Jonny Polonsky

BIO
Jonny Polonsky has been making music since he was a boy growing up in the suburbs of Chicago. As an ambitious and precocious teenager, he handed out his homemade cassettes to musicians he admired--everyone from Kurt Cobain to Tom Jones--eventually gaining the interest of Black Francis of the Pixies.

Through Black's influence (and by way of a demo produced by Black), iconic record producer Rick Rubin signed Polonsky to American Recordings. On his major label debut, Hi My Name is Jonny, Polonsky performed, recorded and produced every note on the record, and mixing duties were handled by superstar producer and mixer Brendan O'Brien (Pearl Jam, Rage Against the Machine, Bruce Springsteen) who had forfeited a chance to produce both Elvis Costello, and the Rolling Stones, in favor of working with Polonsky.

Hi My Name is Jonny was released in January 1996 and received widespread glowing reviews, from the New York Times to MTV to scores of music publications all across the globe. He and his live band supported Black on a twelve week North American tour, and were featured on the Second Stage with the 1996 Lollapalooza tour for three weeks that summer.

Since that time, Polonsky has continued to release solo records on his own, as well as through several different independent labels.

A 2005 opening slot for Audioslave's five week North American tour led to his becoming part of a short lived band with Brad Wilk and Tim Commerford of Rage Against the Machine/Audioslave called Big Nose. Through Big Nose, Polonsky met Maynard James Keenan of Tool, and became an integral part of Keenan's performance project, Puscifer, writing, recording and touring with them for several years.

In addition to Puscifer and Big Nose, Polonsky has recorded and/or performed as a side musician with Johnny Cash, Neil Diamond, System of a Down, Vincent Gallo, Donovan, Dixie Chicks, Perry Farrell, Liz Phair, Pete Yorn, Lisa Loeb, Cedric Bixler-Zavala of At the Drive In, and many others.

He considers it an honor and a privilege to be gifted with the ability to make music, and plans on making lots of it until he drops dead.



QUOTES:

"He's brought it into his own thing. He does it with soul."
Jeff Buckley

"The guy was born to be a rock star and he makes the music to back it up."
Black Francis of The Pixies

"Baby, you're a real motherfucker. And I mean that in the best sense of the word."
Neil Diamond