I'm glad you want to know more! My name is Jonathan Weems, but most people just call me Jon. I've been playing music for most of my life. As a kid I took piano and guitar lessons. In the 6th grade I started playing the trumpet in the school band. Then in high school I played the trumpet and baritone in the symphonic band, snare drum in the marching band, and guitar and bass guitar in the stage band. After graduating I continued to play guitar and keyboards. It wasn't until then that I started writing music with a friend of mine who played drums and percussion and was a very good lyricist. He'd purchased some nice equipment for recording and we wrote several songs, of which I have no copies. Unfortunately, in July of 1992 I was injured in a diving accident that left me paralyzed from the neck down. Now that doesn't mean I was completely paralyzed. There are many misconceptions about paralysis that I don't want to get into here, but I am a level C6 quadriplegic which means I do have most of the use of my arms, but not my hands and fingers.
Now I know you're wondering how I play
music without the use of my fingers. Well, I have typing sticks that fit over each
hand that I use to play my keyboard. They work well, but allow me to play only one
note at a time. So if you are familiar with sequencers, you know that you can play a
one note melody for however many measures and then go back and continue to add on to that
part with rhythm
parts, counter melodies, etc. That would be one sequence. My
keyboard sequencer allows for up to 80 sequences which all fit together like a puzzle to
make a song. This process takes a very long time for me but it's a good feeling to
listen to a song knowing I wrote, played, sang and recorded every note. Don't get
me wrong, I would prefer coming up with the basic idea for a song and having real
musicians help me write and record it, but this will have to do for now. The
biggest problem I have is coming up with lyrics. I realize I am not a poet by any
means, but I'm satisfied with what I write.
I don't know how many people may find my story inspirational, but I encourage everyone, disabled or not, to find a way to be involved in things they enjoy. Especially if you can find a creative outlet to help express what you feel.
If you have any questions you'd like to
ask me, or you just want to share your comments, I'd appreciate it if you would
email me. Thanks for stopping by. I hope you find something
that interests you!
Jon