date, we'll let you know!

The feature documentary, "Refusenik" produced by the Foundation for Documentary Projects has requested the use of the JFG tune, "Berlin Wall" for use in the film.

The film tells the story of Soviet Jews and their struggle to come to America during the cold war years. The song "Berlin Wall" is the soundtrack for the moment when the Berlin Wall comes down in the film's climax. In a conversation with Laura Bialis (the film's producer), Jon told the story of how and why he wrote the tune (the elation he felt while watching the wall come down and realizing the Cold War had come to an end). When she put the music with the film sequence, she realized it was a perfect match.

Click here for more info on the Movie Refusenik

We don't yet know when or where the film will be released, but we'll let you know as soon as we know!

New addition to the jonfinn.com store! Now, you can download our tunes directly from our site!
Click here!