Jon Bare

Guitarist Jon Bare brings an eclectic mix of influences to his brand of blues-rock, including early rock & roll, pop, soul, jazz-rock, electronic music, and occasional flourishes borrowed from Hawaiian, Indian, and Latin music. After growing up in Los Angeles, Bare first learned blues guitar while working as a computer technician in Holland, where he jammed with blues-loving Dutch musicians after hours. Upon his return to the U.S., Bare began writing and recording his own music; he formed a backing band called the Killer Whales, which initially featured former Vanilla Fudge bassist Tim Bogert and ex-Doobie Brothers drummer Chet McCracken. Their first album, Killer Whales, was originally issued in 1993, and enjoyed national distribution beginning in 2000. Bare and McCracken subsequently joined a Hawaiian-influenced rock outfit called the Hula Monsters, who released the album Party Platter in 1996. Bare reconvened the Killer Whales, this time with Hula Monsters bandmate and ex-White Lion bassist James LoMenzo, as well as rhythm/slide guitarist Rich Harper. This lineup issued Shredzilla in 1997, by which time Bare was established as a regular contributing writer to Recording magazine. For Bare's next musical project, he assembled an expanded, 12-piece group featuring LoMenzo and McCracken. This outfit recorded Orcastra, which was released on Bare's Mega Truth imprint in early 2001, around the same time Bare's book Recording the Electric Guitar was published.