"Music is so healing to the heart, mind, body, and soul. It is an incredible force of energy and power."
J-A (Jon-Anthoni Nieves) was born on October 22, 1992 at UCSD Hospital in La Jolla, California. He was born with six holes in his heart. At two days old, he had a pacemaker implanted in him and had to have heart surgery at two weeks old. During the heart surgery, the surgeon burned him on his stomach. There is no explanation why or what caused the burn to this day, but J-A says that its a part of him and that it makes him who he is. "My burn reminds me in a sense, of where I come from and who I am. It makes me a stronger person". J-A has had over 22 surgeries in the past 20 years. Since the early age of three, he has been singing and making music. J-A comes from a very musical family. His uncle, Andy Hannegan is a singer/songwriter/musician. He had two bands during J-A's youth, Fly Soup and Rustik Ballyd. "My uncle gave me my first experience working in a recording studio", he explains. "It was in his garage. I have many memories of just hanging out in there and listening to a lot of great tracks my uncle had recorded, and laying down some of my own that he helped me with". His aunt, Rosalie Ortiz has done musical theatre and sings in her church choir and was one of the original band members in Rustik Ballyd singing harmony. As for his parents, his mother Carmen P. Nieves played piano in her younger years but hasn't played since. His father, Fernando Nieves sang in a band with J-A's uncle at lead guitar. With a very musical background, J-A was bound fit right in. "I know for a fact that I have natural talent", J-A says. "I give it to God, its because of Him that I have the talent to sing and write and create music. Sure, its in my blood, but a higher power has a lot to do with it. I give Him full credit." J-A started writing songs at the age of six, he would hum tunes or make up lyrics and dance around and sing; tap out beats and rhythms, play air guitar, etc. He started playing the guitar at 14 years old. "I think I wrote pretty mature songs for a kid. I was not your average six year old. I was definitely the oddball compared to all the other kids I went to school with. I mean, can you think of any other six year old who listens to Frank Sinatra all day long and sits alone in his bedroom or outside and writes down every single deepest thought he has; hoping that one day it would become an actual song that the world will hear? That was me. I've always been a music maker. I was always writing and pounding on everything I can get my hands on to make a steady beat. Sometimes, I would just freestyle and let words flow out of my mouth. If something sounded great to me, I'd write it down. As a matter of fact, I still do that today. Of course now, I've got a recorder on iPod, so all I have to do is press the button and let my big mouth rip! Once she [guitar] came into my life, I was finally able to put all those lyrics and mental melodies to music. Strumming chords and wrapping a melody around words I've been writing all my childhood was like entering a whole new world of creativity, challenge, and inspiration. It was such a high and I've been flying ever since."
What a lot of people don't know about him is that his roots are rock music. "I grew up listening to The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Zeppelin, Van Halen, Scorpions, Dream Theater, Journey, KISS, Aerosmith, Heart, Pat Benatar, Motley Crue, Guns N' Roses, Ozzy Osbourne, Stryper.... you name it! I also loved Oldies music, Jazz and Blues. Elvis was a huge influence to me. In the eighth grade, I did an impersonation of him for a talent show. I sang a medley of his songs almost to the tee. I can probably still do it now, but I'm a little out of practice. Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, B.B King, Bonnie Raitt, Janis Joplin, Ray Charles.... I mean c'mon! It doesn't get any better than that. I had a pretty good musical foundation. It's taught me to be appreciative of the ones who came before me. Without them, who would I have to inspire me and learn from? I never idolize. These people are my mentors. I see them as teachers, not idols. I have a great respect for the musical veterans. Plus, I'm an old soul and always have been," J-A said. He also grew up listening to Mexican Music. From the likes of Selena, Limite, Ricky Martin, and Enrique Iglesias. "I can't tell you how many times I listened to all that Banda, Cumbia, Mariachi stuff. Selena mostly. She inspired me a lot growing up. She was so brilliant and totally ripped the traditions a part, planting new ground. She was a pioneer. No wonder she's the Queen of Tejano Music. She f---ing deserves it! Enrique and Ricky were a lot better then, compared to now . I remember listening to those first records with my dad. That was some good stuff! My mom always listened to that kind of music in the car too. Vincente Fernandez, Pedro Infante, Pepe Aguilar.... the list goes on. More than half of me is Puerto Rican too. My grandfather used to always play his Puerto Rican music in his bedroom. He loved Celia Cruz. So I was around a lot of that stuff growing up". At the age of nine he found a love for Country Music. The first mainstream Country artist he heard was Reba McEntire. "I was familiar with Reba because of her TV show, but at the time, I had no idea she was a huge Country Music superstar. Boy, do I feel stupid saying that now! What I've always admired about Reba was the emotion she puts into a song. She makes you feel what she's feeling at that moment. I love her tone and the way she interprets a song is absolutely beautiful and amazing. She makes you believe she's gone through what she's singing. Talk about goosebumps... If anything, Reba taught me how to connect with a song, because if I can connect to what I'm singing about, the audience can too. After Reba, I started listening to all the greats: Willie Nelson, Hank Williams, George Jones, Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings, Kenny Rogers, Johnny Cash, Conway Twitty, Emmylou Harris, Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton, Tammy Wynette, Porter Wagoner, Roy Acuff, Randy Travis... the list goes on and on. It's become a beautiful love affair. Country Music has a way of speaking to you. It's so real. The Country Music industry has tackled many controversial issues that most musical genres won't dare to touch and yet, it lacks respect. I never understood that. I gained more respect for Country Music because of those straight-forward, blunt, up-in-your-face, down-home topics of truth and reality. People only hear the twang, Fiddles, and Banjos and right off the bat people are turned off by it. If people really gave Country Music a chance, I think they'd be surprised. There's a difference between listening and LISTENING. What I've always loved about Country Music is the songwriting. It just has a way of getting to the core of those heart strings. You can never go wrong with three chords and the truth. That's what Country Music has taught me."
In 2003, J-A was diagnosed with Congenital Heart Disease. J-A is taking medication to help his heart and is still active, healthy, and doing well. He is restricted from doing any strenuous activity. "I've never been a sports fan or heavy weight champion kind of guy anyway. It's a good thing I've always stuck to music", he says. In 2006, J-A became a freshman at Mar Vista High School and joined the MVHS choir under the direction of Deanna Morrison. He gives her credit for teaching him how to sing. "She helped me progress as a singer and artist. I have so much respect for her. She believed in me and gave me so many opportunities I would have never gotten to do if it weren't for her. Thank God for people like Ms. Morrison. She's tough, but she has to be. The reason why is because she cares about you and sees your potential even though at the time, you don't. When we'd do vocal warm-ups, I was so flat! We're talking flatter than a flat tire! I really sucked! I'd get so frustrated and so would she, but she taught me how to persevere and not give up. Believe me, it pays off. Ms. Morrison taught me how to work hard and be professional. I walked in that band room thinking I knew it all, soon to find out I knew very little. By the time I walked out that band room, I still didn't know it all.... but at least I knew something. I've been working on it ever since". The choir even made it to Disneyland. Which was a long time goal for them even before J-A became a member. J-A stayed with the choir until 2010. During his 4 years in the class he had four directors and made many great friends. "We may not see each other very often, but a real good chunk of us still keep in touch. I value my friendships with them. We'll always be a family", he says.
In the summer of 2008, J-A began writing and planning his first album. He developed the concept when he wrote a song with his late choir director and friend, Mr. Don Truesdail. The song is called "Love is This". "I wrote this song in the shower... The lyrics anyway. I just started humming some random tune, and then the lyrics came. I got out of the shower, rushed to my pen and notebook, and wrote it. The following day I asked Mr. Truesdail to help write the music. Thank God he agreed because if I were to write it myself, it probably would've sucked! Besides, I didn't want to write the music. I heard something totally different than what I could've came up with, which is why I wanted him to write it. I had a feeling it would be something very special with Mr. T involved. It was and is. When asked about what the writing process with Truesdail was like for the song J-A explains, "Mr. Truesdail asked me what key the song was in and I told him I didn't know yet. He gave me a little chuckle and asked, "Well do you know how you want this song to go?" I told him that I had an idea, I just didn't know how to get it out. "Oh, I've had that feeling, he said. What do you think of this? He started playing a real bluesy and relaxed feel type of rhythm on his guitar... It was magical! I lost complete sense of where I was because I was so in tune with his playing. It's not everyday you find another musician who can do that to you. We clicked instantly. It truly was one of the greatest musical moments of my life and I'll never forget it." On January 13, 2009, Don Truesdail was unexpectedly killed in a car accident. This shook J-A so much along with his many classmates and others who knew him. "I never experienced something like that before. It was so surreal and I didn't want to believe it." When asked about Don's teaching qualities J-A replies, "He was a genius. Plain and simple. He wasn't just our teacher. He was our friend." Following the months after Don's tragic death, J-A started working really hard on his album. He started writing more material for the project. Especially during the mourning process of losing Truesdail. "There was a burst of creativity that just flew out of me. I had so much anger, sadness, questions.... I knew I couldn't hold it inside. I also didn't want to write, record, or produce a depressing record. So, I wrote about how I felt from the heart, and made it positive and optimistic. It healed me and helped me get through the pain". He recorded a demo of "Love Is This" in April of 2009, just four months after Don's death. Soon after, J-A decided to dedicate his album to Don's memory. "It made sense to dedicate the album to him. He inspired me so much and believed in my talent. Plus, we wrote that song together which inspired the concept. So dedicating this album to him was really a no brainer. I'd like to think he'd be happy about that, and I'm sure he'd be proud of the record. He was always so supportive and encouraging."
In May of 2009, J-A teamed up with friend and creative partner, Julia Emilie, who took most of the photos for the album. "She's a wonderful and amazing photographer, I admire her professionalism and the fact that she is able to be herself and professional at the same time. We're very comfortable together. I trust her judgement and creative ideas. She knows what she's doing. I used to say we're both perfectionists, but now I don't think so. Nothing's perfect. I think what it is with us is we want to get it right. With that, comes dedication AND irritation on both parts. It works for us though and we have a blast every single time. No doubt, we make a great team. She's brilliant." During this same time, he found his partner for the album. His former high school teacher and good friend, Laura Lefebvre. "She's got a great ear for music. She's a great person, friend, and innovator. She comes up with some pretty rockin' ideas. The reason why I wanted her to help me out on this project is because I needed someone to keep me on track. I have the tendency to want to do so many things at once and that never works! Laura helps me get organized and lets me know what works and what doesn't, what sounds great, and sounds like crap, what looks attractive and what looks like something else again. At the same time, she lets me do what I feel is right for me and gives me great feedback. She's a great support system. She's excellent and I'm so glad to have her on my team."
During the course of 2010, J-A began recording demos at the Imperial Beach REC Center with engineer, Andrew McKee. "Working with Andrew is so cool because he always encourages me to do better. He also lets me know if a note isn't right or if something sounds out of place. You need a guy like that in the studio. Usually, engineers can frustrate the hell out of you. And that's been the case many times, but they know what they're doing. I've learned that they're not out to get you, they're out to help you. I'm thankful to have someone like Andrew on my side. I need that straight-forward, straight-to-the-point, down-right honest kind of feedback. I value that in a person because that's how I am too, and I do my best to surround myself with those kinds of people." In August of 2011, J-A put together his first show in two years. It took place at The Beach Club Grille in Imperial Beach, CA. J-A has performed at The Grille several times back when the venue was in business. He has also played at venues like One Heart-One Mind Church in Mira Mesa, CA. Where he was accompanied by profound San Diego musician, Richard James. In 2012, he hosted his very first Christmas show in which he performed some of his favorite holiday classics with his family, and performed some original Christmas music. These days, J-A is attending Southwestern College in San Diego, CA continuing his major in Music. He is a member of the SWC Jazz Vocal Ensemble and continues to perform while developing his craft as a musician. He is also putting songs together for his album. No time frame of when the album will be finished or released has been announced. "I won't be revealing too much about the record anytime soon. Every time I did that the project got pushed back even more. I have a vision for this record and I want to stay true to that vision. The last thing I want to do is rush something I've put my heart and soul into for years. Passion doesn't work that way. It takes time and dedication. I just want to focus on the music."
In 2013, J-A began working on a Christmas project featuring duets with his closest friends and talented singers of San Diego. Recording sessions began in November of that year and took a year to complete. It was released digitally on November 24, 2014, and physically released on December 1, 2014. J-A decided to title the project Together For Christmas. It features collaborations with Tracy Bee, Erica Buxton, Sara Martinez, Mitchell Horne, and more! The album also includes his original Christmas song, "Good Ole Christmas Feelin'". J-A debuted the song on December 5, 2014 at Balboa Park's critically acclaimed event, December Nights. On December 14, 2014, The SWC Jazz Vocal Ensemble & Chamber Singers joined J-A on stage during "Christmas Feelin'" to perform it for Mayan Hall's Winter Choral Concert at Southwestern College. The song became very popular during the holiday season. Together For Christmas is currently available on iTunes & Amazon.