Jon Worthy & The Bends Stimulates Your Imagination In “Turn My World Around”
BUZZ LA- Jul 2, 2019
- 5 min read
Jon Worthy & The Bends were formed and put together by Jon Worthy. Jon began in March 2015, he had a bunch of songs that haven’t been learned from his previous musical project, and he felt it needed to be brought to life with a full band. Jon Worthy formed the band and together they released the 6 song EP, “Unconventional”. The group has settled on the lineup of Jon Worthy (Vocals/Guitar), Austin Mcfall (Bassist), Mike Sanborn (Drums), and Luis Echeverria (Keys/Guitar).
There's nothing like a folk-country record that brings you back home, and this is exactly what “Turn My World Around” does for us. This sensational record created by Jon Worthy & The Bends fulfills the meaning of how music intertwines with art. They create the ultimate imagery or do we create it and they hand us the canvas? Let’s go with the second option! There are no black or white instructions on how to listen to “Turn My World Around”, instead there’s a riveting harmonica, gorgeous acoustic chords, and a relaxing melodic voice that can carry you through dimensions of imagination while listening to this song. “Turn My World Around” is absolutely perfect for the lovers of emotionally stimulating and creatively imaginative music. I’m a firm believer in how music must appeal to the senses of the listener. For me, Jon Worthy & The Bends enhances this belief with this immaculate track.
Check out "Turn My World Around" here and keep scrolling for our exclusive interview!
Jon Worthy & The Bends will be performing at these upcoming festivals summer/fall 2019:
Musikfest 2019-Bethlehem, PA
The Rhythm and Brews Fest-Newport, KY
The River Rat Festival-Gallipolis, OH
Hey Jon Worthy & The Bends! What would you consider some challenges at the start of your career as a band? How were you able to overcome these obstacles?
The same obstacles we faced at the beginning are still prevalent today. Figuring out how to build and grow your following is so difficult. We tour as much as nay DIY band I know, we release new albums and singles every year and it’s just so difficult to gain real traction and get noticed. We’ve come to the conclusion that it’s a 15 year process and you literally have to build your following one fan at a time and that’s what we’re currently doing by grinding and touring!
Do you take any inspiration from older bands in the past? If so who and why?
I know for myself I look at the stage moves of Eddie Vedder and Mick Jagger a lot and how to perform with that confident rock n roll swagger. I know we all look up to the amazing songwriting of the Beatles and the way they capture such catchy melodies. Most importantly, we look at how past bands paved their own way and that’s what we want to do by creating our own identity and be looked at as our own unique brand.
How would you describe your songwriting approach? “Turn My World Around” seemed to have lyrical detail. How would you describe the meaning of this record?
We have a number of different approaches to songwriting. The main one is probably me sitting on my bed with an acoustic guitar and playing until something catches my ear. Once I have that, I start singing random words to create a melody. If I’m happy with that, then I’ll start writing actual lyrics to the song. It can be a very long and frustrating process so it helps when stuff goes wrong in life to help create inspiration lol!
Once I have the bulk of the song completed, I will bring the song to the band and we’ll start jamming on it and everyone will write their own parts to the song. Most of the time the song gets reworked in to a slightly different structure.
Another approach we have is when we’re jamming with each other and someone just happens to play something cool and we’ll keep playing that until we have the outline of a song. Eventually I’ll take that music and write lyrics to it.
As far as lyrics go, I write almost exclusively about real life experiences that have happened to me and emotions I have felt at some point in time. I always try to capture that emotion in the melody and music as well as the lyrics so our songs tend to be pretty angsty.
This album has a couple different meanings. We’ve been at this for over 5 years now recording, touring all over the country, constantly writing and we feel like we’re getting better and better and improving in all aspects of being a band such as marketing, social media, networking, etc. We’ve been touring non stop for the last year and a half and we feel like something has to give. We believe in ourselves and what we’re doing and we’re going to continue to grind and just see what happens and hope something does give!
The other meaning is about one of the most important relationships of my life that has been in a weird limbo for the last year and a half. It’s been back and forth with no real direction or end in sight until it finally ended right before the album came out. In that respect something did give, just not the way I wanted.
In what ways are you personally impacted by your own music and in more specifically, “Turn My World Around”?
Since I write about real life experiences, sometimes the lyrics will have a huge impact on me. One of the first times we played these songs live was after my relationship had just ended and playing and singing these songs hit me really hard. It was an overwhelming recap of 5 years with this person and what I would never experience with them again. Turn My World Around is directly about that person and at the end questioning if I should continue to put myself through this anymore.
You have tons of upcoming shows! What can our fans expect from a live show? Any location you’re excited for the most?
Our live shows are pretty wild. We give everything we have on stage. You can expect off stage guitar solos, jumping on top of the bar, jumping on top of each other, and lots of never ending energy! Even if you don’t like our music, we promise you will be entertained. We are super excited about the festivals we are playing this year including Musikfest 2019, The Rhythm and Brews Fest, and The River Rat Festival! But honestly we love performing and meeting new people so much that we just love being on the road and playing anywhere we can!
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