JOn Chandler

Singer, songwriter and author Jon Chandler, called the “voice of Colorado,” was honored to win the prestigious IWMA Male Performer of the Year in 2023, culminating a busy year of performances all across the US. He is often described as “the best western songsmith since Ian Tyson.”  A 7th generation Coloradan, Jon’s music and stories reflect his strong western heritage.  His deep baritone voice “captures the Old West in sound the way Charlie Russell captured it on canvas,” with a voice that would tempt a queen from her husband…he’s a great novelist, smoking guitarist and fine man.”      Jon's Website

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Jon Chandler is part Wallace Stegner, part Jack Schaefer. He’s part Bruce Springsteen, and part Rambling Jack Elliott. He’s part William F. Cody, and part Cole Younger. Yet he’s distinctively original, a poet laureate of the American West of past, present and future." 
- Johnny D. Boggs

 

The Los Angeles Daily News dubbed Denver native Jon Chandler the “...best western songsmith since Ian Tyson,” A review of Jon Chandler’s iconic CD WESTERNS includes the phrase, “Chandler’s music is literate and literary.”  That about covers it.  There’s not an ounce of stereotypical Gene ‘n Roy retro-cowpoke, Lazy Z Chuckwagon faux-western schtick in his music, voice or prose.  Chandler writes and sings of the historic and contemporary West - not particularly cowboy songs and stories, although they tend to show up with frequency.  His songs owe more to Larry McMurtry, Elmer Kelton, Robert Service and Mark Twain than they do to anyone in a band that ends with Wranglers or Ramblers.  Simply put, his music and his writing are reflections of his heritage.  A seventh-generation Coloradan, his novels, songs and poems

 
"It was a pleasure to see Jon and his ensemble of first-rate musicians on the Lakewood Cultural Center Stage.  Jon’s talent goes beyond his extraordinary way with words and deeply moving melodies; Jon is an artist in the truest sense of the word."
- Lakewood Cultural Center

 

"He walks onstage and it is like pouring cream for a bunch of cats.  The audience is slurping up everything he gives them and if they were any happier they’d be purring.”  -  Doris Daley
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"The first time I saw you perform was in Jackson, Wyoming a couple of years ago.  The performance was indescribably moving! Thank you for making great music with words that describe what we hold in our souls."
- Debra Brandsrub
 

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