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Jonah ShueBiography
Jonah Shue is a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, educator, and community music facilitator living and working in Boise, Idaho. Growing up in a house that revolved around music and dancing, he has worked steadily in a variety of bands and genres bringing excitement, creativity, and humor to any stage he plays. He plays regularly with 3 esteemed and long lived groups, has recorded and produced 5 full length albums, and is in demand as a session musician and solo artist. |
Jonah has taught and inspired hundreds of students since he began his teaching practice more than 20 yrs ago. In 2008 he co-founded Old Boise Music Studios with his fellow instructors as a way to continue and grow his practice when Old Boise Guitar Co., a musical pillar of the community, closed its doors after 30 yrs. He and his colleagues have carved out a unique niche that embraces all styles, promotes collaboration and creativity, and respects the goals and values of students of any age. He is proud of the work he has done in education and, yet, is inspired to improve his teaching and communication abilities from the questions and aspirations of his students. He is a firm believer in the role of music to improve our lives and selves- mind, body, and soul.
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Artist Statement
Music has been defining the world around me since I was a baby sleeping under a table to the happy sounds of folk music and dances of which my parents were a part. I believe this is why the power of music, to bring people together in a joyous and positive way has always been apparent to me. The first things I learned to play were folk tunes intended to be played for real live dancers. As I have moved through my decades, my most successful musical projects are bands where the music is made with dancing at its heart. This is when and where I have the most fun and it is my desire, as a musician, to create a blissful, if but fleeting, space and time where the sharing of beauty, laughter, and fun is easy, ever present and dancing is the inevitable result.
Growing up, like so many others kids, I was under the spell of cartoons and comedic things. My love of comedy and knowledge that laughter, like music, makes us feel better is a guiding principle in my life and work. If these things come together, all the better. This can be heard in the songs I write and the music I make. I think music is one of the clearest mediums with which to express a sense of humor and wit. It can be heard in phrasing, tone, time, note choice, references, dynamics, and so many other ways. Musicians are some of the funniest people I know and never even have to utter a word to show it.
As an artist, I love to improvise and to entertain. When I am playing well, the excitement, joy, or whatever emotion I am feeling, is obvious to the audience. If I am playing to the best of my abilities, they should have their own unique emotional journey and adventure that makes them glad to be alive.
As a professional musician, my work is to play. This fact can seem paradoxical and masks the amount of effort and years that go into becoming a musician. I struggled with this perception for a long time but this is how it should be. If I am doing my job rightly, it should seem like play. Fun and easy.
As a teacher, I want to provide people with the tools they need, simple or complex, to feel the power and joy of playing, as well. I aim to help people see the innateness of music in themselves and realize the dreams of their own musical life, lived and loved.
Music and Humans are a co-arising which have defined each other over time. Music is so essential to the human experience that, without it, I don’t know if We, the People, would exist. Music can help us to achieve our full potential as people. As performer and teacher I feel it is my duty and my honor to help and allow music to achieve it’s full potential in the hearts, minds, of all of us who listen.
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Artist Statement
Music has been defining the world around me since I was a baby sleeping under a table to the happy sounds of folk music and dances of which my parents were a part. I believe this is why the power of music, to bring people together in a joyous and positive way has always been apparent to me. The first things I learned to play were folk tunes intended to be played for real live dancers. As I have moved through my decades, my most successful musical projects are bands where the music is made with dancing at its heart. This is when and where I have the most fun and it is my desire, as a musician, to create a blissful, if but fleeting, space and time where the sharing of beauty, laughter, and fun is easy, ever present and dancing is the inevitable result.
Growing up, like so many others kids, I was under the spell of cartoons and comedic things. My love of comedy and knowledge that laughter, like music, makes us feel better is a guiding principle in my life and work. If these things come together, all the better. This can be heard in the songs I write and the music I make. I think music is one of the clearest mediums with which to express a sense of humor and wit. It can be heard in phrasing, tone, time, note choice, references, dynamics, and so many other ways. Musicians are some of the funniest people I know and never even have to utter a word to show it.
As an artist, I love to improvise and to entertain. When I am playing well, the excitement, joy, or whatever emotion I am feeling, is obvious to the audience. If I am playing to the best of my abilities, they should have their own unique emotional journey and adventure that makes them glad to be alive.
As a professional musician, my work is to play. This fact can seem paradoxical and masks the amount of effort and years that go into becoming a musician. I struggled with this perception for a long time but this is how it should be. If I am doing my job rightly, it should seem like play. Fun and easy.
As a teacher, I want to provide people with the tools they need, simple or complex, to feel the power and joy of playing, as well. I aim to help people see the innateness of music in themselves and realize the dreams of their own musical life, lived and loved.
Music and Humans are a co-arising which have defined each other over time. Music is so essential to the human experience that, without it, I don’t know if We, the People, would exist. Music can help us to achieve our full potential as people. As performer and teacher I feel it is my duty and my honor to help and allow music to achieve it’s full potential in the hearts, minds, of all of us who listen.
Get in Touch
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To ask a question, talk through an idea or just say hello
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