Raised Right at Home

Jon Semmes was born in Scottsboro, Ala., August 23, 1968. He and his family lived on the side of a mountain and the Tennessee River was their back yard. Jon describes it thus: "It was a beautiful place of huge rock, giant twisted vines and fresh-flowing streams running down the mountain

The river was like some sort of huge god, that, as a child, forever fascinated me. 'Mama, is that river over my head?' Can I swim that river' I asked. It was a great place to grow up."

When he was 9, they moved to central Florida to a small town called Dunnellon. "My mother has a way of picking the most magic places. What a place to live! The house sits where two beautiful but totally different rivers meet. One wild, black and secret: the Withlacoochee. The other, crystal, bubbly and clear: the Rainbow. The rivers and I have kindred spirits. I find my peace on their banks and in their currents."


 Jon relates the beginning of his musical career: 'My mother bought me my first guitar when I was 12. It was an electric Hondo II and the strings were raised, it seemed, an inch off the neck. I could have played it as a steel guitar. But not knowing any different that most guitars were three times as easy to play - I started learning from a master in the art of teaching children. Keeping a boyish side to him, Gary Steageld made his hand into a talking being, 'Friend,' who, would tell you where to chord or what you were doing wrong. I studied for six months with him until he became too ill to teach. Although Gary is gone, inside many a student's heart, -'Friend' will keep teaching."

"We would sometimes visit family in North Alabama. My Uncle Slim played in a bluegrass group and would sit me sit to the side and play. I learned a lot about muse guitar and rhythm on those practice nights. I can still see them singing, keeping time with their red clay-covered work boots on the hardwood floor, and drinking the best iced tea in the state of Alabama."

Soon after, his mother, Mem, and his sister, Stefanie, and Jon formed the band GETUP. By the rhythms of the river's they practiced, wrote, and became a distinctive, original group."GETUP" played many places in the Sunshine State, usually about three times a week. It was a great learning experience to play in front of audiences at that age," Jon admitted.

The past two years Jon has put the horse back on the track, playing many venues. "The creative juices are flowing again and with each new song I receive new inspiration. Music has been in my blood since conception. I wake up in the morning dreaming it, and go to bed the same," Jon declares.

 The culmination of much of his experience, musical and otherwise, is contained in his self published CD, "Raised Right at Home," on the Wakulla label. "This is a significant milestone in my life and I want to share it with as many friends and fans as possible," Jon says with the happiest of smiles.