Jonathan Elmore

The place where I keep track of all the things I do.

My Life In Music

When I finally retired from the wine industry, I discovered I had some time on my hands. Like a lot of retirees, I had projects I wanted to do, but what happens when those projects get finished? Dead time. What did I decide to fill it with? Music! I've been a musician for most of my life starting with piano lessons when I was five years old. From there, I learned as much as I could about playing music and listening to music. College was a big deal because I was friends with people from all over the world and they all had their favorite music that they joyfully shared with me. This led to me being a world citizen who enjoyed a vast array of melodies from the far reaches of this earth.
I also started learning digital music production. One of my mentors was one of the coolest guys, Hamza Lee. You can look up his list of achievements if you want. It's lengthy. But most importantly he taught me even more about how to listen intently to music that you may or may not like to hear pieces of things that you can use to make your own music and help others make good music. So, with some influence from Hamza and a ton of trial and error, I started creating music that combined my love for real instruments like guitar, bass, piano, drums, and horns with the immense world of digital music. Combining these two things, I've been able to create some dance music, some meditative music, and some music that makes me smile. I have it on YouTube under the name Talking Simian. So, below I have links to my Talking Simian page and my personal page where I just sing and play guitar, mostly cover versions of songs I love. I hope you enjoy both of them. 

This Cool Book I Wrote

I was a part of the wine industry in one way or another for a long time. Maybe 26 years. Ish. What I learned while I was in that world was that some people are insufferable fucking snobs. They can't help it. They think that knowing a lot about wine gives them the feeling of superiority. Which they usually aren't. So, I wrote a book about how wine is just a beverage that everyone can enjoy without knowing every lame-ass fact about it. Below is the link to get a copy. It has a little history, some funny stories, pronunciations, and taste profiles of a bunch of wines. Thanks for getting a copy. It's highly appreciated. Cheers!

Theatre and The Absurd

In the late 1970's, I was five years old when I hit the stage for the first time. I was in a fun little musical about the people and cultures of the world. In this play, I portrayed an English schoolboy, complete with dark blue school uniform, and it spurred my lifelong interest in theatre, films, and accents. Being an actor lead me into being a writer and I love both things with grand passion. I have had a few plays performed and selected to be in festivals. I won best play of one of those festivals. I have had the great pleasure of working with fantastic actors and crews over the years in both theatre and film. Writing and acting are my life. I'm glad you stopped by so I can share it with you.
Punch this picture to see the work I've done in theatre and film.