Musically brilliant and intelligent (he has a Degree in Psychology!) Jona Lewie is also a seasoned solo performer, standing head and shoulders above his peers.
See him perform and you’ll realise why he’s destined to remain a coveted British institution. His name is also synonymous with Christmas, via his massive seasonal hit ‘Stop The Cavalry’ (for which he won the coveted Ivor Novello award) – which was actually a Summertime hit in France!
Another of his most memorable songs is ‘You’ll Always Find Him In The Kitchen At Parties’, recently used for a TV ad campaign for IKEA UK, though originally a hit in 1980.
Jona’s first taste of band life was when he was 17. He was known as plain old John Lewis then. The band, which was called The Corsairs was a rhythm and blues group who had also backed rock n roll icon, Gene Vincent on stage.
Lewie first played professionally in 1968 as a solo singer-songwriter, blues pianist and vocalist in the London circuit of legendary blues and folk clubs such as 100 Club in Oxford Street, The Troubador in Putney and Les Cousins in Greek Street, Soho.
His first professional gig came about because Dave Brock, who went on to form Hawkwind a few years later, took Jona to a hippy dive in Charing Cross Road where Jona got up and walked over to a piano and started to pound some boogie-woogie whereupon he brought the house down.
Amongst fans of Jona’s playing are Jools Holland and the late Joe Strummer of The Clash.
Those famous tracks we mentioned were released on the Stiff Records label - Jona was the longest serving act at Stiff, and the split only occured when the label was liquidated in 1987.
He steered through the 1990’s and the noughties with success, and now he's got a new album due.
Clearly, this fella is not always to be found in the kitchen - there's time in the studio and on the stage too, and it's on the latter that you will find him on Saturday night (December 17) when he goes live at the Northampton Roadmender. Just remember - a Jona isn't just for Christmas!
To book tickets click here
