Guitarist Jon Fadem Steps Into the Spotlight with ‘Thankful’

For years, guitarist Jon Fadem has been the kind of musician that other musicians notice. Whether leading the charge onstage with his long-running Talking Heads tribute Start Making Sense or trading licks with legends like Parliament/Funkadelic’s George Clinton and Bernie Worrell, Buddy Miles, or Sly and the Family Stone’s Larry Graham, his playing has always carried a mix of technical finesse and raw feeling. Now, with the release of his first solo album, ‘Thankful,’ Fadem steps into the spotlight with a collection of original instrumental music that’s as personal as it is powerful.

The album weaves together strands of rock, funk, jazz, pop, and soul, with guitar front and center. On tracks like “Postcard,” “Lady Flies Tonight,” and the title song, Fadem blends infectious grooves with luminous melodic lines, drawing inspiration from the artists who shaped him—Jeff Beck, Stevie Wonder, Jimi Hendrix, Steely Dan, Miles Davis, Jerry Garcia, George Benson, and Frank Zappa among them. The result is a record that manages to be both intricate and alluring.

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While ‘Thankful’ is a solo debut, it hardly feels like the work of a newcomer. A graduate of Oberlin College and Conservatory, Fadem has long been steeped in diverse musical traditions. Over the years he’s collaborated with a remarkable roster of players, from the aforementioned icons to the likes of Zappa’s Napoleon Murphy Brock, Ray White and Ike Willis. He’s also found a dedicated audience through Life After Dead, the Grateful Dead tribute project he currently leads, as well as his fifteen-year tenure shaping the sound of Start Making Sense.

When that successful touring Talking Heads tribute ground to a halt due to Covid, Fadem pivoted. “I started focusing on my own music,” says the guitarist, who reimagined songs from his past, while adding all new songs plus material he had accumulated on his phone during tours.

He spent two years writing and recording the album, handling the bulk of the instrumentation himself working in his home studio during lockdown. The abundance of time allowed him to be a bit of a perfectionist. “I wasn’t under any pressure to complete it. The benefit was that I was able to do everything I really wanted to do with every song. If I felt there needed to be another guitar track on a song, or a keyboard part, or a mandolin, I would put it on there. But a good number of the guitar solos on the album were first take improvisations, because I felt that I captured a certain feeling with them the first time through, and I wanted them to sound natural, and not overdone.”

Once Fadem’s tracks were done, percussion was added by drummer John Kimock, a close friend known for his work with Mike Gordon of Phish and Dead & Company’s Oteil Burbridge. The results were shaped by engineer Phil Joly (Daft Punk, The Strokes, Lana Del Rey) and mastered by Heba Kadry (Björk, Bon Iver, Sade), ensuring the finished product was polished and warm when it was delivered to Label 51/Flatiron Recordings.

Photo Courtesy of Jon Fadem

“It’s kind of like a musical life story,” Jon explains. “It’s a collection of songs from different points in my life and after a long journey, it feels like a very important goal has been finally met.”

He cites the more recent songs “Miles” and “Theresa” as two of his favorites on ‘Thankful.’ He wrote the former – which is named for his son – right after his birth. “I was playing guitar for him in our living room,” Fadem beams. “He was really moving around a lot, reacting to the music like he was totally enjoying it. So I based that one on an improvisation that I did especially for him. And it’s easily the happiest song I ever wrote because it really reflects how happy I was at the time.”

The latter, which Fadem named in honor of his wife, begins with a simple melody and evolves from an acoustic solo into harmony guitar parts before easing into a heavily distorted solo. “I set out to write the prettiest song that I possibly could,” Fadem says. “And it ended up being a really elaborate arrangement.”

For Fadem, ‘Thankful’ is more than just a career milestone—it’s a personal statement. “The template for the sound came from my favorite records of the seventies,” he explains, citing Beck’s ‘Blow by Blow,’ Wonder’s ‘Talking Book,’ plus Miles Davis’ ‘Bitches Brew’ and Joni Mitchell’s standout albums of the time like ‘Blue,’ ‘For the Roses’ and ‘Court and Spark’ as touchstones. That era’s spirit of exploration, groove, and melodic clarity pulses through every track.

“My dad was really into Motown and soul music, and my mom was into Bob Dylan and folk music, so I was exposed to a lot of really great influences,” Fadem explains of the sonic vibe. “My brother and sister were both older than me and exposed me to the music of The Grateful Dead at a young age. I went to go see Jerry Garcia at the Capitol Theatre in Passaic, New Jersey when I was ten years old!”

Fadem acknowledges his musical path has been a little unorthodox. After his time at Oberlin, he went to medical school as a Neuroscience major. After a year he realized medicine wasn’t his true calling so he withdrew to become a professional musician. He launched an original funk band called Post Junction and committed himself to carrying on the musical traditions of Jimi Hendrix, Sly and the Family Stone, and others.

It was with Post Junction that he had one of his most memorable collaborative experiences. His band was backing up P-Funk singer Kim Manning, when he met and later befriended Worrell – also known for his tenure in Talking Heads – who joined them onstage for the Funkadelic classic “Red Hot Mama.”

Photo Courtesy of Jon Fadem

“It was one of the most magical musical experiences I have ever had,” Jon says. “Bernie was one of my biggest musical heroes of all time. I played with him a bunch of times after that, and every show was incredibly special. Bernie was an amazing human being as well, and I feel extremely fortunate to have had him as a friend.”

Turning back to the topic of ‘Thankful,’ Fadem feels extremely grateful for his musical gifts and the memories he’s created and hopes that his debut resonates with the public. “I honestly hope that it becomes a welcome part of people’s lives. I know how important my favorite music is to me, and has been throughout my life, and I hope that I can affect people’s lives in a positive way.”

Fadem – who is proud to be endorsed by PRS Guitars, Mesa/Boogie amplifiers, and Dean Markley Strings – has already got esteemed fans like Graham endorsing the album’s “funky licks.” Meanwhile, Zappa’s Napoleon Murphy Brock says “The melodies really stick with you.”

Perhaps world-renowned fingerstyle player Stefan Grossman puts it best: “With shimmering clear melodic lines, Jon Fadem takes the listener on a journey through day and night. The rhythms pulsate from track to track while Jon explores the fingerboard always with a message and story to tell. His rich tonal sound makes ‘Thankful’ a pure feast.”

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