Paul Szmal: Well, our WGVA listeners just heard about him and he's here. John Lamont is playing the Vista this Friday night, our Vista Concert Series Preview. Good morning and welcome.
Jon Lamanna: Hey, good morning. Thanks for having me.
Paul Szmal: Now, this is kind of cool because I don't think we've talked about this yet, but talk about what you said right before we went on, how much you and the other artists appreciate the fact that the Vista's doing a promotion for each musician like this.
Jon Lamanna: It's really, really nice to see a venue that's excited about the people that they have playing there. It's actually not that common, so it's really cool because there's local musicians that are doing some really cool stuff, writing their own music, releasing their own music, that kind of thing. There's a lot of talent in this area. I've been all around and there's some fantastic people here. And of course, the time when I was in high school in the 70s, the only way you could get your music out in the world was to get signed. And that was a crapshoot. I mean, for every great band that was signed, there were three others that never made the cut. Now, you have the ability to get that music out there.
Paul Szmal: Yep. Yeah. I mean, the internet is a blessing and a curse for sure. But you know, we've got the world at our fingertips, literally. You just have to hone your craft and write good music and just be genuine. And of course, the tools to make it that we didn't have back then. Back then, it was a recording studio. Now, you've got one in your pocket. It's very easy. You can get one of those little digital 8-track recorders and make a home mix that sounds as good as a record did 20 years ago.
Jon Lamanna: Yeah. For very, very little cost. That's definitely opened up the doors, the floodgates, so to speak, for music. There's just so much of it. So let's talk about your history and your influences. You sang for Cry to the Blind, a hard rock band that people remember. And now you're doing your own solo career, and you've got your own music that we're going to talk about as well. So tell us about the career a little bit and the influences.
Paul Szmal: Well, I started out just loving hard rock and metal and all that stuff when I was younger. Still do, but I played in a couple different bands. Cry to the Blind being the most successful one, I guess you'd say, commercially. We played until about 2021. COVID impacted us a lot. But I had started playing solo acoustic gigs in 2018 just on a whim. I had played in a couple of different acoustic groups at wineries and stuff around here, always with three, four people. And I had gone back to school to get my master's, and I needed to find a way to make some additional income. And my wife, in her infinite wisdom, suggested I play solo for obvious reasons. And I was like, hey, that's not a terrible idea. I'll do it for a little while. I probably won't like it. And I love it, honestly. It's really, really nice to decide everything on your own. And if it's good, hey, I made a good decision. If it's bad, well, that's all on me. I got nobody else to blame.
Paul Szmal: What's the repertoire for the solo shows?
Jon Lamanna: It's usually a combination of... I mean, classic rock is kind of my go-to. But I do a lot of pop and country and some rock stuff and even some hip-hop stuff too, but it's kind of spun a different way. So it's not as aggressive, I guess you'd say.
Paul Szmal: Is it tough sometimes doing a solo act? I mean, in a band, you can have an off night, you can kind of hide a little bit. When you're out there, I've always said, I love my classic rock bands. I graduated high school in the mid-70s. But for someone who can hold an audience with nothing but himself and his voice and his guitar, I mean, that's a job.
Jon Lamanna: Yeah, it's very, very difficult. And if you're not feeling well, it's just like you said, when I was in bands and little acoustic groups and stuff, if you weren't feeling well, you could just let the other singer know, hey, maybe you take this part because I'm not able to hit it today. When it's just you, it is all on you. And sometimes if you're not feeling well, it can lead to some rough nights, but you do what you can and try not to push too hard.
Paul Szmal: By the way, the Vista Concert Series, the food truck this week is the Hot Box. You go to sceniclakeresorts.com, you'll see the information for the Vista. And you'll find John on Facebook at John LaManna Music, all one word. So tell us about the originals.
Jon Lamanna: Yeah, I started releasing my own solo material in 2022. I released a song called Burnin' Up, and I entered it in this contest on a whim through iHeartRadio, a songwriting contest. And it actually got selected as a national finalist for the whole contest.
Paul Szmal: Yeah, it kind of blew my mind. I'm like, wow, the first song I released, this is great. Since then, I've released, I think, six other singles. One is a cover, Aerosmith, Dream On. Just always loved that song. So I kind of put my own spin on it. But I've got a ton of new music coming out. I've got another single called Fire and Water that's coming out October 22nd. And I've got a bunch of new music coming out next year as well. It's all in the pop rock country vein, I guess you'd say. It's just a reflection of more of what I listen to now. I still listen to hard rock and stuff, but I'm primarily a pop rock country guy, I guess you'd say.
Paul Szmal: How do you write? Do you get a little nugget, three or four notes, a chord change, and build it from there?
Jon Lamanna: Honestly, it's really, really strange. I'll just be driving around, and I'll hear a melody in my head and hum it into my phone. And then immediately try to figure out if that's someone else's song or if that's actually like, you know, God giving me something.
Paul Szmal: It's interesting you said that, because that's what I always tell myself. If I was writing, I'd unconsciously steal somebody else's riff. I'd go, yeah, that's great. And then realize that, oh yeah, it's great because I heard it. Oops, that's Steely Dan.
Jon Lamanna: Yeah. And that's happened a couple times where I've been like, oh, that sounds really familiar. And then I'll identify it and get rid of that idea. But knock on wood, I haven't made an egregious error yet with that. But yeah, it's mostly like that. And then I'll hear vowel sounds and phrases through the melody that's playing in my head and sort of build songs that way. I know James Hetfield from Metallica is one of the only other people I've heard of that does it that way. Kind of right down to liking certain vowel sounds and then finds phrases that fit those and then builds the rest of the song based on that. I mean, God knows I've got enough in my life that I can build a song based on one or two words instantly just by hearing. And it'll trigger a thought or an idea or some kind of creative muse.
Paul Szmal: All right. Go to John LaManna, and that's John J-O-N, John LaManna Music on Facebook. And you'll see some of those original videos and watch him. He's playing the Vista tomorrow night. And he's been there before. Loves the venue, as everyone does. And go play some mini-golf, get some food from the food truck, maybe take a dip in the lake. It's still that kind of weather. John, thanks for coming in. We appreciate it. And best of luck going forward.
Jon Lamanna: Thank you so much. Thanks for having me. Best of luck with the original material.
