JON CHANDLER

    

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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

Jon Chandler is a three time winner of the prestigious Spur Award from the Western Writers of America. Linwood, his moody examination of Doc Holliday’s life won the Spur for Best Song in 2009, while his tribute to Wyoming’s Hole in the Wall country, Morning Star Moon, received the award in 2012.  His novel The Spanish Peaks received the WWA’s Medicine Pipe Bearer Award (Spur Award) for Best First Novel, and he was named True West Magazine’s Best Western Musician.  Wyoming Wind, A Novel of Tom Horn, was a finalist for the Colorado Book Award.  A seventh-generation Coloradan, Jon’s music and stories reflect his heritage, and his eight CDs, two novels, two non-fiction works and myriad short stories and nonfiction articles are collected by western lifestyle aficionados worldwide.  He hosted the iconic monthly concert series America’s Soul Live at the Olde Town Pickin’ Parlor in Arvada, Colorado for 16 years until the pandemic caused its demise.  Homage, his new recording of cover songs that have influenced his writing and singing, was released to exceptional reviews.  

JON ON STAGE

ABOUT JON CHANDLER

The Los Angeles Daily News dubbed Denver native Jon Chandler the “...best western songsmith since Ian Tyson,” while Texas’s Country Line Magazine exclaimed, “Thank God for Chandler and his gang of musicians.”  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 serve to keep the West’s frontier ethic alive.
 
"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
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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

I had the good fortune of hearing Jon Chandler sing at this year’s WWA convention in New Mexico and it was one of the most impressive performances I’ve ever witnessed.
- Chris Enss

JON PERFORMING

PERFORMANCES, AWARDS & ACCOLADES

FEATURED PERFORMER
The National Cowboy Poetry Gathering  -  Elko, NV
The Ryman Auditorium  - Nashville, TN
The Windmill Festival  -  Comstock, NE
Jackson Hole Western Arts Jubilee  -  Jackson Hole, WY
The Historic Tabor Opera House  -   Leadville, CO
Montana State University  -   Bozeman, MT
The Blue Door  -   Oklahoma City, OK
La Veta Mercantile - La Veta, CO
The Cherry Creek Chorale  -   Highlands Ranch, CO
Santa Clarita Cowboy Poetry Gathering  -  Santa Clarita, CA
The Historic Hotel Colorado  -  Glenwood Springs, CO
American Farm Bureau Federation  -  Washington D.C./Nashville, TN
Colorado Cowboy Poetry Gathering  -  Golden, CO
Writing the West/Singing the West  -  Gunnison, CO
National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum  -  Oklahoma City, OK
National Storyteller’s Conference  -  Englewood, CO
Earth Day Congressional Reception  -  Washington D.C.
The Spanish Peaks Gathering  -  La Veta, CO
Iowa RAGBRAI  - Red Oak, IA
The Farm Progress Show  -  Amana Colonies, IA
National Museum of Wildlife Art  -  Jackson Hole, WY
Lancaster Chamber of Commerce  -  Lancaster, PA
American Corn Producers - Tampa, FL
The Station Inn/Tin Pan South  -  Nashville, TN
American Soybean Association - Little Rock, AR
The Broadmoor - Colorado Springs, CO
Reno Cowboy Poetry Gathering  -  Reno, NV
ProFarmers of America  -  San Antonio, TX
Nebraska Cowboy Poetry Gathering  -  Valentine, NE
William S. Hart Mansion -  Newhall, CA
Hundreds more….
Concert Performances in CO, WY, KS, MT, CA, ID, NM, UT, WA, NE, SD, ND, MN, MO, AK, TX, AZ, IL, PA, NV, FL, WI, and on, and on.

AWARDS AND RECOGNITION
Friends of Hart Park William S. Hart Branding Iron Award,  2018.
Spur Award, Best Song of 2012.  Morning Star Moon.
Spur Award, Best Song of 2009.  Linwood.
Western Folklife Center Best Song/Audience Award 2009.  The Road That Leads to Yellowstone.
True West Magazine.  “Best Living Western Musician.”
WWA Spur Award, Best First Novel.  The Spanish Peaks.
Colorado Book Award finalist.  Wyoming Wind.
Tin Pan South.  Western Songwriter’s Session Host with Michael Martin  Murphy, Junie Fisher and Joyce Woodson.  The Station Inn, Nashville, Tennessee.
Keynote, Ozark Creative Writer's Conference, 2019, Eureka Springs, Arkansas. 
Faculty, Tall Grass Writing Workshop, Emporia State University,  Emporia, Kansas.
America’s Soul Live!  Host of Denver’s premier acoustic concert series from 2004 to present.